Yemen - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts

Executive summary

Yemen is much the poorest country in the Middle East and economic difficulties are numerous. Around 35% of the population is below the poverty line. The telecoms sector reflects this situation. In addition the market has had little liberalisation, competition or private investment outside the mobile sector. All fixed-line and Internet services are provided by state-owned PTC and its subsidiaries.

Infrastructure improvement has been slow and fixed-line penetration remains at less than 5%. ADSL broadband services have been launched however and both dial-up and broadband Internet subscribers are growing steadily but from a very small base, and Internet user penetration remains at only around 6.5%. Yemen’s low literacy rate, at about 50% of the population, is a major reason for low Internet penetration. Among adult women, literacy rates are only around 25%. Low Internet penetration rates also reflect the small number of computers in the country. Most Internet users access the Internet at Internet cafes, of which there were nearly 1,000 in 2009.

Internet censorship is very strict – even local sites such as the UAE-based Arab portal Maktoob and Yemeni news portal YemenPortal.net have been blocked.

Mobile telecoms are the big success story. Steady growth over the past two years has seen penetration rates rise to over 30%. Batelco of Bahrain and MTN of South Africa have major shares in GSM mobile operators. They each have about a third of the market with the majority state-owned CDMA operator Yemen Mobile also having around one third market share. Newer operator ‘Y’ remains a smaller player.

ARPU levels are very low at only around US$7 per month and this may account for the problems that arose with the sale of a third GSM licence, a process that took at least two years and resulted in a not entirely satisfactory outcome. As most other Middle East markets are becoming totally saturated, Yemen will probably remain of interest as one of the few markets with potential for growth.

Market highlights:

• A very competitive mobile market has delivered steady growth despite very low per capita GDP.
• Broadband subscribers are also growing but numbers remain very small.

Table of Contents

• 1. Executive summary
• 2. Key statistics
• 3. Country overview
• 4. Telecommunications market
  • 4.1 Overview of Yemen’s telecom market
• 5. Regulatory environment
  • 5.1 Regulatory authority
  • 5.2 Telecom sector liberalisation in Yemen
  • 5.3 Privatisation
• 6. Fixed network operators in Yemen
  • 6.1 TeleYemen/Yemen International Telecommunication Company
  • 6.2 Public Telecommunications Corporation (PTC)
• 7. Telecommunications infrastructure
  • 7.1 National telecom network
  • 7.2 International infrastructure
• 8. Broadband access market
  • 8.1 Overview
    • 8.1.1 Internet and broadband statistics
  • 8.2 Broadband subscriber forecasts
  • 8.3 Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL)
• 9. Digital broadcasting
  • 9.1 Overview
• 10. Mobile communications
  • 10.1 Overview of Yemen’s mobile market
    • 10.1.1 Mobile statistics
  • 10.2 Mobile subscriber forecasts
    • 10.2.1 Scenario 1 – higher growth
    • 10.2.2 Scenario 2 – lower growth
    • 10.2.3 Notes on scenario forecasts
  • 10.3 Regulatory issues
    • 10.3.1 GSM licences awarded
    • 10.3.2 Third GSM licence
  • 10.4 Major mobile operators
    • 10.4.1 TeleYemen/Yemen Mobile
    • 10.4.2 SabaFon
    • 10.4.3 MTN Yemen
    • 10.4.4 HiTS Unitel/Y Telecom
  • 10.5 Mobile voice services
    • 10.5.1 Prepaid
    • 10.5.2 Satellite mobile
  • 10.6 Mobile messaging
• 11. Related reports

• Table 1 – Country statistics Yemen – 2010
• Table 2 – Telephone network statistics – 2009
• Table 3 – Internet user statistics – 2009
• Table 4 – Broadband subscribers - 2009
• Table 5 – Mobile statistics – 2009
• Table 6 – National telecommunications authority
• Table 7 – GDP growth and inflation – 2005 - 2011
• Table 8 – Fixed lines in service and teledensity – 1995 - 2011
• Table 9 – Internet user and penetration estimates – 1997 - 2011
• Table 10 – Internet subscribers – 2001 - 2011
• Table 11 – ADSL subscribers – 2007 - 2011
• Table 12 – Mobile subscribers and penetration rate – 1998 - 2011
• Table 13 - Mobile operators, subscribers and annual change – 2009
• Table 14 – Forecast mobile subscribers in Yemen – higher growth scenario – 2014; 2019
• Table 15 – Forecast mobile subscribers in Yemen – lower growth scenario – 2014; 2019
• Table 16 – SabaFon subscribers and market share – 2004 - 2008
• Table 17 – MTN Yemen/Spacetel subscribers and market share – 2004 - 2010
• Table 18 – MTN Yemen/Spacetel ARPU per month – 2003 - 2010