Saudi Arabia lifts ban on Skype and Whatsapp voice calls

Saudi Arabia is lifting its ban on voice calls on Skype, Whatsapp and other applications in the latest in a series of reforms by the kingdom’s new crown prince designed to make the country more attractive for business. 

The conservative kingdom has previously banned internet phone calls - known as Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) - restricting the ability of Saudis and expatriate residents to communicate with the outside world. 

The government justified the ban in 2013 as a way of trying to “protect society from any negative aspects that could harm the public interest”.

In the years since internet calls have become ubiquitous in international commerce and this week the Saudi government said it was lifting the ban as a way of stimulating the economy. 

"Digital transformation is one of the key kick-starters for the Saudi economy, as it will incentivise the growth of internet-based businesses, especially in the media and entertainment industries," a separate statement from the information ministry said.

"Access to VoIP (voice over internet protocol) will reduce operational costs and spur digital entrepreneurship – that's why it is such an important step in the Kingdom's internet regulation," it said.

Saudi’s telecoms regulator said the ban would be lifted at midnight but some residents said early Wednesday they were already able to use Skype and the Facetime app on Apple’s iPhone.

Many people in Saudi Arabia said they had been able to get around the ban using a virtual private network (VPN), which tricks a computer into thinking you are somewhere else and therefore not subject to Saudi’s internet laws. But even with a VPN voice calls were slow and often crashed. 

“The call would frequently be laggy and the video would glitch a lot,” said one international student in Saudi, who asked not to be named while describing using a VPN. She said she was able to make Skype calls on Wednesday without a VPN.

“It feels like we can communicate with the outside world,” she said. “Sometimes it felt like we had no connection here.”

The decision was made despite the negative impact it will likely have on Saudi’s three main telecoms companies, which made significant revenue from international calls made the 12 million foreigners living in Saudi Arabia. 

“Any phone company would rather have people using their telephone lines but this is an important message from the Saudi government that they have to move into the 21st century and not be left behind,” said Ghanem Nuseibeh, the founder of the Cornerstone Global Associates management consultancy. 

Saudi Arabia, with its youthful population, has one of the highest per capita rates of social media usage.

However, Saudi Arabia has extensive internet censorship - blocking pornographic websites but also many other sites that are critical of the government or related to Israel. 

It is regularly included on a list of “internet enemies” by Reporters Without Borders, which compiles a list of countries that restrict internet usage. 

Saudi Arabia's new crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, has launched an ambitious national strategy to diversify the country's economy and wean it off its dependence on oil.

The strategy - known as Vision 2030 - hopes to breathe life into new economic sectors like tourism, entertainment and telecoms.