Dubai Media City (DMC), part of

Dubai Holding Dubai Holding ( ar, دبي القابضة) is Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum's personal investment portfolio, which owns 99.67% of the capital. It is a global investment holding company. Mohamed al Gergawi built the portfo ...

, is a tax-free zone within

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia ( The Middle East). It is located at t ...

History and profile

The Dubai Media City was established and built in 2000 and inaugurated in January 2001 by the government of Dubai to boost UAE's media foothold. Since then, it has become a regional hub for media organizations including news agencies, publishing, online media, advertising, production, and broadcast facilities. The groundwork for infrastructure (such as

fiber optic An optical fiber, or optical fibre in Commonwealth English, is a flexible, transparent fiber made by drawing glass (silica) or plastic to a diameter slightly thicker than that of a human hair. Optical fibers are used most often as a means t ...

cables) was already in place for firms to set up easily and its visa and operational procedures are relaxed for firms operating within DMC. Dubai Media City has become a major hub for the media industry in the GCC and the Middle East, with more than 1,300 companies being registered under the Free Zone, from where they serve the entire region. It also houses the

International Cricket Council The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the world governing body of cricket. Headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, its members are 108 national associations, with 12 Full Members and 96 Associate Members. Founded in 1909 as the ' ...

, the governing body for the game of

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

in the world, which was previously situated in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

up to 2005. On April 14, 2005, Irish vocal pop band

Westlife Westlife is an Irish pop vocal group formed in Dublin, Ireland in 1998. The group currently consists of members Shane Filan, Mark Feehily, Kian Egan, and Nicky Byrne. Brian McFadden was a member, until he left in 2004. The group temporarily di ...

held a concert for their

The No 1's Tour The No 1's Tour by Irish boy band Westlife. It was seen by 330,000 fans and made £8 million worldwide. The tour was originally called ''The Red Carpet Tour'', but the name was later changed as confusion over the type of show became apparent. ...

supporting their album '' ...Allow Us to Be Frank''.

Censorship

On 16 November 2007, the Dubai government ordered Tecom (implemented by Du Samacom, by disabling their SDI and ASI streams) to shut down the Pakistani independent and private channels Geo News TV and

ARY One World ARY Digital Network ( ur, ) is a subsidiary of the ARY Group. The ARY group of companies is a Dubai-based holding company founded by a Pakistani businessman, Haji Abdul Razzak Yaqoob (ARY). The network has a video on demand streaming service call ...

on the demand of the

military regime A military dictatorship is a dictatorship in which the military exerts complete or substantial control over political authority, and the dictator is often a high-ranked military officer. The reverse situation is to have civilian control of the m ...

of Pakistan led by

General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

and

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Pervez Musharraf General Pervez Musharraf ( ur, , Parvez Muśharraf; born 11 August 1943) is a former Pakistani politician and four-star general of the Pakistan Army who became the tenth president of Pakistan after the successful military takeover of t ...

. Later policy makers in Dubai permitted these channels to air their entertainment programs, but news, current affairs and political analysis were forbidden to be aired. Later, however, the conditions were removed but a marked difference has been observed in the coverage of Geo TV and ARY OneWorld. On 13 April 2008, du EITC - the second telecommunications operator in the UAE- announced that all of its traffic would be routed via the UAE's censorship proxy which blocks access to any content deemed 'inappropriate'. On January 30, 2008, an incident revealed the size of problem, when fibre optic cables between Palermo, Italy, and

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

were said to have been damaged. There was a significant slowdown of communications. The UAE telecommunications company and DMC's internet service provider du EITC was one of the worst hit. Since du EITC has a monopoly in the Free Zones, customers had no alternative connectivity during the outage. On 19 December 2008 the three submarine cables between Italy and Egypt were damaged again, disrupting Internet and telephone communications between

UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

and Europe, as reported by

Bloomberg Bloomberg may refer to: People * Daniel J. Bloomberg (1905–1984), audio engineer * Georgina Bloomberg (born 1983), professional equestrian * Michael Bloomberg (born 1942), American businessman and founder of Bloomberg L.P.; politician and m ...

Towers

There are a total of 84 towers built or planned to be built in the Dubai Media City.

References

External links

*
Corporate Video on Dubai Media CityDubai Media City DirectoryDubai Media City on WikimapiaList of radio stations in Dubai and the UAERTA Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dubai Media City Emirati companies established in 2000 Free-trade zones of the United Arab Emirates Media City Media City Media City Media City Media City Government-owned companies of the United Arab Emirates 2000 establishments in the United Arab Emirates

History and profile

Censorship

Towers

See also

References

External links