ictQATAR, the Supreme Council of Information & Communication Technology has stated that recent newspaper articles had given inaccurate or incomplete accounts of Qatar's legal position regarding Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).
Qatar’s independent telecommunications regulator and the Government’s technology advocate and facilitator has published a clarification of the legal position of VoIP technology in the Gulf state. In its document, ictQATAR stressed there are no laws or rules that prohibit the use of such technology within the State of Qatar.
"The Telecommunications Law 34 of 2006 does, however, make it illegal for any person to provide telecommunications services to the public for a direct or indirect fee without a license issued by ictQATAR for that purpose," it read.
Currently, the only two entities licensed by ictQATAR to provide such voice services to the public in Qatar are Qatar Telecom (QTel) Q.S.C. and Vodafone Qatar Q.S.C. "ictQATAR is committed to encouraging the availability of the latest technology to Qatari citizens and residents," it added in its statement.
