Yemen Telecoms Market Report

Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Publication Date: June 2026

Report Pages: 100

Analyst: Henry Lancaster

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Summary
Table Of Contents

Satellite broadband providing connectivity hope to Yemen

Yemen continues to provide an exceptionally challenging market for telcos. Civil unrest over many years has caused havoc and devastation across most parts of the country, while sanctions and blockades particularly affecting the Houthi-controlled areas have also made it a challenging environment in which to operate. A large proportion of the population requires humanitarian assistance, and there is little disposable income for services upon which telcos can generate revenue. Essential telecom infrastructure, such as mobile towers and fibre cabling, has often been targeted, destroyed, or damaged by the opposing sides in the ongoing conflict.

Mobile services are mostly based on outdated GSM and 3G networks, though there is now limited LTE availability in Aden and Sana’a. This sharply increased the number of mobile broadband connections since 2024. This was problematic for the telcos since they lacked sufficient number allocations and so offered dormant numbers to new subscribers. This resulted in the original owners of the numbers being denied access to some services and social media accounts.

The ownership of telecommunication services, and the scrutiny of associated revenues and taxes, have become a political issue in Yemen. The market has become fragmented, with each contending authority operating separate services in their areas of control. This fragmentation also means that there are two agencies regulating the telecom sector, leading to inconsistencies and no national scheme for spectrum management and other essentials usually governed by a regulator.

Starlink has operated in the southern region since late 2024, and though the service is relatively expensive it nevertheless represents some hope that Yemeni households and businesses could gain internet access for the first time.

Key developments:

Yemen’s telecom regulatory regime suffering from fragmentation.
Starlink launches internet services.
MTN Yemen is rebranded as YOU following its sale to Emerald International Investment.
Report update includes the regulator’s market updates, telcos' financial and operating data, updated Telecom Maturity Index charts and analyses, recent market developments.

Companies mentioned in this report include:

AdenNet, TeleYemen, Public Telecommunications Corporation (PTC), Yemen Mobile, Sabafon, Yemen Oman United (YOU), MTN Yemen, Y Telecom, Emergency Telecommunications Cluster (ETC), DARE submarine cable consortium

Key statistics
Regional Middle East Market Comparison

Market characteristics
Market Leaders
Market Challengers
Market Emergents
TMI versus GDP
Mobile and mobile broadband penetration
Fixed and mobile broadband penetration

Country overview
Telecommunications market

Market overview
Key industry considerations

Regulatory environment

Regulatory authority
Fixed-line developments

Telecom sector liberalisation
Privatisation
Internet governance

Mobile network developments

GSM licences
Third GSM licence

Mobile market

Market overview
Mobile statistics
Mobile infrastructure

4G (LTE)
3G
GSM
Mobile broadband

Major mobile operators

Yemen Oman United (YOU)
Sabafon
TeleYemen/Yemen Mobile
HiTS Unitel/Y Telecom

Fixed-broadband market

Market overview

ISPs

Broadband statistics
Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) networks

E-banking

Satellite broadband

Fixed-network operators

TeleYemen
Public Telecommunications Corporation (PTC)

Telecommunications infrastructure

Overview of the national telecom network
International infrastructure

Satellite
Submarine cables

Appendix – Historic data
Glossary of abbreviations
Related reports

List of Tables

Table 1 – Top Level Country Statistics and Telco Authorities – Yemen – 2026 (e)
Table 2 – Change in GDP – 2012 – 2026
Table 3 – Change in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration – 2014 – 2028
Table 4 – Change in the number of mobile subscribers by technology – 2020 – 2021
Table 5 – Growth in the number of active mobile broadband subscribers and penetration – 2014 – 2028
Table 6 – Change in mobile data traffic (GB) – 2020 – 2021
Table 7 – Change in the number of MTN Yemen’s mobile subscribers – 2012 – 2021
Table 8 – Change in MTN Yemen’s mobile ARPU and market share – 2012 – 2021
Table 9 – Development of MTN Yemen’s revenue and EBITDA (ZAR million) – 2012 – 2021
Table 10 – Development of MTN Yemen’s financial data (YER billion) – 2016 – 2021
Table 11 – Change in MTN Yemen’s mobile voice and data traffic – 2012 – 2021
Table 12 – Change in the number of Sabafon’s mobile subscribers – 2012 – 2019
Table 13 – Proportion of households with internet accesses, and penetration – 2012 – 2017
Table 14 – Change in the number of fixed broadband subscribers and penetration – 2014 – 2028
Table 15 – Change in fixed data traffic (TB) – 2020 – 2021
Table 16 – Change in the number of fixed broadband connections by platform – 2020 – 2021
Table 17 – Development of TeleYemen’s financial data (YER billion) – 2012 – 2020
Table 18 – Change in the number of fixed lines in service and teledensity – 2014 – 2028
Table 19 – Increase in international internet bandwidth – 2012 – 2021
Table 20 – Historic - Mobile subscribers and penetration – 2000 – 2013
Table 21 – Historic - Active mobile broadband subscribers and penetration – 2011 – 2013
Table 22 – Historic - Fixed broadband subscribers – 2005 – 2013
Table 23 – Historic - International Internet bandwidth – 2005 – 2011
Table 24 – Historic - Fixed lines in service and teledensity – 1996 – 2013
Table 25 – Historic - Sabafon subscribers – 2004 – 2011
Table 26 – Historic - Change in the number of MTN Yemen’s mobile subscribers – 2009 – 2011
Table 27 – Historic - Change in MTN Yemen’s mobile ARPU and market share – 2009 – 2011
Table 28 – Historic - Development of TeleYemen’s financial data (YER billion) – 2009 – 2011

List of Charts

Chart 1 – Map of Telecom Maturity Index global ranking among countries in the Middle East
Chart 2 – Middle East – Telecoms Maturity Index global ranking
Chart 3 – Middle East – Telecoms Maturity Index by country
Chart 4 – Middle East - Telecoms Maturity Index vs GDP per capita
Chart 5 – Middle East – mobile subscriber versus mobile broadband penetration
Chart 6 – Middle East – Fixed broadband penetration versus mobile broadband penetration
Chart 7 – Change in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration – 2014 – 2028
Chart 8 – Growth in the number of active mobile broadband subscribers and penetration – 2014 – 2028
Chart 9 – Change in the number of MTN Yemen’s mobile subscribers – 2012 – 2021
Chart 10 – Development of MTN Yemen’s revenue and EBITDA – 2012 – 2021
Chart 11 – Development of MTN Yemen’s financial data – 2016 – 2021
Chart 12 – Change in MTN Yemen’s mobile voice and data traffic – 2012 – 2021
Chart 13 – Change in the number of fixed broadband subscribers and penetration – 2014 – 2028
Chart 14 – Development of TeleYemen’s financial data – 2012 – 2020
Chart 15 – Change in the number of fixed lines in service and teledensity – 2014 – 2028

List of Exhibits

Exhibit 1 – Generalised Market Characteristics by Market Segment
Exhibit 2 – Middle East – Market leaders and market developments
Exhibit 3 – Middle East –Market challengers and market developments
Exhibit 4 – Middle East –Market emergents and market developments
Exhibit 5 – Spectrum allocations to MNOs

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Yemen Telecoms Market Report

Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Purchase this Report

Satellite broadband providing connectivity hope to Yemen

Key developments:

Companies mentioned in this report include:

Key statistics

Regional Middle East Market Comparison

Country overview

Telecommunications market

Regulatory environment

Mobile market

Fixed-broadband market

Fixed-network operators

Telecommunications infrastructure

Appendix – Historic data

Glossary of abbreviations

Related reports

Purchase this Report

Share this Report

TMT Intelligence

A platform to scale your intelligence tasks

Research Methodology

Hot Topics

News & Views