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Cubans check their laptops by connecting to a hotspot in Havana, August 10, 2018. REUTERS / Tomas Bravo
It was the privilege of foreign tourists and diplomats. From now on and from this Thursday, Cubans will have access to the internet via their mobile phone. A big news in a country where access to the web is one of the most restricted and controlled in the world. Easy access to the internet was one of the promises of the new president Miguel Diaz-Canel, but in reality, very few Cubans will be able to afford it, because of the price of connection.
After several inconclusive tests of the 3G network in recent months, the state-owned Cuban telecommunications company, Etecsa, is finally launching this new web access service.
But for that the Cubans will have to pay, no more than in other countries of the world, but compared to the salary of the majority of the Cubans, this is an inaccessible price.
This is explained by Omar Everleny Perez, of the Center for the Study of the Cuban Economy:
" Those who will have access to mobile internet are Cubans who can get convertible pesos, CUC, which is a strong currency. So it is a measure that does not exclude as such, but in practice it excludes by its cost. Concretely, if you want to buy a monthly subscription with 4 gigas of internet, you have to pay 30 CUC, and that's the salary of a Cuban, a rather wealthy Cuban , "he says.
Several packages and paid access are offered by Etecsa, from 10 cents CUC, or 10 cents for 1 gigabyte. And a reduced rate for the consultation of the state internet sites.
Until now, Etecsa has set up 1,000 Wi-Fi navigation points and 670 internet access rooms throughout the island.