The internationally unrecognized government in Yemen has forced the two largest telecommunication companies to pay $75 million to allow their services be extended for another two years, according to informed sources.
Two days ago, militias held a meeting in Sana’a with official representatives of Saba Phone and MTN in the presence of insurgency's Prime Minister Abdel Aziz bin Habtour, sources told Asharq Al-Awsat.
The sources indicated that during the meeting, an agreement was signed allowing the two companies to serve until the end of 2019. The deal indicates that the firms will pay $75 million to the group, and in turn, insurgents will not object the extension of their work in Yemen.
Since the coup against legitimacy, this is the second time that insurgents have forced the two companies to pay $75 million to extend their licenses for another two years.
Official insurgent sources reported the license renewal agreement, but did not mention the amount imposed on Yemen’s two largest mobile operators.
With this, the group would have preceded the inauguration of the legitimate government project in Aden, which includes the creation of a new communications portal and Internet service provider.
It is an attempt, as well, to pull the rug from under the militias that centrally control the national telecommunications services in the headquarters in Sana’a.
Between the revenues from Yemen Mobile, a joint public-private partnership, and Internet service, the militias have received over the past three years a total of $1 billion, using it to finance their war against Yemenis.
A recent report of the Panel of Experts of UN Sanctions Committee established under a Security Council resolution on Yemen pointed out that the telecommunications sector is the main source of funding for the group, followed by the tobacco industry.
Members of the legitimate government accuse the pro-Iranian group of monitoring communications through Sanaa's control center, telephone tapping to pursue its foes and using Internet services to serve its agenda by blocking websites, social networking platforms and instant messaging.
