Yemeni Network for Emergency and Exchange Telecommunications (YNEXT) project was established as a result of an emergency demand for Internet connecting points to existing in case the national Internet and telecommunications shutdown.

Background:

In late 2014, armed confrontations commenced in a number of governorates in Yemen resulting in a violent civil war that led to the deterioration of the Internet connection and power supply services and, therefore, the data flow and the function of numerous facilities.
Since information flow is vital to keep the world informed about the developments in the country, there was considerable concern about a possible Internet shutdown or telecommunication disruption, which may lead to having unspeakable and grave human rights violations being committed in broad daylight without the means of conveying them to the rest of the world. Additionally, having such an issue was of great troublesome to the appropriate operation of different organizations. Later on, the possibility was exacerbated by the 24-hour power outages and the intermittent telecommunication disruptions that happened.
Accordingly, project Yemeni Network for Emergency and Exchange Telecommunications (YNEXT) was established as a project that helped minimize such consequences to the furthest extent possible in the most populated cities of Yemen, namely Sana’a, Aden, Taiz, Hodeida, Ibb, Mukha, Al-Turba, Almukalla, and Ma’rib.