More Cell Phones in Cuba

More Cell Phones in Cuba
January 8, 2010
By Circles Robinson

HAVANA TIMES, Jan. 8 - Mobile telephone service in Cuba closed 2009 with
600,000 clients (of the 11.2 million Cubans), said First Deputy Minister
of Communications Ramón Linares Torres.

In April 2008, the Cuban government dropped the ban on Cuban citizens
from contracting cell phone lines.

Nonetheless, obtaining and using a cell phone is only in CUC, the
island's hard currency; not the regular pesos or MN which Cubans earn
for their salaries.

In another statement, Linares said that connection in 2011 with the
underwater optic fiber cable coming from Venezuela "will not necessarily
mean an extension" of information technologies including Internet.

According to the official, "given the technological as well as financial
difficulties, the country will continue prioritizing the social use of
new technologies."

This government's strategy includes a priority on schools, offices,
businesses and public computer clubs over individual home connections.

More Cell Phones in Cuba - Havana Times.org (8 January 2010)
http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=17855