Digital Rights |The "SAM Organization" issued a report on the restrictions imposed on the Internet service in Yemen, which impeded users' access to the service in large areas of the country.
The report stated that the percentage of fixed Internet subscriptions to the population amounted to 1.21%, with a total of 400 thousand subscribers, and the percentage of mobile Internet subscribers to the population reached 30.08%, with nearly 10 million subscribers, and added that the share of the Internet user in Yemen amounts to 30 kilobytes of the total international capacity ( 174 GB).
The report mentioned examples of these restrictions, starting with the monopoly of the service by the only Internet provider, "YemenNet", to controlling it through blocking and filtering, narrowing the scope of service, in addition to raising the prices of packages, and emphasizing the owners of "commercial Wi-Fi networks" and other restrictions. Which hindered a large segment of Yemenis and deprived them of the ability to enjoy an adequate Internet service.
The report indicated that Internet services in Yemen are poor in quality and prices offered, and a large amount of Internet services required in the local market has not yet been met, and the Internet penetration rate in Yemen is the lowest among countries in the Middle East and North Africa, adding that reliance on a source A single and expensive provider of Internet capacity (Falcon submarine cable) has left local Internet operators uncompetitive and their ability to offer affordable prices to the end user.
The report issued by “SAM” stated that the monopoly of Internet services by a single provider prevents the private sector from competing in the market, and therefore “the provider takes advantage of the matter in imposing its conditions on the user who accepts them forcibly, because there is no alternative, in addition to relying on a single provider that made The percentage of Internet users in Yemen is the lowest in the Arab world and in the world.
