The Federal National Council has blamed the Government for failing to work vigorously to prevent the use of proxy software that helps internet users to access hundreds of websites classified as "forbidden" by regulators. "There are also some softwares that allow downloading things without going through the filtering process," said Sultan bin Hussein, a member from Umm al Quwain. The council members also urged the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority to ensure that competition and anti-monopoly rules were effective. They said that ending the Etisalat monopoly four years ago when Du was created did not lead to significant changes in the quality of services or their cost.
Mohammed Nasser Al Ghanim, director general of the TRA said that the authority has registered a drop in the costs of international phone calls of between 20 and 70 per cent since competition was introduced. "The authority made all suitable measures to introduce competition to the telecommunications sector," he said.
PCooney@thenational.ae
