Cuban Computer Science and Communications Minister Medardo Diaz said the
undersea cable that arrived on Cuba's eastern coast on Tuesday after a
19-day voyage from Venezuela, "opens a breach in the (economic)
blockade" that the United States has imposed on the island and bolsters
"national sovereignty" in telecommunications
HAVANA – Cuba held a ceremony Wednesday to mark the arrival of an
undersea fiber-optic cable from Venezuela – a link expected to provide a
big boost to Internet speed and capacity on the Communist-ruled island.
Official media said among those on hand for the ceremony in the eastern
city of Santiago de Cuba were Vice President Ramiro Valdes, the
secretary-general of the International Telecommunication Union, Hamadou
Toure, and a representative of the Venezuelan government.
Toure had traveled to Cuba for a computer science fair in Havana.
The ship that brought the cable ashore, the Ile de Batz, arrived on
Cuba's eastern coast Tuesday after a 19-day voyage from Venezuela,
Cuba's closest ally.
Cuban Computer Science and Communications Minister Medardo Diaz said the
undersea cable "opens a breach in the (economic) blockade" that the
United States has imposed on the island and bolsters "national
sovereignty" in telecommunications.
Wilfredo Morales, president of Telecomunicaciones Gran Caribe S.A., the
Cuban-Venezuelan joint venture that owns the line, said the project has
gone according to schedule and the cable should be operational in July.
The cable – which began to be laid on Jan. 22 in northern Venezuela –
will give Cuba an alternative to its current, painfully slow satellite link.
Acquired in China and France at an estimated cost of $70 million, the
cable spans 1,630 kilometers (1,012 miles) from a spot near Venezuela's
La Guaira port to the eastern Cuban town of Siboney. A second segment
will run 230 kilometers (143 miles) from Cuba to Ocho Rios, Jamaica.
The cable, which has a 640-gigabyte capacity and a lifespan of 25 years,
is expected to provide a 3,000-fold increase in Cuba's voice, data and
video transmission speeds, experts say.
But Cuban officials say that even after the link has been established
more investment in infrastructure and networks will be needed to improve
Internet and telephone service on the island.
Cuba says its priority will be to continue to build public telecenters
and improve Internet access at schools, hospitals and scientific
institutions.
Presently, only a small number of academics, journalists and other
professionals in Cuba have access to the Internet from their homes.
The island has relied on a slow and expensive satellite link since 1996,
and the government has pointed to the capacity limitations of that
connection in justifying restrictions on individual access to the Web.
The Cuban government says the U.S. embargo is the primary reason why
Internet service is generally unavailable to most Cubans.
The arrival of the undersea cable coincides with an apparent move by the
Cuban government to unblock access – for the moment, at least – to
Internet blogs critical of the government, including Yoani Sanchez's
"Generacion Y."
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