For anyone living in or visiting the United Arab Emirates, it can be difficult to freely communicate online with friends, loved ones, or business partners, due to the fact that government-owned telecommunications companies Etisalat and Du are actively blocking all VoIP services within the country. This means that you won’t be able to make free voice calls online with popular VoIP services like Skype, WhatsApp, Viber, FaceTime, Discord, and others if you are located in the UAE. Both telecom companies have maintained that the VoIP ban is due to the UAE government’s regulatory framework restricting “unlicensed” services from operating within the UAE. Others have insisted that Etisalat and Du are blocking VoIP because the two companies view the free online calling services as cutting into their revenue streams.

Whatever the case may be, the services are still blocked for anyone attempting to use them from within the UAE. Both Etisalat and Du have recommended two voice and video calling service alternatives (Botim and C’Me) that are licensed and approved for use in the UAE. The one significant downside to this from a user’s perspective, however, is that users must pay a monthly or daily fee in order to use either Botim or C’Me. Although debates are still ongoing and several prominent businessmen in the UAE along with others have been calling for the VoIP ban to be lifted, the popular free services that are available around most of the world remain unavailable in the UAE.

The good news is that there is an incredibly simple way to bypass the ban and still access popular free VoIP services, even from within the UAE. By using a virtual private network (VPN), you can route your internet connection through a secure server located in a different country. This means that any website you visit or online service you access while connected to a VPN will register your location as that of the server country you are connecting through, rather than your actual location. Therefore, you can use a VPN to make calls through Skype, FaceTime, WhatsApp, or any other of your favorite VoIP options without restriction, even if you are located in the UAE.

Not only that but using a VPN will also allow you to bypass all other internet content restrictions imposed by the UAE government. Though not nearly as strict as in other countries such as China or Iran, the UAE employs heavy internet censorship tactics and actively blocks online content it deems inappropriate for its citizens. Dating sites, gambling sites, pornography sites, and sites critical of the government or offensive to UAE culture, for example, are all blocked in the country. So if you live in the UAE, or are just visiting, your key to unlocking the free and open internet from within the country is to use a quality VPN service to help you effectively bypass the restrictions imposed by the government and give you the access you require.