Warning to Egyptians
Please, please, somebody else read this and tell me what it means. From today’s Kuwait Times:
Informed souce at the Ministry of Communications revealed that the closure of websites of companies that offer illegal international telephone call service was successful because the number of international calls from Kuwait and coming to Kuwait from other states increased following their decision.
On the other hand, the Egyptian ambassador to Kuwait Ahmad Abdullah warned Egyptian expatriates in Kuwait against violating the Kuwaiti laws expecially following a number of complaints were filed against Egyptian citizens of cheating residents with providing illegal residence permits and driving licenses. The ambassador asked all Egyptian expats to avoid this kind of illegal actions because the expats who commit such crimes will be deported from Kuwait, reported Al-Qabas.
My comment: Excuse me? How are these two paragraphs even related? How is banning telephone calls successful due to an increase in the banned telephone calls? And for what will Egyptians be deported – using an illegal phone? Providing fake residencies? Fake driver’s licenses? All of the above?
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i had the same questions in mind !! hehe
at least they said ” on the other hand” !! 😛
I don’t see how internet phones are illegal. They should ban MSN, voice calls can be made using that. Morons.
Good morning, Abdulaziz. You are right, they said “on the other hand” BUT . . . . the information – at least to me – does not seem to be related. And it is interesting to me that the internet phone info is buried in this article.
EniGma – I think the MoC made a sadly ill conceived policy. Let’s hope – and work for – its reversal.
Well, when have Arabic media ever been coherent?!!!
I am just glad they didn’t throw in a sentence or two on avian flu. LoL!
The way it is written is confusing I agree.
There are many “gangs” ( a Kuwait Times favourite word) who offer cheap long distance calls which are illegal in Kuwait. I have always understood that that is done through stealing land lines. I don’t understand how it works.
Anyway, there are many ways to talk over the Net now using Yahoo, MSN, and services like SKYPE. I hope those are not included in that ban.
It is time that communication methods and regulations are revised especially with the rapid changes we have seen in IT in recent years.
——
The second paragraph: certain nationalities have mastered the art of bamboozling others out of their money especially with the presentation of fake ID and papers
lol @ the first bit.
and i’m surprised they singled out the second bit.
if real residence permits werent for sale in the first place, and guess who does the selling, then this wouldnt even be an issue to begin with.
but since some people sell legal residence permits starting at KD500 for one year (the buyers tend to be maids, cleaners, etc ), the conmen are bound to come out of the woodwork to “help their fellow expatriates” with discount residence permits.
Jewaira – SKYPE, and all the computer based internet phone calling plans are BANNED. See also Hilaliya; he references an Arab Times news article; I read it in the Kuwait Times. The articles cite the need due to “wastage of government funds.” None of this policy is very coherently presented, and the services are already blocked.
Skunk, Kinano, Jewaira – I am learning more all the time, thanks to YOU!
Hi there,
i am a foreigner who just arrived in Kuwait, and i found that my Skype and MSN pc-call functions all fail to work. I can hear the other party talking but they cannot hear me. I am starting to wonder if my laptop’s mic-line-in is not working, until i searched and saw this blog. Any you you experienced the same problem?
Feeling very helpless, please advice!
Hi Don, Kuwait BANNED VOIP services this year. Most of our services still work, but in order to access voice-mail, etc. you have to find the work around, which you usually can by e-mailing your service. I have heard others having the same problem you are having, but before doing anything else, I would get one of those headsets with a mic and see if that solves your problem. I use a paid service that is still very very cheap, and while there is an occasional echo, it is working fine.
The paid services seem to find ways around the ban – Vonage, IConnectHere, etc.
It is a helpless feeling, and a terrible thing that a rich country like Kuwait would ban cheap communication for its huge labor force.
Hi intlxpatr,
thanks for the advice, yes i must say i am appalled by the quality and prices of telecommunication service in Kuwait. Going to send my Dell to the ONLY Dell support service provider in the whole of Kuwait for checks since the second mic headphone i bought also did not seem to work – i can hear the other party, but they cannot hear me.
Just 1 more question – Any of those paid services allows Kuwait to UK and Kuwait to Singapore calls?
Thanks! Will surf the sites anyway, but just chancing in the event that you knew…:)
I sent you an e-mail with the info, Don.