Cuba launching broadband Internet pilot project in Havana
HAVANA, Feb. 1th (AAP) Cuba is set to launch a broadband pilot project in Havana aimed at eventually bringing home access to one of the world’s least connected nations.
State telecommunications company ETECSA said on Sunday it would allow Cubans in Old Havana, the colonial centre that is one of the island’s main tourist attractions, to order service through fibre optic connections operated with Chinese telecom operator Huawei.
Odalys Rodrguez del Toro, ETECSA director for Havana, told state media the government would also begin allowing cafes, bars and restaurants to begin ordering broadband service.
Del Toro offered no timeline for the pilot project or rollout of broader access and said prices would be announced in the future.
Still, any fibre-optic home connections would be an important milestone in Cuba, where home broadband is legal only for diplomats and employees of foreign companies who pay hundreds of dollars a month for links that are a fraction of the average speed in other countries.
Some Cuban citizens have dial-up home service or restricted mobile phone connections that allow access only to state-run email.
General public access to broadband internet began only last year, with the opening of dozens of public WiFi spots that cost $2 an hour. That is about a tenth of the average monthly salary in Cuba.
Del Toro said ETECSA would open 30 more WiFi spots in Havana alone in 2016, which by itself would double the number of access points in Cuba. She did not say how many more were planned for other cities.
