The Landscape Before the Storm

The Landscape Before the Storm
YOANI SANCHEZ, Junio 15, 2015

Before the downpour there is a scent that crosses the city. It is the
premonition of water, the anticipation of the cloudburst. The birds fly
to their nests and the most cautious seek a doorway where they can
shelter until the rain passes. This impression of something approaching
is being felt lately about a possible opening of Internet connectivity
for all Cubans. There is nothing concrete to point to confirm our
massive entry into cyberspace, but the gusts of impatience can be felt
in the air.

The topic of the web of networks has reached significant prominence in
the official discourse of the last half year. Barack Obama's
administration had to "make a move" to wake up the bureaucrats in the
Ministry of Information and Communications, who are trained to go on the
defensive. With the January 16 th implementation of a package of
flexibility measures, outstanding among them links to the sector of new
technologies and connectivity, the White House has set more than one
person scuttling on this island.

Four years after the installation of the fiber optic cable between Cuba
and Venezuela, it seems that officialdom can no longer justify why we
are among the countries with the least connectivity on the entire
planet. On the other hand, American companies such as Verizon or AT&T,
breathing down the neck of Cuba's ETECSA phone company, are working as a
catalyst to implement a data service that allows the Cuban telephone
monopoly to hold on to the national market.

The lesson of Isabel Dos Santos, the richest woman in Africa and the
daughter of the Angolan president, should be keeping the dauphins of
power in Cuba awake right now. They know that whoever gets a slice of
the telephone and communications market will have a guaranteed fortune
exceeding a lot of zeros. However, they are also aware that a company of
this type requires agreements, roaming contracts, favorable rate
packages, attractive offers for users. In the world we live in it can be
summed up in one word: connectivity.

This reality is denied by the ideological outbursts, in the style of
Abel Prieto when he claimed that he will give "free and open access to
the Internet, and not to those who have money, but to those who need it
to support their studies and research." Mobile phone service alone shows
that in the battle between politics and the market the latter comes out
the winner. Cubacel users – save those who receive the privilege because
they work for State Security or other strategic sectors – pay for it in
convertible pesos. To purchase a cellphone requires the harsh practice
of money in your wallet, not fidelity to any idea.

A few days ago, conveniently, a document was leaked that puts into
writing the national strategy for the development of broadband
connectivity infrastructure in Cuba. Despite the enthusiasm with which
the text was received by those thirsting for the Internet, the deadlines
proposed by the program are, at the very least, unconsidered. It talks
about "reaching no less than 50% of households with access to broadband
Internet by 2020," while two years ago it was expected to have 100%
connectivity "in Party organizations at the national, provincial and
municipal levels, in State agencies, and in the Central Administrative
Organs of the State." It is not unlikely that right now there are people
who are joining the Cuban Communist Party (PCC) in order to attain
access to the vast World Wide Web.

On the other hand, Brett Perlmutter, director of Google Ideas, is
visiting Cuba this week. His presence has been explained to the media as
an exploration to "bring better Internet access to the Island."
According to a State Department official who asked to remain anonymous,
"Google has made a proposal to the Cuban Government to help with the
connectivity of the population," adding, "we don't know what they have
proposed, but they have proposed something."

Beyond what Google achieves, between official suspicion and
postponements by Cuban functionaries, his presence on the Island
reinforces the sense of urgency. He transmits to the Cuban Government
the impression that its closing the doors to the sea of kilobytes not
only is not working, but is under threat of being swept away from abroad
and from within. Helium balloons, mini-satellites, WiFi antennas made
from Pringles bags, clandestine wireless networks that share content,
and even the irreverent weekly " Packet" of audiovisuals, are
jeopardizing a structure designed for censorship, but inefficient in
managing an opening.

There is a smell of rain these days. A gust of damp certitude that is
wafting the bird of the Internet our way.

Source: The Landscape Before the Storm -
http://www.14ymedio.com/englishedition/The-Landscape-Before-the-Storm_0_1798020195.html