Since unification, efforts have been underway to upgrade the country's telecommunications infrastructure. Two-way radio links Yemen directly with Cairo and Rome. Telephone and telegraph facilities are available in major cities, and a modern dial telephone system has been installed in Sana, Ta'izz, and Al-Hudaydah. There were about 291,359 mainline telephones in 1999. In 2000, there were an additional 32,042 cellular phones in use.
The government operates several radio stations and two television networks, one of them partly commercial. As of 1999, there were 4 AM and 1 FM station and 7 television broadcast stations. In 2000, Yemen had 65 radios and 283 television sets for every 1,000 people. In 2001, there were 14,000 Internet subscribers.
In 2002 there were three daily newspapers: Al-Thawrah (circulation 110,000), published in Sana; Al-Jumhuriyah (100,000), in Ta'izz; and Ar-Rabi Ashar Min Uktubar (20,000), published in Aden. The English-language weekly, Yemen Times, has a circulation of 20,000.
The constitution restricts free expression. The relative freedom of the press established prior to the 1994 civil conflict has yet to be reestablished. The Ministry of Information owns or controls all media.