Despite CITC denial, free call services stay blocked

Saudi Gazette report DAMMAM — Despite a denial by the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC), several internet users have claimed that the certain app services in the Kingdom are still blocked. On its Twitter account, the commission on Thursday denied reports that the services have been discontinued. The CITC said it was holding talks with telecom companies to find out the reasons behind the service disruption. Several web users and the IT experts told Makkah daily on Friday that the denial was not enough and that the commission should explicitly explain why some apps were totally or partially blocked. They asked the CITC to seriously investigate the issue and find out those who are responsible for the blockage. The commission said it has been doing its best to provide telecommunication and IT services to all users in the Kingdom. Deputy chairman of the telecom and IT committee of the Eastern Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ECCI), Khaled Al-Dhawazi, said the CITC denial does not totally absolve it from the duty to reveal the truth. "Any encroachment of service providers on the rights and authority of the commission without its knowledge or permission is a naked defiance to its rules and regulations," he said. Omar Al-Rashid, an IT expert, said the clarification of the CITC was far from enough and it should clearly announce who was responsible for the blockage. "A clear clarification by the commission will go a long way in clearing doubts being expressed on social media," he said. Former deputy chairman of the committee, Haitham Abu Aisha, said the CITC denial insinuated that there were other parties who were responsible for the blockage. "The commission should not be sufficed with denying responsibility but should tell the whole truth, fix responsibilty and take all necessary actions in its capacity as the body responsible for the telecom and IT sector in the Kingdom," he said. Jarallah Al-Ghamdi, an IT expert, said the service providers would not stop the service unless for extremely logical reasons. "The blockage might be for technical reasons, due to heavy pressure on the networks or because of certain policies of some telecom companies," he said. "There are many alternatives for the apps which were totally or partially blocked. We have to wait and see," he added.