Use of the Internet in Yemen began in 1996 through the ISPs TeleYemen and the Public Telecommunications Corporation.Percentage of Individuals using the Internet 2000-2011, International Telecommunication Union, accessed on 19 August 2012. The country uses the .ye domain. As of 2020, 14% of the population are Internet users.
Growth Rapid development of the telecommunications and information technology sectors in Yemen occurred from 2000 to 2005. The extent of investments in infrastructure development of telecom and IT systems came to more than YR 80 billion, in addition to loans of $31 million by the South Korean government. The number of Internet users increased from just 3,800 in 1991 to 110,000 in 2006, reaching 4,072,264 by 2010.
Mobile phone usage has also expanded. In 2006, there were 2.75 million mobile cellular subscribers."Yemen", World Factbook, U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, retrieved 16 February 2013 By 2023, the number of mobile cellular subscriptions had risen to 20 million.
There has been a huge demand for faster Internet connections in Yemen, and that pushed the two ISPs, TeleYemen, operators of the service YNET, and YemenNet, through the state's powerful Ministry of Telecommunications, to introduce ADSL and ISDN connections. Also, the E-government project that started to give the citizens the ability to access web services and finalize G2C transactions in 2000 increased the number of Internet users dramatically. But still the quality of speed is not that up to the mark. There were 84,000 fixed broadband subscriptions in 2010.Fixed broadband subscriptions, International Telecommunication Union. Accessed on 8 April 2012. By 2022, the number of broadband users stood at 486,000.
Censorship
In a report by the OpenNet Initiative in October 2012, Yemen is listed as engaged in pervasive Internet censorship in social and political areas such as restrictions to Internet collaboration tools and in the conflict/security area.OpenNet Initiative "Summarized global Internet filtering data spreadsheet", 29 October 2012 and "Country Profiles", the OpenNet Initiative is a collaborative partnership of the Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto; the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University; and the SecDev Group, Ottawa
Yemen was included in Reporters Without Borders list of countries "under surveillance" in 2008 and 2009, but not in 2010 or 2011.Internet Enemies , Reporters Without Borders (Paris), 12 March 2012
Yemen censors pornography, nudity, gay and lesbian content, escort and dating services, sites displaying provocative attire, Web sites which present critical reviews of Islam and/or attempt to convert Muslims to other religions, or content related to alcohol, gambling, and drugs."ONI Country Profile: Yemen", OpenNet Initiative, August 2009
Yemen's Ministry of Information declared in April 2008 that the penal code will be used to prosecute writers who publish Internet content that "incites hatred" or "harms national interests"."Lawzi: Ma Yonshar fi Sahafat Al Internet Lan Yakon Ba'eedan A'n Al Mosa'ala bimojib Qanoon Al Oqobat" (Online journalism is subject to the penal code: Lawzi, Yemeni Minister of Information)" , Saba, 3 February 2008 Yemen's two ISPs, YemenNet and TeleYemen, block access to gambling, adult, sex education, and some religious content. The ISP TeleYemen (aka Y.Net) prohibits "sending any message which is offensive on moral, religious, communal, or political grounds" and will report "any use or attempted use of the Y.Net service which contravenes any applicable Law of the Republic of Yemen". TeleYemen reserves the right to control access to data stored in its system “in any manner deemed appropriate by TeleYemen.”“Terms and conditions for Y.Net Service ”, TeleYemen
In Yemen closed rooms or curtains that might obstruct views of the monitors are not allowed in Internet cafés, computer screens in Internet cafés must be visible to the floor supervisor, police have ordered some Internet cafés to close at midnight, and demanded that users show their identification cards to the café operator."Search for Pornographic Material on Rise; Children are most Vulnerable", Moneer Al-Omari, Yemen Post, 12 January 2009
In March 2015, the Ministry of Yemen denied any plans to block Facebook after the last control by Houthis,Yemen explains facts about blocking some social networks (Arabic media news) though it has become apparent that the government applied bandwidth control filter to Facebook website in particular.
AdenNet Following the 2014 Battle of Sanaa, Houthi rebels took control of YemenNet, the country's major internet service provider. Government forces aligned with Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi created AdenNet in June 2018 as an alternative ISP.
Network Allocation Quick-Reference Carrier GSM / CDMA BandLTE Band (Frequency)Yemen MobileBC0 (800 MHz)Band 3 (1800 MHz)Yemen 4GNoneBand 3 / 20 / 28 / 41Sabafon900 MHzBand 3 (1800 MHz)YOU900 / 1800 MHzBand 3 (1800 MHz)Y Telecom900 MHzBand 3 (1800 MHz)
See also Telecommunications in Yemen
Y-Telecom, GSM provider in Yemen. Sabafon, GSM provider in Yemen. Yemeni Omani United (YOU - formerly MTN), GSM provider in Yemen, previously known as Spacetel and currently known as YOU. Yemen 4G, LTE provider in Yemen, known as TeleYemen (Yemeni International Telecommunications Company) is the exclusive licensed provider of international telecommunications and satellite communications services in Yemen. A fully state-owned entity under the Ministry of Telecommunications, it manages the country's international gateways, connects corporate customers, and facilitates satellite communications (including Thuraya).
References