Internet Outages in Yemen Impede Daily Life and Economic Progress

Sawt Al-Amal (Voice of Hope) – Yasmine Abdulhafeez

In 2022, Yemen experienced a nationwide internet outage that lasted for four consecutive days. This disruption, a result of the ongoing conflict, had a devastating impact on various aspects of daily life and the economy. Citizens were deprived of essential services that allowed them to communicate with each other effortlessly and cost-effectively, both within Yemen and abroad. Many businesses were forced to halt operations due to their reliance on the Internet for communication with customers and suppliers. Education and healthcare services were also severely affected.

The outage resulted in substantial financial losses for companies and institutions, and overall economic activity declined. This highlights the critical importance of telecommunications and internet services in all aspects of daily life and the economy.

Amal Muhammad Salim (pseudonym) says, “During that period, I realized that internet service is one of the most important services provided by telecommunications companies to their customers. Without it, the world would be a difficult place to live, and people would be isolated from each other, especially since many families now communicate with their relatives abroad through the internet, using direct messaging applications. Many people in society also missed out on educational, training, and knowledge-based opportunities in various fields, including politics, economics, technology, culture, and education.”

Amal is one of millions of Yemenis who were affected by the internet outage. She lives in Al-Hodeidah Governorate with her family. Before the internet outage, she traveled to Sana’a to take an English language training course. Her father had suggested that she should improve her skills by studying English at a language institute.

Amal explained that during her time away from her family, the internet was her lifeline, allowing her to stay in constant contact with them and check on their well-being, especially since it was the first time she had been away from them. With the internet down, she was unable to communicate with them face-to-face, although she was able to talk to them on the phone. However, it was not the same level of reassurance that they were accustomed to, and calling them every day was expensive.

Amal said that she felt isolated from the world and was unable to access the lessons and information that she normally found by browsing the internet. She asks, “How can people learn without the internet? Can they get a strong education without it?”

Amal was not the only one who suffered from the internet outage or the poor service that has compounded the challenges faced by young people aspiring to develop themselves online, as it is a more affordable option than traveling abroad. Abdul-Salam Muhammad, a business administration student in the Faculty of Economics, worked in website design and other tasks that required fast internet. However, the outage, coupled with poor service and frequent intermittent disruptions, caused him to lose a significant amount of work.

The media sector was also affected by the internet outage in Yemen. News feeds on many online news websites were interrupted, and the number of website visits dropped, resulting in financial losses. Additionally, there was a decline in interaction on social media platforms due to the outage. Foreign news agencies and newspapers also stopped covering news from inside Yemen due to the difficulty of communicating with their correspondents.

In recent years, the need for different telecommunication services has increased for Yemeni citizens, whether for phone calls or internet use, especially with the difficulty of moving from one area to another. Phone service is a solution for individuals to communicate with others, and it also helps save time and cost in transactions, in addition to the fact that it contributes greatly to social cohesion.

With the interruption of the government’s YemenNet service during that period, which included all Yemeni governorates, the role of Aden Net service emerged, which only operates in southern Yemen, especially in the city of Aden, and it works with 4G technology, which was launched in 2018 and is characterized by high speeds ranging between 5 and 30 megabytes. It was the alternative to YemenNet service during that period, but its activity is limited to the city of Aden only, and it cannot be used outside the governorate’s points.

Overview of Telecommunications Services in Yemen

The telecommunications sector in Yemen has witnessed great developments during the past two decades, as the number of mobile phone users has increased significantly, and the scope of internet coverage has expanded to include all parts of the country.

Internet service in Yemen began in 1996 through Yemen Telecommunications Company (TeleYemen), which is the oldest company, established in 1990 between the Public Telecommunications Corporation in Yemen and the British Cable & Wireless Company. Its most prominent services are international calling, the Internet, and others.

The number of internet subscribers in the Public Telecommunications Corporation reached more than 531,405 subscribers in mid-2023 in the (ADSL) service, the (LTE) 4G service, and fiber optics, according to a report issued by the corporation and published by the Yemeni News Agency Saba.

Internet services are also witnessing a great turnout due to the global boom in the field of politics, economics, and technological education in various countries of the world; which has made individuals constantly connected to the Internet service to learn about all these developments and try to obtain and apply them, especially since the internet has become available everywhere via mobile devices, and at the lowest possible cost.

In addition to the urgent need for internet service in commercial and banking transactions, and indirect education, such as courses and training workshops, and obtaining educational resources in different places, including e-books and human cadres, and others.

The Information Center report stated that Yemen has many local network systems to provide mobile phone service, namely Yemen Mobile, which is jointly owned by the private sector, the state, and many citizens as contributors, this company’s system is called CDMA, and there is another system according to the report, which is GSM, and three mobile phone companies operate with it, and work on this system began in 2001.

The report attributed that the competition in developing services for citizens and covering all areas of the country, in addition to the competition in prices, helped increase the number of mobile phone users in Yemen.

Telecommunication Services in Yemen

Telecommunication services in Yemen are still poor and inadequate compared to other countries in the world, although Yemen used to be one of the best countries in the field of telecommunications,” says Raid Al-Thabti, an academic at Saba University.

He adds in his interview that Yemen is still in the third generation in the field of telecommunications, and there are networks in the second generation, and the fourth-generation service has recently entered the Yemeni telecommunications sector, while other countries have launched the fourth generation since 2010 and started using the fifth generation since 2020.

He continues, “We need to exert more efforts to improve the telecommunications sector in Yemen, and during the period of the conflict, no more improvement has been made to develop this field as it was before.”

He pointed out the most prominent challenges that prevent the development of the telecommunications sector in Yemen, which is the ongoing conflict in the country, which has contributed to the significant deterioration of the infrastructure.

He believes that neutralizing the field of telecommunications in Yemen and making efforts to improve and develop its services can contribute to the launch of this sector, which is one of the important sectors, especially since Yemen’s location encourages investment in it, and it supervises the passage of many marine cables that pass through the territorial and Yemeni waters, especially since there is a great demand for this service.

Despite the various services provided by different telecommunications companies in Yemen, albeit weak compared to what telecommunications companies provide in other countries, many citizens in different parts of the country suffer from poor coverage. This is especially problematic for those who rely on telecommunications for their activities and for accessing information, as well as for citizens who depend on telecommunications services to communicate with each other.

The Use of These Services

Rasheed Muhammad, a community activist, talks about the most important uses of telecommunications sector services in Yemen and points out that the most important uses of telecommunications and the Internet are many and varied according to the needs of the beneficiary of this service. Some of them use it as a tool to communicate with others and to learn about everything new to satisfy their desire to acquire knowledge, and others use it for their great need in the field of bank transfers, paying phone bills, making money transfers, and managing businesses, such as direct selling.

He added, “One of the important uses of Internet services is direct access to various and constantly updated social media, promoting talents, enhancing community awareness on many social issues, and promoting tourism by posting captivating landscapes. This contributes to promoting both domestic and international tourism, showcasing young talents such as young poets and facilitating access to their poetic work, providing media coverage of all events, embodying the Yemeni identity, and expressing reality.”

The services provided by the telecommunications sector in Yemen vary and are of great importance in people’s daily lives. No one is without a phone to stay connected with others and to use the various internet applications, The communications and information sector has kept individuals in constant touch with the world. Therefore, concerted efforts are necessary to urge all parties not to target the telecommunications and internet services. These services should be kept away from any political conflicts. Efforts should be made to end the conflict and work to develop the service in a positive way that serves the country economically.