"Y Telecom" changes its name to "Hudhud Saba" and Sana'a is the one that provides it with the Internet
English - Saturday 17 December 2022 الساعة 02:22 pm
Sana'a, NewsYemen, exclusive:
A source at the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, which is under the control of the Houthi militia, revealed that the "Yemen Net" company affiliated to the Public Telecommunications Corporation in Sana'a is the official Internet service provider for "Hudhud Saba", which officially launched its broadcast on November 12 in the capital, Aden.
The "Y Telecom" company had changed its name to "Hudhud Saba" without announcing it to the public, and launched sales of its lines in early December, at prices of 50,000 riyals per line. However, it did not disclose to the citizens that Sana'a is the one that provides it with 4G internet service.
Workers in the telecommunications sector confirm that the citizens who crowded in front of the company's headquarters in the capital, Aden, to subscribe to its service, were misled by the new company, to obtain an Internet service similar to what was provided by the troubled "Aden Net" company at the limits of 10 thousand subscribers, since its launch in late 2018.
The source, who asked not to be named, told "NewsYemen": The fourth-generation Internet service provided by the "Hudhud Saba" company in Aden is similar in terms of speed and capacity to the "4G" Internet service provided by "Yemen Mobile" and "Yemen Mobile" and "You" banned in the capital, Aden, for insisting not to pay back taxes.
He stressed that Hudhud Saba does not own any assets and has not carried out any equipment and construction work in the infrastructure, and that it is renting in the towers of the "Yemen Mobile" company and the Public Telecommunications Corporation, similar to its predecessor, the "Y" company.
He added: The Houthis forced the "Y Telecom" company to change its name to "Hudhud Saba" and to give up its name in favor of the "Y" company in Sana'a, which is currently owned by the Houthi-affiliated Shibam Holding Company, in return for providing it with the Internet.
Internet consumption prices in Yemen are very expensive, which constitutes great difficulty in obtaining it by many of the country's population, as it is estimated that the number of Internet users in Yemen has reached 7 million, 659 thousand and 884 users. Equivalent to 27% of the population at the end of 2020.
According to the World Bank, Internet services in Yemen are poor in quality and high in prices, and do not meet a large amount of Internet services required in the local market, stressing that the Internet penetration rate in Yemen is the lowest among countries in the Middle East and North Africa.
The source did not rule out that the Public Telecommunications Corporation, which is under the control of the Houthi militia and provides the services of Hudhud Saba, will link it to other telecommunications companies, "Yemen Mobile", "Saba Phone - Sana'a", "Y" and "U", which are now owned by the leaders of the Houthi militia.
The Public Telecommunications Corporation is one of the companies of the Ministry of Communications that is under the control of the Houthi militia. Yemeni Telecom and its companies have a monopoly on all international communications services, the Internet, optical fibers, and Internet capacities throughout the country.
Over the past years, the legitimate government has failed to wrest the telecommunications sector from the hands of the Houthi militia, which is one of the militia's most important financial resources, and gave it superiority over its military, security and logistical capabilities.
Last September, the Houthi militia launched a new telecommunications company, "Yemen 4G", the fourth generation, under the name "Service" launched by the Public Telecommunications Corporation, to circumvent the laws in force and continue to monopolize internet and communications services in the country.
The Houthis control the Internet service provided by the "Yemen Net" company, which is based in Sana'a, and has raised prices for the service, and reduced the data sent and received via the network in Yemeni cities.
