Etisalat Sucks
Etisalat the only ISP in UAE has recently started blocking YouTube. I always thought UAE was more “open” than Kuwait with all the alcohol, prostitution and a lot more westerners yet the ISP seems more conservative then the Saudi Arabian government. Last year they blocked Flickr which was EXTREMLY popular with all the creative photographers in UAE and now they blocked YouTube. Etisalat just really sucks. [Link]
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Aug 3, 2006
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44 Comments, add your own...
1. frankom | August 3rd, 2006 at 10:20 am
:: Well well,
http://www.frankom.com/?p=543
2. anonymouse | August 3rd, 2006 at 10:44 am
it really does.. but there is a new telecommunications company opening soon, called Du.. hopefully it will be better
for the time being tho, God bless proxies..
3. fractal00 | August 3rd, 2006 at 10:58 am
so users only have one in the UAE .. wow .. i too thought dubai was better in this field .. well not better maybe more open…
4. dnaq8 | August 3rd, 2006 at 11:23 am
YouTube is blocked only when the clip need confirmation for ur age which mean the clip is nsfw , same as Qnet.
5. Mark | August 3rd, 2006 at 11:26 am
I have Qualitynet at home and nothing on YouTube is blocked. Also according to UAE users YouTube is blocked meaning ALL of YouTube not just some clips. They can’t access youtube at all.
6. dnaq8 | August 3rd, 2006 at 11:28 am
and i think the only reason that they suck , that becuz they are using transparent proxy
7. dnaq8 | August 3rd, 2006 at 11:30 am
well this is blocked http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZCjKbHoHye8
on Qnet
8. Cece | August 3rd, 2006 at 11:34 am
I just hope YouTube won’t be blocked here in Kuwait :s
9. Talal | August 3rd, 2006 at 11:54 am
dnaq8, ALL of YouTube is blocked. If you just type in http://www.youtube.com you’ll get UAE’s version of the Blue Screen of Death (ie. the Blue Screen of Block–which has a teabag tag on it for some obscure reason).
And even with the soon-to-come du (you’re supposed to write it in all small letters ’cause they’re, y’know, cool like dat yo yo), you only have to look at who owns it–”the company is 40% owned by the Federal Government”–to realize that it’s basically going to be Etisalat, Part 2: The Emirates is ‘du’med.
http://www.du.ae/investor_relations_en.asp
10. Talal | August 3rd, 2006 at 11:54 am
Love the logos, by the way! Did you make them, Mark?
11. Mark | August 3rd, 2006 at 11:56 am
nope, someone called tazz gave me the link
12. Mark | August 3rd, 2006 at 12:03 pm
actually just made a friend try the link dnaq8 gave and it was blocked on his qualitynet connection. will try the same link myself once i get home since i am on FT now.
13. Marzouq | August 3rd, 2006 at 12:33 pm
Yeah.. they blocking a lot of stuff.. its crazy! Its not like everything is available here.. I dont know why they block anything!
14. dnaq8 | August 3rd, 2006 at 12:44 pm
ohh shit before(last month) they were only blocking only the links that need age confirmation , now the whole site !!! shit :S , that’s too much .
Shit
i will be back to UAE next month , am pissed off .
15. princess | August 3rd, 2006 at 1:55 pm
ummm other sites that are blocked in this freakin country, other than flickr and youtube is myspace.com
why seriously sucks, is that if i wanted to watch, i’d call up live action from a 50kd prostitue or watch them ‘get it on’ in cheesy clubs… neither of which i do. thing is, they block block block… not knowing that soon their competition Du. is going to get all their customers. I’m already converting once they start up. Etisalat SUCKS! (been using their service for over 2 years only because there are no other alternates.
16. princess | August 3rd, 2006 at 1:58 pm
on another note. they changed their crappy serivce does not only block sites, but after a while slows down during the day and then back up during the night. and when they have a problem with the internet/or their phone services for that matter… they dont apologize for the inconvienece, they just say… Well, live with it till we fix it!
17. Aziz | August 3rd, 2006 at 2:12 pm
they’re probably blocking it because of this:
http://tinyurl.com/hqhyg
who all seem to be from the UAE.
18. chiktute | August 3rd, 2006 at 2:50 pm
my internet banking was blocked by etisalat too!!! i couldn’t get access to my uk bank account which was stupid! lol
19. Noura | August 3rd, 2006 at 3:49 pm
(youtube? you’re blocked!) hahaha
20. Sonix | August 3rd, 2006 at 6:43 pm
I found a way to open youtubes blocked by qualitynet.
Mark, if you’re interested email me and i’ll send it to you.. and it does not involve proxies :P
21. Chitty Chatty Bong Bong | August 3rd, 2006 at 7:54 pm
Underneath that ultra-cool veneer of state imposed sophistication and urban elan, lies an ultra-conservative society that might make even Kuwait society appear bohemian to an unbiased student of humanities(and I am not talking pg-3 Kuwaiti society, either).
We are not surprised in the least by such behavior.
22. bo9agr | August 4th, 2006 at 1:01 am
when i visited my cousin in UAE i was surprised that flickr was blocked so i tried some proxy sites and wow!! all proxy sites where blocked too !! I typed ” anonymous surfing ” and all the results were blocked !! sh#t ..
23. Pétalo | August 4th, 2006 at 1:14 pm
Etisalat blocking YouTube is not true!
Absolutely NOT true!
I am now at UAE, and I did watch few videos on YouTube today and yesterday with absolutely no problem of what’s so ever.
It all depends on the contents of the video and its web page — if the video title, description or someone’s comment contains an inappropriate word(s), then YouTube flags that video for “adults” and it becomes available to subscribers only.
Only then Etisalat will block that video. And it’s exactly the same for Qualitynet in Kuwait!!
People… Don’t overreact… Verify any information before blowing it out to public… Please!
24. Talal | August 5th, 2006 at 5:34 pm
Pétalo, it depends on where you’re accessing the site from. If you’re in any of the new developments in Dubai (like the Arabian Ranches, the Greens, blah blah) or one of the “cities” like Dubai Internet or Media City, I think that internet service is provided by a different company, and for some reason it doesn’t block anything. Don’t ask me why..Yet another “idiosyncracy” to chalk up to Living in the UAE.
PS. Sitting here at my desk in my bedroom in our apartment in Khalidiya in Abu Dhabi, and using Al Shamil Broadband DSL, I can’t access YouTube. Period.
25. JO | August 18th, 2006 at 4:07 pm
I wish I could block Etisalat !
Worst… now they’ve even managed to totally block SKYPE !
Thanks Etisalat… you suck !
26. ania | August 20th, 2006 at 3:46 pm
i cant believe etisalat blocked myspace. ive just come to dubai from australia and i love myspace. i stayed in jordan and it workeed fine there and it was the one place i could feel like i was back in australia.. and even skype is blocked?? omfg.
Really, we need to do something about this, coz we pay them for internet they cant block things from us !
is there actually any proxys that work to view myspace????
help.
28. Jagan | October 5th, 2006 at 3:58 pm
I totally agree with all of u…. Etisalat succks terribly…. we pay them more than any other country’s telecom sector takes from its ppl and still they do like they feel…. well actually suck is a very small word to describe them….
and 4 those who think du, the new company will make a difference….. well du is hands and legs tied by etisalat… meaning they r goignt o work more as an etisalat subsidary rather than as an individual company….
du is just one of their bloody tactics to bring foreign co. 2 invest money in telcom sector, but honestly i dont think itz going to help any of us customers…..
29. bigmo | October 17th, 2006 at 7:45 pm
Well its open now, whats this malayh videos you see when you place UAE in the search engine. They got girl dancing around tons of UAE men, maybe thats why its blocked. Just type malayh and see what comes
30. Khalil | October 17th, 2006 at 9:46 pm
YouTube at some point was blocked before and then they opened it over again, it was fine till yesterday but now they’ve put filters and have blocked only one page that is the “Age Verification” so you cannot go pass through it anyway.
I so *toot* hate Etisialat. If you’re into 3D modeling then Etisalat is gonna come into your way, they’ll never let you study anatomy of human figures, coz they’re blocked!
We, of course pay more than any other company and whenever I complain about their bad services they turn up and say “Sir, you know Etisalat is the only company in Gulf with lowest rate….” the heck! with the lowest rate and shuff’d phone on the person’s face.
The most funniest part happened to me when I called customer service was I waited 30+ minutes and then at the end a woman answers me and I tell her my problem and she kept on asking over and over again what my problem was without coming up with solution, I got fed up with her and told her to go back join Kindergarten and hung up the phone.
I can go on rant about Etisalat whole year but don’t wanna waste time on them’ suck ups.
Du is yet another Etisalat, they’re just playing with customers with their stupid hopes and lies.
31. phil | November 16th, 2006 at 4:51 am
etisalat are the biggest cunts in the world. nuf said thank u and good night!
32. jay | December 21st, 2006 at 8:22 am
guys, I’ve heard u can get round the block with some special software, can anyone help & maybe send me the link or something to my email address?
thanks 5ay
head_kandy@hotmail.co.uk
33. caFF!eNE | January 1st, 2007 at 8:38 pm
i wonder who owns etisalat…whoever he is, he has succeded in ripping off everyone who owns a computer or cellfone in the UAE…and du is another piece of shit, theyre not gonna offer better prices, just different packages (eg charging by a bandwith limit or something of the sort)
34. Sara | February 3rd, 2007 at 5:35 pm
LOL. I just love that logo. It should be their own. Their style.
Etisalat sucks, yes sure. No argument. Du is going to suck as well, since it’s partly owned by the goverment and the whole blocking sites thing goes along with the “country values…etc”, which is most cases does not make a good ecxuse for blocking certain sites.
I never get bored from sending them hate mails expressing their stupidity.
Hey! Soemtimes the sites get unblocked. But then, back to blocking them all over again.
It’s all f*cked up, anyway.
35. sham | February 20th, 2007 at 4:23 pm
its true etisalat is crap the blocked youtube and tv-links website (you can watch episodes of any program you want).
etisalat has got issues they probably reserve the sites for their own use so the can be freaks.
They probably look at porn.
36. Dman | February 21st, 2007 at 2:45 pm
Ok we say, youtube is blocked for pornografi, its haram sys etisalt uae, what the hell they blocked a car auction site for? its hamram too. stupit
37. omar | March 10th, 2007 at 5:07 pm
We should mass ralley against Etisalat!
38. Etisalat is crap | June 21st, 2007 at 1:41 am
Etisalat has blocked all MAJOR torrent sites such as The pirate bay, torrentspy, and many many others.. None of my friends can connect to the TPB no1 can download movies anymore unless we use ratio sites which are pure crap.. this sucks… on the other hand friends of mine in the Greens are able to connect to TPB as their connection is DU
39. Terry | July 5th, 2007 at 10:50 am
Aah! It’s so good to be away from Etisital. The bane of my existence when I lived in the UAE. I’m back in Canada where there is freedom of choice.How refreshing.
40. John | July 9th, 2007 at 8:13 am
Why you guys hate Etisalat so much.
Please do not forget that UAE is not a european country. Etisalat is owned by more than 70% by the UAE goverment and this is the wish of the GOV, that is it.
The government authorities have all rights to decide what is blocked and what is not.
Therefore, Etisalat has nothing to do with it. I work for etisalat and I can assure you, as an expat we do everything possible to help the web users.
Please just remember that you are “VISITING” and “LIVING” in an ISLAMIC country ruled by a crown prince federal government controlled from abu dhabi.
Once you have this in picture, you will understand why etisalat react as such.
All the best
John.
41. Anas | July 17th, 2007 at 10:46 am
Talal, ur a big liar… Etisalat is not blocking youtube in Khalidia in AD!! I live there in Dana Plaza Building and to all of u suckers who say that its a new development (Khalidia is one of the oldest areas in AD) N NO IT DIDN”T BLOCK IT! N hey, for u torrent users, well, here is an idea, GO USE SHAREAZA! its good too! torrents sux! takes a lot of time esp when s/l gets lower (Which sooner or l8er will happen)!
As for u johN, saint of etisalat, sweetheart, go kick urself in the nuts, we hv prostitution allowed here but such other sites (Yes sm other sites are blocked for no fucking reason)! When u ask users who are working there (SUCH AS U LOL) they go like, there is smthn that isn’t appropriate to c in that website… Well guess what honey, why doesn’t the “inappropriate” seeings everywhere gets blocked if thats the rule!
N Hey, Etisalat is a theif too! Y? Come n compare it with all the arabian n gulf countries n EU countries n USA, etc! They never gave us any offer! Absolutely no offer BE4 DU came! Can u deny that sucker?
42. ABDULKAREEM | December 2nd, 2007 at 4:53 pm
First of all I have an experienced backround in networking/IT.
I’m not gonna get into advanced details,however;
Etisalat is the worst ISP I have ever seen.
Secondly they offer a service sub par to anything i’ve ever seen.
Third of all it offers the shittiest peering/routing i’ve ever seen.
Fourthly they’re stealing my money.
One day, just one day I hope an American ISP enters the middle eastern market, and rapes the shit out of every middle eastern own piece of crap ISP, then I will have my peace.
43. joel agons | February 7th, 2008 at 11:26 pm
hey why cant they fix the cables fast…… its already 1 week now…… i just upgraded to 512 kbps and my dl speed got worst = 2kbps ……
44. mikey boy | February 27th, 2008 at 7:10 pm
i totaly agree, the over conservitive settings of mind her are absolutely terrible.i am suprised etisalat doesnt block this site off
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