The internet in Yemen is the poorest and most expensive in the world
English - Sunday 23 February 2020 الساعة 04:19 pm
Newsyemen, Privet
The World Bank said that Internet services in Yemen are weak in quality and high in prices, and do not meet a large amount of Internet services required in the local market, stressing that the rate of Internet penetration in Yemen is the lowest among the countries of the MENA region.
The World Bank made it clear in its latest update, "The Latest Economic Developments in Yemen - January 2020", that the communications sector "Internet" is on the brink of fragmentation between the warring parties, and there is no longer any commitment to the legal, political and regulatory framework for the telecommunications sector.
It added, "It is now obligatory for the private sector mobile operators to follow the instructions of the ministries of communications and information technology in Sana'a and Aden and pay taxes."
The Yemeni economy continues to suffer from the fragmentation of national institutions between the two conflicting parties, and the individual decisions taken by each of them, which complicates the economic crisis and the human suffering caused by violent conflict.
The World Bank report indicated that the recent internet outages across the country demonstrated the vulnerability of the risk of disconnection from the global Internet.
The internet outage in Yemen since January 9, 2020, by more than 80%, has caused paralysis in commercial and financial transactions, including remittances from abroad, and widespread social and economic turmoil in Yemen.
The disruption of the internet service also resulted in a paralysis in banking transactions, exchange houses, vital business and official jobs throughout Yemen, which exacerbated the chaos that accompanied the ban on dealing in new banknotes.
Despite the Yemeni economy’s reliance on banknotes transactions, its accessibility depends heavily on automated exchange networks and exchange houses, and with the absence of internet connectivity, smart phone applications, such as the remittance system and electronic riyal payment, have stopped.
There were severe restrictions on remittances, which are the main lifeblood of many Yemenis, and in some cases even stopped due to the interruption of communication with international exchange companies, bank correspondence and dealings with the international financial sector, which highlights the huge humanitarian impacts resulting from the impact of the Internet service.
The World Bank report noted that the escalating political division led to taking countermeasures, including attempts to establish a second international portal, which would lead to fragmentation of communication rather than being a supportive backup source for it.
Since the beginning of the conflict in 2015, the telecommunications sector in Yemen has suffered increasing losses and systematic targeting of infrastructure, due to the reliance of both parties on the communication technology, the infrastructure of communications was among the strategic objectives in the conflict, as well as direct damage to the infrastructure.
The telecommunications sector in Yemen has tangible effects on public finance, as, prior to the conflict, this sector occupied second place after the oil and gas sector as a source of hard currency and generating revenues for public finance.
