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Background and Overview
Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba (Etecsa) was formed in 1994, as a joint venture between the state and a Mexican company, Grupo Domos. The creation of this company was an attempt to address severe underinvestment in the sector which has resulted in a very limited telecoms service in the country with extremely low telephone density.
An Italian company, Telecom Italia, has since replaced Grupo Domos as the foreign partner, but the upgrading programme has continued.
ETECSA earns a large part of its revenues from overseas operators, including, since 1994, payments from US operators (generally routed through a third party).
The establishment of a new Ministry of InformationTechnology and Communications in January 2000 gave thesector a higher profile within Cuba.
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Investments
An ongoing program of intensive investment has included the following:
The digitisation of the country's telephone network, replacing the archaic analogue telephone system with wireless application protocol (WAP). [By the end of 2004, 84% of telephone services, including all of those in Havana, had been digitised, up from 23% in 2001.]
A programme for expansion has added over 420,000 new lines between 1997 and 2004. [there were still only 96 lines per 1,000 inhabitants, under half the average for the Latin America and Caribbean region].
Work on a national fibre-optic network was completed in 2004, with a joint venture between Teléfonos Celulares de Cuba (Cubacel), the national cellular service provider, and an Italian company, Sirti, carrying out the work.
Although US legislation prevents the connection to a US terminal of a fibre-optic cable between Cuba and Florida, a link with the network connecting the Americas is under discussion.
The Mobile phone market
During 2003 agreements were negotiated to merge Cubacel and another cellular service provider, C-Com, with Etecsa, to create a single telephone company.
Usage of cellphones has risen significantly since this time as infrastructure has been improved and certain restrictions eased.
The INTERNET in Cuba
Official policy is to seek to maximize access to information technology (IT). To this end, a nationwide network of public access computer clubs, giving free lessons and access to computers, has been established, and computers have been installed in all schools.
Few people have access to the Internet from home. Internet terminals are being installed in local post offices, to provide public access to e-mail facilities and a limited Cuban intranet. Access to the World Wide Web is rarely, if ever, available at these locations.
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