Cuba to Open Public Internet Outlets - At 4.50 Dollars an Hour Patricia Grogg - Inter Press Service
go to original May 30, 2013

The international Informática 2013 Fair, held in Havana Mar. 19-22, 2013. (Jorge Luis Baños/IPS)

HAVANA - Cuba will continue to prioritize public Internet access over connectivity in private homes, as indicated by a government announcement that 118 new public cyber salons would open nationwide as of early June.

The new Internet outlets were reportedly made possible by the “full functioning” of a fibre optic cable laid between Cuba and Venezuela.

The government-controlled press reported on a communications ministry resolution Tuesday that said one hour online in the new outlets would cost the equivalent of 4.50 dollars, payable in 4.50 CUCs or convertible pesos, to which only a small part of the Cuban population of 11.2 million has access.

That amount is equivalent to 108 Cuban pesos, the currency earned by most Cubans. “I cannot possibly afford that on my pension of 270 pesos a month,” retired journalist and university professor Enrique López Oliva told IPS.

... Internet, Intranet and email services in Cuba are provided by the state-owned telecoms company ETECSA, which has a monopoly over the informatics and communications sector.

Read the rest at Inter Press Service

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