It is very easy to get a local SIM card in Yemen.

For Yemen Mobile CDMA network:

You need a passport, a local address e.g. company or sponsor, and about 2,000 yemeni riyals. You can go to most local phone shops or goto the Yemen Mobile offices in Al Tahrir square or on Haddah Street to get one. You can get either a post paid or pre paid SIM card.

For local GSM networks:

MTN and Sabafon offer both post and prepaid SIMs. Same procedure as above. The MTN office is on Sharah Beirut off Haddah Street. The Sabafon office is near the Al-Waleema restaurant complex on Haddah Street opposite Haddah Hotel – ‘haddah funduk’.

Prepaid Cards can be bought all over Yemen and come in denominations of 300, 500, 600, 800, 1000, 2000 riyals.

There is a small mark-up on each card e.g. 800 + 80 is 880 but you will pay 900 riyals as it gets rounded up.

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