Yemens Internet Cafes: Bright Future for Fledgling Industry [Archives:2001/03/Business & Economy]
January 15 2001
Karen Dabrowska
But even though Yemen was one of the first Gulf states to introduce internet, Mageeds ambition is likely to remain a dream for the next few years.
The internet business in the country is monopolized by the Yemen Communications Company (Tel Yemen) owned jointly by the Yemeni government and British Cable and Wireless.
The demand for internet greatly exceeds the capability of Tel Yemen which blocks all sexually explicit sites and some political sites and censors all news and e-mail messages.
The service is slow because there is only one server and all Yemen depends on that server, complains Bilal Faris, a Palestinian who opened an internet cafe in the Haifa Technical Institute which he ran last April.
Tel Yemen is at the top of the hate list of most internet cafe owners and users. The service is slow, disconnections for no apparent reason are frequent and there is no competition, hence little incentive for improvement. It costs 220 riyals per minute to make an international telephone call while the same call can be made through the internet for only 20 riyals per minute. So Tel Yemen also puts a block on some international phone calls.
But despite their grievances internet cafe owners can still make a handsome profit: Tel Yemen charges four riyals per minute for internet use while the cafes charge their customers between five to ten riyals.
The name internet cafe is an import from the West. In Sanaa the so-called cafes do not serve drinks or food. But, unlike restaurants which are a male preserve, they are a public place where men and women can come together in a cordial atmosphere and discuss the whys and wherefores of internet. Also, children frequently accompany their parents.
For Mahmood Al-Shaibani, of one of Yemens leading tourist agencies, The Universal Touring Company, the internet has been a money saver as well as a useful communication tool.
It has saved us a lot of money as it is much cheaper than the fax, Shaibani told The Yemen Times. It is very encouraging to see young people getting interested in computers instead of chewing qat and acquiring other bad habits.
But Shaibani admits that in one of the poorest countries in the Arab world, the cost of internet is prohibitive for ordinary people.
For an individual user the bill would come to four to five thousand riyals per month: they can pay their household utility bills for that. A computer costs around $1000. For us thats a lot of money.
Shaibani does not surf the net – the service is too slow for that. He only goes to certain news sites and complains that if he wants to download material, like computer games for his son, it takes a long time.
We must choose the best time to download material – the early morning is best, he said.
According to the Yemeni Communications Company there are only 4500 subscribers nationwide and 30 – 35 percent of them dont actually use the service. In Sanaa there are around 50 internet cafes, most of them in the city centre. In Aden there are around 20 but the service is a lot worse and Sanaa is definitely the city for internet users.
Internet use is also limited because of the 52 percent illiteracy rate in a country of 18 million. English is not widely spoken and around 80- percent of internet services and information are in English. Sometimes it is only possible to send e-mails and internet sites cannot be accessed.
Adnan Ali Al-Muraisi, the deputy manager of the Gausi Trading Company (GTC) which added an internet cafe to its range of services in December, complains that if a site contains an objectionable picture the whole site is blocked.
People may need the information provided by that site – never mind the picture, he protests.
Al-Muraisi, a computer engineer with a diploma in computer science and maintenance from the University of Mosul in northern Iraq, has the technical know how to outsmart Tel Yemen and use a proxy server to access forbidden sites.
But he keeps to the straight and narrow and puts up with the restrictions. I dont want to create problems for myself, he says philosophically adding that his business is helping his country. As in the case of Mageed, money is not a major consideration.
Most of the customers at the internet cafes are the educated elite, business people and foreigners. Mageed estimates that 20 percent of his customers are female college students.
Ten percent of the people who come here dont know anything and I teach them, he says with an enthusiasm which radiates from his philanthropic nature.
Sanas internet cafes are as different as their owners: Iraqis hoping to move on to studies in Europe, Palestinians who have settled in Yemen, Yemenis who are keen to get involved in an industry of the 21st century in a city where the past is alive and well and ancient traditions co-exist in a happy symbiosis with sophisticated technology.
Friends for Internet is in an upmarket shopping complex with carpeted floors, the Haifa Technical Institute is in a renovated traditional building with gamariyas while GTCs internet cafe has a business-like office environment.
There is general agreement among the cafes proprietors that internet has a bright future in Yemen.
Its on the way to being popular, Faris says. This year is better than last year.
Al-Muraisi is also optimistic about the future and there is a general consensus among the cafes owners that the monopoly of Tel Yemen will eventually come to an end.
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