Saddam Al-Salahi has been working in the field of designing and programming websites and mobile applications for years, which is the profession that he is only good at and his main source of livelihood, as he describes it, adding that he cannot work in any other jobs. Likewise, he is passionate about this field, and aspires to bring about a radical change in this field in Yemen. However, the Internet in Yemen stands against him every time.
Due to the nature of his work, he needs to use the Internet continuously, and because he works in this field independently—that is, he is not linked to a certain employer or business—he needs a fast Internet connection that allows him to work easily and smoothly, which he has not been able to provide for years. Al-Salahi says in his interview with "Khuyut" that he has suffered greatly over the past years at work due to the poor quality of the Internet and its limited speed. Additionally, for the same reason, he used to take a long time to complete simple tasks.
Furthermore, Internet users have been suffering from poor service and its high cost for years. Although the service entered Yemen at the end of the 1990s of the last century, it remained neglected and lacked its most basic components. In addition to the monopoly of the service by the TeleYemen company, which is the main provider of telecommunications and Internet services in the country.
Until recently, the company was distributing the service to users via ADSL copper cables, which are an old technology created in order to provide terrestrial telecommunications service before DSL was introduced and which were converted later to Internet data transmission, at a speed not exceeding 4 megabytes. Subsequently, mobile telecommunications companies were provided with the internet, but with very weak technology. However, the mobile data internet service remained the monopoly of Yemen Mobile Company, which is a public shareholding company from the public and private sectors, as it was the only company in Yemen that provided the third generation 3G service for many years.
According to the Cable Website, which specializes in monitoring internet prices around the world, it monitored the cost of mobile internet in 2021 in Yemen at an average of 16.58%, which is the most expensive Arab country in terms of prices.
In 2018, the internationally recognized government launched a new 4G internet provider company under the name (Aden Net). This move was aimed at pulling the rug out from under the TeleYemen company, which is currently under the control of Ansar Allah (Houthis), which also provides medium-speed internet service at lower prices than the previous one.
At that time, many users were optimistic, but then the reality disappointed them, as the company has not yet been able to expand and exit the city of Aden. In addition to the lack of “Sim cards", which are being sold in the black markets at prices exceeding three thousand Saudi riyals, according to citizens there,
Intense Competition
At the beginning of last year, in 2022, Yemen Mobile announced the launch of the fourth generation of 4G internet service. Therewith, Al-Salahi went to subscribe to the service in the hope that the experience would be satisfactory and suitable for him and his work. On the other hand, he says to "Khuyut" that the cost at the beginning was high and greatly exaggerated, in addition to the poor service at many times, according to Al-Salahi.
Later that same year, the Yemeni Omani United Telecom Company (YOU), formerly MTN, announced the operation of the fourth generation Internet service (4G). It was able to enter the market at very competitive prices, which forced Yemen Mobile to adjust prices to half of the amount previously planned. Once again, Al-Salahi decided to try the Internet of YOU company instead of the previous one (Yemen Mobile).
Likewise, by the end of the last year, 2022, the Yemeni telecom companies in the areas controlled by Ansar Allah (Houthis) had switched to the fourth generation technology (4G). In addition, Yemen’s Public Telecommunications Corporation created a new internet service by providing the service through its own modems, supported by a SIM card, and providing internet service with the fourth generation (4G) technology via broadcast at better prices than other companies. However, the prices for entering the service were high and exaggerated. Moreover, until now, it still suffers from severe network weakness and does not reach all areas.
Fadi Al-Odaini, in his interview with "Khuyut", says that he was one of the first people who subscribed to the Internet service provided by the Public Telecommunications Corporation, in order to use a high-quality Internet that enables him to access the e-learning platforms in which he is registered, but he was surprised that the service is not as good as the company promoted. In addition to the fact that the internet balance is running out very quickly, as he uses “alone" three packages per month, each package contains 25 GB, which made him question the credibility of the company.
Expensive Prices and Poor Service
During the last period, Al-Salahi experienced Internet service from all service providers. At first, the Internet speed was up to 20 megabytes per second, and at times a little more than that. However, the situation has changed with the passage of time, and the speed now is no longer reaches 10 megabytes except in very rare cases. According to Al-Salahi, the service is getting worse day after day, in addition to the high service prices.
On the other hand, the Speedtest Global Index of Internet speed data around the world, issued by the American company "Ookla," shows a remarkable progress in the average download speed over the Internet for mobile phones in Yemen for the past two years, 2021 and 2022. The speed has reached 9.76 megabytes per second, after it was in previous years not exceeding 2 megabytes per second. While Yemen ranks 134 out of 141 countries in terms of internet speed ranking globally. It also comes in the penultimate place, followed by Syria in terms of internet speed ranking in the Arab countries.
According to the Cable website, which specializes in monitoring internet prices around the world, it monitored the cost of mobile internet in the year 2021 in Yemen, at a rate of 16.58%, which is the most expensive Arab country in terms of prices. This monitoring was done before the entry of the fourth generation(4G) technology —that is, the prices were measured according to the internet prices provided by 3G and 1x technology. While the data of Yemen Mobile, published on the company's website, indicates that the price of 1 gigabyte of 3G Internet is about $6, whereas the data of other companies, which used to provide customers with 1X Internet service, indicates the same price, with a slight difference from the previous one.
After the telecommunications companies provided the fourth-generation (4G) internet to users, the prices of services fell significantly. As the price of 1 gigabyte became about one dollar only, while the prices of the Internet provided by the third and first generation technology provided by the same companies, their price remained unchanged, according to users.
Accumulated Issues
Internet users complain of many issues and problems related to the service and its quality. In general, the telecommunications and internet sector is witnessing many difficulties and challenges, including: frequent interruptions of service, hacking practices, the continuous blocking of internet sites, and its high cost. Furthermore, the war also greatly caused the destruction of the telecommunications and internet sector, as the repeated targeting of the sector caused the destruction of thousands of towers and facilities of it. The sector's losses have also reached about $6.7 billion since the beginning of the war, according to reports by the Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Technology in Sana'a.
The ongoing war in Yemen halted the development of the dilapidated infrastructure of the sector, and also destroyed the country's main internet gateways (i.e. access to international connectivity via terrestrial and submarine cables). As 4 out of 6 internet gateways (links) owned by Yemen have been destroyed and halted. Whilst the Falcon cable in Al-Hodeidah, which covers about 80% of the areas in the country, is currently being relied on, along with al-Ghaydhah port, which is another sea port linked to the Falcon submarine cable.
In addition to the above, Yemen also owns the Aden Net gateway, which was scheduled to enter service in 2017, but the war postponed it until an unknown time.
Mohammed Al-kowkabani, an engineer specialized in telecommunications, believes that the reason behind the poor internet service in Yemen is due to Yemen's complete dependence on the Falcon submarine cable, as it is very old and expensive, and besides that, its capacity is not sufficient to meet the country's needs.
Al-kowkabani adds, in his interview with "Khuyut", that the dilapidated infrastructure in the sector is not qualified to switch to the fourth generation technology, although the transformation has already been done, but the service will remain bad and getting worse day after day, pointing to the necessity of stabilizing the situation in Yemen, neutralizing the telecommunications sector from the tools of the conflict, and working to operate the Aden telecommunications gate, which is the best solution to solve the problem of the poor internet service in Yemen.
