10 ISPs and countries known to have blocked VoIP
There has been seemingly endless debate recently about net neutrality and how, if lost, we will be affected. However, we don’t have to look forward to what it could be like, some ISPs and even governments have taken it in their own hands to censor what their internet subscribers can or cannot do online.
Scared of the loss of revenue posed by VoIP, some incumbent telcos and government have in the past blocked ports so that calls cannot connect with a user on their network. This is downright despicable, and it should have you very concerned. One has to ask, where it could lead to? Is VoIP blocking just the thin end of a much larger wedge? Will ISPs take it upon themselves to block IMs from contacts not on their network or bounce an email from your friend who uses a competing ISP?
It took a lot of time to collate the information for this, and I hope you find it useful. Remember that this is a historical list that details ISPs and countries who have either blocked VoIP in the past or are continuing to do so presently. Your comments are most welcome!
Panama
Panama was the first country to declare an all-out ban on all Voice over IP communication when in 2002 the government decreed that each and every ISP in the country was to block 24 UDP ports commonly used for IP telephony. In 2004 the government did a complete U-turn and annulled the legislation banning VoIP but they introduced a 12% tax on all calls, including those made via Voice over IP.
Belize Telecommunications Limited, Belize
In an article called ‘Trouble in the tropics‘ Russell Shaw revealed that Belize Telecommunications Limited (BTL) were hard at work blocking VoIP providers such as Vonage and Skype as well as a raft of others. In fact BTL went so far as to block Google Talk, MSN Messenger and Yahoo! IM because they also offered voice as well as text chat.
Cable & Wireless, Caribbean
Good old Cable & Wireless are a UK-based ISP who also have a network of subsidiaries servicing the Caribbean. They were known to be blocking, or attempting to block, Voice over IP calls originating from or terminating on their network some years ago. However, it looks like they have had a change of heart and are now actively pushing their range of IP telephony services to consumers and businesses in the Caribbean.
Clearwire, USA
In 2005 reports started to filter through that Clearwire, an ISP based in WA, were blocking subscribers to Vonage. Shortly after Clearwire began blocking calls, Vonage came up with a solution where they changed the SIP port number. Ironically Clearwire now run their own internet phone service that offers similar functionality to Vonage. At the time of the blocking there were reports that Clearwire were blocking Vonage in order to pave the way for a Clearwire VoIP service.
Madison River, USA
Around the same time that Clearwire were blocking Vonage, reports started to come through that Madison River were also involved in blocking VoIP calls made by their subscribers. After a user revolt the Mebane, North Carolina ISP was forced to cease blocking VoIP calls by the FCC who also issued them with a $15,000 fine for inhibiting consumer choice. The fine, issued in March 2005, prohibits Madison River from blocking any VoIP calls for 30 months until September 2007. Interestingly Madison River are now offering VoIP services directly to customers.
Telmex, Mexico
In April 2005 VoIP users began to experience problems when attempting to call out via Telmex, a Mexican ISP. Vonage, Skype, DialPad and Net2Phone among other VoIP service providers were blocked. After making a few checks it appears that Telmex are still strong-arming their subscribers out of using Voice over IP.
Basil Telecom, Brazil
Currently the incumbent telco in Brazil, Brasil Telecom, is blocking VoIP traffic using network management software called NarusInsight purchased from US-based Narus. Brasil Telecom chose the software so that they could regulate IP telephony within Brazil and stop ongoing “revenue leakage” due to VoIP.
Etisalat, UAE
The UAE’s incumbent telco, Etisalat, has been well documented as an ISP that does not like VoIP. While there had been reports that telecom regulations in Dubai and Abu Dhabi were about to be relaxed to allow VoIP, people in Dubai are still unable to use Skype, Vonage or any other Voice over IP service provider.
China (strict regulations on VoIP)
The Chinese government have banned unregulated VoIP until 2008, presumably because of the threat posed by VoIP providers to the incumbent PSTN telcos. However, the ban does allow 6 incumbents, China Unicom, China Telecom, China Mobile, China Netcom and 2 others, to offer VoIP services. Skype is available for computer – computer calls.
Shanghai Telecom, China
In July 2006 Shanghai Telecom purchased a network management system from Narus Inc. that can detect and block calls made over the internet. Skype was not blocked because the Chinese version of Skype does not connect to the PSTN, however, it has been somewhat neutered and offers only computer – computer calls.
If your ISP or government is blocking VoIP, there are several ways around it. One option is to setup an encrypted VPN while others might be interested in Bound-IP, an application built to foil ISPs who try to block VoIP.
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January 23rd, 2007 at 5:10 pm
I work on net neutrality issues and while I appreciate the effort that went into compiling your list, I feel that it is little more than an attempt to scare the public into supporting unnecessary and preemptive regulation of the Internet. Only two of your examples are based in the US, and in both cases the abuse was quickly handled. As Scott Cleland over at the Presursor Blog stated, “Existing laws are more than sufficient to address any potential net neutrality problem. FCC, FTC and DOJ all have existing authority and have stated they are vigilantly watching for any potential problems.” The Congressional regulation sought by net neutrality backers is the real danger facing the Internet as we know it. Like Dave Farber and Michael Katz wrote in their recent Washington Post article, “congressional initiatives aimed at preserving the best of the old Internet threaten to stifle the emergence of the new one.” You can find more information on the potential dangers of net neutrality by visiting http://www.handsoff.org.
January 23rd, 2007 at 7:59 pm
[...] Is there really that much resistance? You bet there is. A recent post over at VoIP-Sol.com lists 10 “countries” that have made moves to actively ban VoIP. However, two of the places banning VoIP are actually in the US, and another one is China, which suggests that hostility toward VoIP is both close-to-home and large-scale. Some ISPs block or hinder VoIP service by claiming that it eats up too much of their bandwidth. Others are hustling to get their own VoIP service to market before they get left in the dust. Regardless, the technology is out there, and its capability and quality are improving rapidly. And while VoIP isn’t necessary for every home network, many of you could probably appreciate a lower phone bill. [...]
January 24th, 2007 at 1:28 am
Clearwire never actually blocked VOIP. What they did, however (and still do), is use some of the most ridiculously aggressive packet shapers in the world.
January 24th, 2007 at 1:49 am
Don’t Forget South Korea. They block all VOIP except the one provided by the state telecom. Many of us servicemembers like to take our vonage or other voip phones with us when me move overseas, so we can have a hometown phone number. While the S.korean isp isnt that expensive I can’t get a U.S. phone number
January 24th, 2007 at 2:25 am
[...] VÃa: 10 ISPs and countries known to have blocked VoIP (VoIP-sol.com) [...]
January 24th, 2007 at 2:59 am
In SouthAmerica, I believe Paraguay is still the only country were is illegal to use VoIP services.
So the government controlled carrier has one of the highest prices in the region ;-(
January 24th, 2007 at 3:03 am
You’re wrong about China. I use Skype to call home and other telephones in and outside of China all the time, and a friend of mine here uses the SkypeIn feature with a local US number so her friends can call her here in China. The Chinese version is not stripped down either–perhaps there is one that is released through Tom.com that is more limited, but the Chinese version from skype.com works the same as the English version.
January 24th, 2007 at 3:06 am
There are a lot more companies and countries you can add to that!
January 24th, 2007 at 3:29 am
FYI. You forgot to write about Myanmar aka Burma. The ISP’s in Burma block all UDP ports as well as VoIP.
January 24th, 2007 at 3:34 am
[...] Scared of the loss of revenue posed by VoIP, some incumbent telcos and government have in the past blocked ports so that calls cannot connect with a user on their network. This is downright despicable, and it should have you very concerned. One has to ask, where it could lead to? Is VoIP blocking just the thin end of a much larger wedge? Will ISPs take it upon themselves to block IMs from contacts not on their network or bounce an email from your friend who uses a competing ISP?read more? [...]
January 24th, 2007 at 4:48 am
I usually have conferences with people using Telmex in Mexico(at least once a week for the last 3 years). Without any problem at all.
I use Skype and Yahoo voice.
January 24th, 2007 at 4:55 am
You missed Telecom in New Zealand, one of the most dishonest ISPs in the South Pacific. They are running scared and will do/say anything to obfuscate, including blocking other NZ ISPs who want to implement VOIP.
January 24th, 2007 at 12:01 pm
You missed one of the big player, Pakistan where Softwarehouse CEOs have been sent to prison and more n more strict actions are imposed day by day.
January 24th, 2007 at 3:51 pm
Welcome to Kuwait… where metacafe is blocked. where they pick folks from their houses and send them to jail (summer here goes to about 50 degrees centigrade for using internet telephony…
oh btw, guess who controls the telecom
January 24th, 2007 at 5:32 pm
[...] Internet telephony is a disruptive technology that threatens to upset the balance of power in telco-land. Some ISPs and countries feel so threatened that they’ve blocked VoIP traffic completely …read more | digg story Posted by alex on January 24th, 2007 Filed in Main [...]
January 24th, 2007 at 7:20 pm
Pakistan is another country where VoIP is not allowed.
January 24th, 2007 at 8:06 pm
In South Africa, VOIP was banned until about a year ago. We still have the problem of high prices of internet connectivity which makes VOIP far less viable
January 25th, 2007 at 6:50 am
Oman Telecommunications Company (OmanTel – http://www.omantel.net.om) is another company that fleeces consumers because of its monopoly. Never mind that it’s a quasi-government organisation now, but blocking VoIP and other applications is a crime!
January 27th, 2007 at 6:02 pm
clearwire sucks they have to be the worst broadband company to have come over to Ireland. first is crappy download limt second is there crappy speed third is that they block peer 2 peer fourth is there prices are too high and fifth is America sucks they want to take over the world they are a bunch of wankers.
February 21st, 2007 at 12:33 am
Don’t forget Myanmar
July 6th, 2007 at 8:53 pm
Hi, we have established a business in UAE but all VOIP call are blocked.
So we are interesting your software that will enable us unblock the voip services for our customers.
Please let me know how we can contact you.
Thanks:
August 20th, 2007 at 3:22 am
India is not there….I am a bit surprised.
August 20th, 2007 at 9:29 pm
We provide VoIP in Mexico since 1998, most of our customers use the SIP protocol on standard port (5060) with Telmex ADSL (Prodigy Infinitum) and never had a complaint. So while Telmex might not like VoIP packets to transit via their network, they do not block them, at least in the states we we have customer (over 12 different states)
October 7th, 2007 at 3:24 am
SpeedVoIP can solve your VoIP blocking problem by using our “VoiceGaurd” (VGCP) solution which especailly meets UAE,Dubai,middle-east,Asia market and so on . http://www.speed-voip.com, or contact J.han@speed-voip.com
VGCP controls and monitors full voice signaling and media flow intelligently, meanwhile disguises sip and rtp packets into normal allowed data packets such as DNS and TFTP, and makes two-way encryption and decryption driven by user-customized policy.
VGCP is fully transparent to upper SIP proxy or UA which means VoiceGuard® can work with any 3rd-party Softphone/ATA/Gateway/IPPhone/IADs and SIP proxy or server not like some competitors which take effect on their own device and softswitch.
October 7th, 2007 at 3:30 am
SpeedVoIP can solve your VoIP blocking problem by using our “VoiceGaurd” (VGCP) solution which especailly meets UAE,Dubai,middle-east,Asia market and so on . http://www.speed-voip.com, contact: xd.wong@speed-voip.com
VGCP controls and monitors full voice signaling and media flow intelligently, meanwhile disguises sip and rtp packets into normal allowed data packets such as DNS and TFTP, and makes two-way encryption and decryption driven by user-customized policy.
VGCP is fully transparent to upper SIP proxy or UA which means VoiceGuard® can work with any 3rd-party Softphone/ATA/Gateway/IPPhone/IADs and SIP proxy or server not like some competitors which take effect on their own device and softswitch.
December 13th, 2007 at 11:45 am
Hi we have Pc2phone and device2phnoe service working good in UEA, Oman , Yemen and other country where Voip is blocked.
For test send your request to :
e-mail : sales@phone2voip.net
MSN : telecom_voip@hotmail.com
URL : http://www.phone2voip.net
January 16th, 2008 at 6:26 pm
Use VPN to unblock voip
http://www.blacklogic.com
January 20th, 2008 at 5:36 pm
Unblock voip works great
January 20th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
http://www.vpnaccounts.com to unblock voip and more
February 16th, 2008 at 6:15 am
I have used Surf Bouncer in the UAE several times and it takes care of the VoIP blocking issue. In addition it gives me peace of mind whenever I am online that my data and voice calls can’t be monitored by the foreign country I’m in.
February 16th, 2008 at 6:16 am
I have used Surf Bouncer in UAE several times and it takes care of the VOIP blocking issue. In addition it gives me peace of mind whenever I am on line that my data and voice calls can’t be monitored by the foreign country I’m in.
February 27th, 2008 at 5:30 am
Use Black Byte Networks http://www.blackbytenetworks.com to unblock skype, voip. It works great, give you enough bandwidth.
sandy
March 13th, 2008 at 8:13 pm
I run Vonage in Belize. I have been avoiding the local telecom’s (BTL) blocking of VOIP by encrypting the voice data packets. This is a very, very common technique in Belize. However, BTL is now blocking encrypted packets. Users can’t even encrypt data without getting an error message. Not sure what banks, etc. are doing, but needless to say this is awful and people should be angry.
May 6th, 2008 at 12:25 am
[...] http://www.voip-sol.com/10-isps-and-countries-known-to-have-blocked-voip/ 4.) Discuss how you would feel if the Australian government banned the Internet. What privileges would you lose? (2 Paragraphs) [...]
May 14th, 2008 at 8:29 am
Currently I am using a VPN for VOIP service called VPN4VOIP (http://www.vpn4voip.com), they can tunnel your VOIP packets through any of UDP port that your ISP opened (no ISP block every UDP port, mostly they will open 1-2 UDP ports for network management purpose).
Also you get a static IP for your Voice Over IP Gateway (for example cisco or quintum), good for VOIP termination scenario. dedicate bandwidth for VOIP traffic guarantees a good service quality for serial business application like us. Price is per month based, not for individual usage, but definitely best for VOIP business people.