Indian expats travelling home beware. You may not be able to use WhatsApp, Viber, Line or Skype for free anymore.
According to reports, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is studying an option where free instant messaging services could be charged for services they offer to consumers. The fundamentals are clear.
Free IM services cost the telecom operators.
In India alone, it is estimated that telecom operators lose about Rs5,000 crore (Dh2.98 billion) annually, as a result of the free services.
The proposal being considered is that anyone providing free voice and messaging services will have to pay telecom operators connectivity charges who in turn will share the revenue with the government.
In the UAE, currently all text messaging services provided by over-the-top (OTP) players are free while there are restrictions on free voice calls.
Although the blockage on Skype messenger is lifted, calls to mobile and landline numbers continue to remain encrypted.
In fact the voice service on BlackBerry Messenger in the UAE continues to remain blocked almost two years after it was introduced.
The UAE TRA has continued to maintain that it is because of a technical issue. BlackBerry officials too had maintained that they have been working with the officials to enable the service.
Meanwhile, several other unregulated OTP players continue to offer clandestine VoIP service where one can talk for almost 200 to at times 500 minutes for a fraction of the cost.
“I use a similar service and pay $10 for 250 minutes,” says Anita V, who lives in Karama. The cards are available in some select locations.
“Sometimes they get blocked and you lose the money. But a new alternate service is made available almost immediately. The clarity too is pretty decent,” she says.
Meanwhile, both Etisalat and du have introduced their own VoIP services at a cheaper rate compared to normal international call rates.
The popularity of VoIP has also resulted in operators slashing international call rates. An international call per minute has today dropped to almost on par with local calls.
Etisalat has an add-on service for Dh50 where users get 100 minutes of international talk time.
Du too has similar packages where call charges between 36 and 50 fills per minute for international calls to select countries.