The CITC has yet to specify what regulatory requirements and rules Viber has breached, but it seems that Saudi Arabia is pushing for a much tighter control over cyberspace as Internet and smartphone usage among the kingdom’s peasants continues to rise. The mobile app has yet to generate revenue despite its relative success, but the company has plans on putting up a “sticker shop,” much like how Line gets its coins. Viber, which works similarly to WhatsApp and Line, enables users to make and receive calls and messages for free, as well as share files with contacts over the Internet. “The Viber application has been suspended… and the (regulator) affirms it will take appropriate action against any other applications or services if they fail to comply with regulatory requirements and rules in force in the kingdom,” the state’s Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) said in a statement published on its website. Reuters has reported that Saudi Arabia’s telecommunications regulating office has banned the use of Viber, a web-based communications app, largely because the state finds the app difficult to monitor while depriving licensed wireless carriers of earning from international calls and text messages.
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