Starlink internet launches in Yemen

DUBAI: Tech billionaire Elon Musk’s satellite internet service Starlink has launched in Yemen, provoking the anger of Iran-backed Huthi rebels in the country shattered by civil war.

The company -- run by the world’s richest person -- announced its arrival in Yemen, one of the world’s least developed countries, in a post on social media platform X which is also owned by the US-based tycoon.

Starlink’s network of low Earth orbit satellites can provide internet to remote locations or areas that have had normal communications infrastructure disabled.

“Starlink is now available in Yemen!” the post said on Wednesday.

Yemen is the first country in the Middle East to receive the service, which requires a dish and a router.

A map on Starlink’s website shows the network, which can connect remote areas to high-speed internet via satellite, available across Yemen, in government-held areas as well as around its rebel-held capital Sanaa and much of the Red Sea coast held by the Huthis.

The Huthi rebels’ communication ministry warned its citizens against using Starlink which it called “a direct threat to Yemeni national security”.

The ministry added that the service “undermines the ability to protect citizens privacy and data”.