“In a country like the UAE, where we aim to always be pioneers in all we do, WhatsApp calls should not be banned…”

UAE businessman and Al Habtoor chairman Khalaf Al Habtoor has called for Whatsapp video chat to become available in the UAE.

Taking to Twitter, the founder and chairman of conglomerate Al Habtoor Group posted a video addressing the ban.

Describing it as a ‘very important issue’, Al Habtoor went on to say that video chat via Skype and Whatsapp is available everywhere “except in my country”, where all the telephone companies and communications companies are “locking it, blocking it and not allowing it”.

“Therefore, I would like to request the management and the directors of these companies to release and free this system to enable everybody to enjoy it,” he said.

ALSO READ: Everything you need to know about the Skype ban in the UAE 

‘In a country like the UAE, where we aim to always be pioneers in all we do, WhatsApp calls should not be banned’, he captioned the post.

This follows reports from earlier this year that US technology firms Apple and Microsoft were in talks with UAE telecoms providers to look at the potential re-enabling of FaceTime and Skype.

Last month, Microsoft told The National it was still hopeful that they could reach a deal.

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