Yet Camara had earlier denied that the government had blocked the internet portal, Viber. We are working together to see how we can come to a better solution that would be acceptable to all parties. I know there are other services that Viber has affected and it is not good for them. I am not pointing fingers at any operator. The blockade of Viber has nothing to do with Public Utility Regulatory Authority (PURA), the blockage is at operators’ level. The top government official stated that telecommunications service providers (“operators”) had instituted a block, but fell short of mentioning specific providers. I am not here to support whatever might have happened but in as much as we felt it is not in our best interests, we need to be very analytical about the whole situation.
I think people need to see the bigger picture about it. someone can just develop software for free and use it, if you take these operators out of business you would no longer be able to use that free service anymore because someone is investing in a platform that is enabling you to use that service.
Lamin Camara, Deputy Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Information Technology commented on the issue for online news site Gambia Affairs: Now, nearly a year later, Viber users are reporting problems using the free service. In April 2013, the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority announced the banning of Viber, dating sites, and VoIP services such as Skype in public cafes, deeming them “illegal”. But this information was quickly contradicted by the Ministry of Information and Communication Infrastructure, which stated that these services had not been banned by government. Sources close to the Gambia’s Telecommunications Company (GAMTEL) have hinted that the government is interfering with the free calling and messaging service, Viber. NICE ICT development center in Tabokoto, The Gambia.