Cuba lifts ban on home computers

Cuba lifts ban on home computers
By Michael Voss
BBC News, Havana

The first legalised home computers have gone on sale in Cuba, but a ban
remains on internet access.

This is the latest in a series of restrictions on daily life which
President Raul Castro has lifted in recent weeks.

Crowds formed at the Carlos III shopping centre in Havana, though most
had come just to look.

The desktop computers cost almost $800 (£400), in a country where the
average wage is under $20 (£10) a month.

But some Cubans do have access to extra income, much of it from money
sent by relatives living abroad.

Since taking over the presidency in February, Raul Castro has ended a
range of restrictions and allowed Cubans access to previously banned
consumer goods.

In recent weeks thousands of Cubans have snapped up mobile phones and
DVD players.

But only now have the first computer stocks arrived.

Internet access remains restricted to certain workplaces, schools and
universities on the island.

The government says it is unable to connect to the giant undersea
fibre-optic cables because of the US trade embargo. All online
connections today are via satellite which has limited bandwidth and is
expensive to use.

Cuba's anti-American ally, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, is laying
a new cable under the Caribbean.

It remains unclear whether, once the connection is completed, the
authorities will then allow unrestricted access to the world wide web.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/7381646.stm

Published: 2008/05/03 04:34:43 GMT