Cuban Government Offers Expanded Internet Access to the Public

On Tuesday, Cuban authorities announced that from June 4 onward the government would provide an expanded Internet access to the public, though limited. Internet access will be made available throughout Cuba via more than a hundred cyber-salons which will be established. This is a huge development for the islanders. Despite this improvement, residential dial-up Internet service will still be restricted.

With this expansion of Internet capability in Cuba, access will be provided by Etecsa, a state-run telecom company. Both temporary and permanent accounts will be made available. The key announcement was made though the Official Gazette of the government.

Rather steep hourly rate

According to the Juventud Rebelde, Cuba’s official newspaper, Internet access will cost the public an equivalent of US$4.50 an hour, a steep price considering the current salary rate. A typical working citizen of Cuba employed at a state agency earns around US$20 a month. The rate for checking e-mail remains at US$1.50 per hour.

At present, the government puts the number of people with World Wide Web access in Cuba at less than 3%. Observers put the figures at 5% to 10% in order to account underreporting. About 16% have e-mail and domestic Intranet access provided by post offices and computer clubs.

Strict monitoring

The plan is to gradually incorporate additional navigable areas into the public domain. The government has reiterated the existing practice of strict monitoring of Internet traffic. Etecsa will cut off access immediately should users commit violations of the ethical and behavioral standards that have been set down by the Cuban state.

Content that are politically objectionable as well as pornographic sites are frowned about by the Communist regime. However, the announcement did not mention anything about forbidden sites and whether these would be blocked by the government. The full monitoring of Web traffic was however reaffirmed by the Cuban Ministry of Communications.

Limited access only

At present only certain professionals are privy to having Web access in their homes. Starting next week, Cubans can make use of any of the 118 Web centers to do their homework or get work done. Most users of the Internet are students and employees who need to go online for work-related tasks.

The level of access currently provided is limited to the Cuban intranet and not the World Wide Web. Wi-Fi connection is available at certain hotels that charge with tourist rates at US$8 an hour. Some businesses and establishments run by foreigners are allowed to have their own Internet access.

Better connected

Etecsa announced in January that it would be utilizing fiber optic connection via undersea cable from Venezuela in order to solve connectivity issue that has been plaguing Cuba. The country has been reliant solely on satellite links which are expensive and slow. With this limited bandwidth, Internet access has been very limited and priority was given to research centers, universities, and business establishments.

Cuba’s government has long attributed the restricted Internet access to the limited bandwidth. But critics have been accusing the leaders of the Communist country of fortifying its censorship of information access and free speech. The limited Internet access in the island state has been the subject of criticism for a long time now and is considered by many as an infringement on freedom and rights.

Photo Credit: Cuban girl using a PC in a school