Aden Net..a failed project for legitimacy, or a victim of a conspiracy of corruption?
English - Sunday 29 August 2021 الساعة 08:54 am
Aden, NewsYemen, special:
In this sharp language, the Ministry of Communications in the legitimate government expressed its anger at the news about the future of the “Aden Net” company, and suggested that its fate would be closing or merging it with a new telecommunications company.
This news came after the company stopped providing internet service to its subscribers in Aden for two full days, with the disclosure of the imminent launch of a new 4G telecommunications company provided by the company, which prompted speculation about the failure or expiration of the "Aden Net" company.
The company, launched by President Hadi in June 2018, was described at the time as a $100 million strategic project to provide fourth-generation data transmission services to the entire governorates of the Republic, and an introduction to ending the Houthi group’s control of the telecommunications file.
However, the fate of the company for more than three years of this talk ended in a semblance of failure, and it remained limited to providing Internet service in parts of the city of Aden, with a quality that did not differ much from what was provided by "Yemen Net", which is under the control of the Houthis, but the company was unable to cover the need. The large internet service provider in Aden, which turned its devices into an expensive commodity that is sold on the black market at prices that exceeded about 3,000 Saudi riyals.
A mysterious and confusing situation. The company and the ministry refuse to provide any explanation for the failure of the project despite its great technical capabilities. The establishment of the company came after the completion of the Asia-Africa-Europe 1 (AAE-1) submarine cable project, to which Yemen contributed $30 million in 2013, and the work was completed. In June 2017, Yemen was connected through a digital portal in Aden.
The new submarine cable, with a length of 25,000 km, connects about 20 countries from Southeast Asia to Europe via Egypt, and is one of the latest transmission technologies at a speed of 100 gigabytes per second, with a design capacity of not less than 40 terabytes per second, of which Yemen’s share was 1, 8 terabytes.
This means a major shift in the telecommunication service in Yemen compared to the old and only submarine cable "Falcon" that Yemen or the "Yemen Net" company has relied on since its founding, whose capacity does not exceed 2.56 terabytes per second only.
Comparing these numbers raises a puzzling question about the reason for the failure of the "Aden Net" project, while the capabilities offered by the new submarine cable indicate that the company is able to provide Internet service to the governorates of Yemen with the fourth generation technology, which is 5 times more than what is provided by "YemenNet". The monopoly of the home internet and what is provided by the company "Yemen Mobile", which monopolizes the 3G service.
In the absence of any information from the Ministry and the company answering this question, possibilities can be presented to answer it, most notably the failure of legitimacy to date to transfer the management of the Yemeni Company for International Telecommunications "TeleYemen", which is the gateway for international communications to provide local telecommunications companies with telecommunications services, and is still Its administration is under the control of the Houthi group in Sanaa, despite the legitimacy of a decision to transfer it to Aden in January 2019.
What indicates this is the official website of the company that manages the submarine cable (AAE-1). The site lists the names of the participants in the project from government and private telecommunications companies, including “TeleYemen.” By clicking on its icon, you will be referred to the company’s website under Houthi control. This means that the company still recognizes the management of the Houthi "TeleYemen", which suggests that the legitimacy is unable to benefit from the new submarine cable project, which explains the failure of the launch of the "Aden Net" project.
What also reinforces this is the statement of the official source of the Ministry of Communications about the situation of the "Aden Net" company, in which he explained the reasons for stopping it for two whole days, as he said that it was caused by "the interruption of the external links extending to the international maritime line linking Djibouti and Aden", which confirms that the company has become It is based on this line that was established in 1994 and not on the new submarine cable (AAE-1).
The likely failure of the project due to the general failure inherent in the administration of legitimacy in general, stands in the face of the recent news of the imminent launch of a new telecommunications company in 4 liberated cities with 4G purification, on the impact of a huge advertising campaign in the streets of these cities, under the mysterious title #Stay_connected.
According to media sources, the campaign is a suspense for the expected launch of the “Y” company next November in Aden, Marib, Mukalla and Hadramout, after more than a year and a half of talking about its transfer from Sana’a and Aden, and the confirmation of the former Minister of Communications Lotfi Bashir in August 2020 about the launch of its work from Aden, except That it stopped mysteriously.
Major accusations were raised about the matter denying that the matter was a transfer of the company from Sanaa to Aden, where activists and journalists confirmed that it is a new telecommunications company that is being prepared for by prominent leaders in the legitimacy, headed by Jalal, son of President Hadi, and the Brotherhood businessman Ahmed Al-Eisi with the same name, citing documents of the directives of the former minister, Sharif, to exempt equipment from customs.
According to specialists, the launch of the company indicates the existence of technical capabilities in the legitimacy to provide fourth generation services through the "Aden Net" portal, and that the weakness and failure suffered by the government company three years ago was a deliberate policy to make room for commercial companies to provide this service and reap profits in billions of riyals.
