Sabafon claims government attacks caused ‘exodus’ of customers

Yemeni wireless operator Sabafon claims to have been the victim of repeated attacks from government forces, as a result of the political affiliation of the cellco’s majority owners, the Al-Ahmar family. Sabafon’s chairman, Hamid Al-Ahmar, has backed opposition forces during the recent crisis, aiming to end the rule of the outgoing president Ali Abdullah Saleh.*According to Reuters, the company headquarters was hit three times by rocket propelled grenades during the conflict, and more than 250 of its transmission towers and other facilities were attacked or looted by state forces. A Sabafon spokesperson claimed that the damage sustained to the company’s infrastructure prevented the provision of services, and led to an ‘exodus of subscribers to other providers’, with the cellco losing ‘hundreds of thousands’ of customers

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OVETEL Sabafon claims government attacks caused ‘exodus’ of customers