In January 2009 Cuba's Etecsa Stated That It Intended to Add a Further 250,000 Mobile Subscribers During 2009

Research and Markets: In January 2009 Cuba's Etecsa Stated That It
Intended to Add a Further 250,000 Mobile Subscribers During 2009

June 18, 2009 --
DUBLIN, BUSINESS WIRE --

Research and Markets
(http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/4b3107/cuba_telecoms_m) has
announced the addition of the "Cuba - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband"
report to their offering.

BuddeComm's Cuba - Telecoms, Mobile, and Broadband profiles the
fixed-line, mobile and broadband markets in Cuba.

Cuba still has the lowest mobile phone penetration in Latin America, one
of the lowest levels of Internet penetration, and is among the five
lowest in terms of fixed-line teledensity. Cuba's fixed-line services
are a monopoly in the hands of government-controlled Empresa de
Telecomunicaciones de Cuba SA (Etecsa), while mobile services are
provided exclusively by Cubacel, a subsidiary of Etecsa.

There remains substantial state controls over the right to own and use
certain communications services, such as the right to access the
Internet. Although Raul Castro, who was made President in February 2008,
is more reform-minded than was his brother Fidel, the liberalisation of
Cuba's telecommunications sector, as with the liberalisation of other
government controls over Cuban life, is expected to occur slowly over
the next five to ten years.

This report contains overviews, analyses and statistics of the Cuban
fixed-line, mobile and broadband markets.

Key highlights:

* In March 2008 Raul Castro, shortly after taking the reins of
power, issued a decree stating that Cubans could henceforth legally own
and use mobile phones by taking out pre-paid subscriptions.
Nevertheless, the same decree stipulated that contracts must be paid for
in Cuban Convertible Pesos, a currency which, in spite of a thriving
black market, is officially only available to foreigners.
* A significant new deployment in coming years includes a new
submarine fibre-optic cable linking Cuba and Venezuela in 2010. The
cable is expected to triple Cuba's capacity for communications abroad as
well as free the country from its current reliance on the slow and
unreliable Internet access it employs via US satellite systems.
* Whilst Cubans are still prohibited from general access to the
Internet, soon after Fidel Castro's retirement a number of electronic
goods joined the list of legally accessible products, including personal
computers.
* In early 2009 the government gave hope to many Cubans when it
stated that it was not "currently" planning to legalise Internet
services for the general public, as happened with mobile phones in 2008,
but that it remained a possibility that "is not being discarded".
* Whilst Etecsa reportedly increased its subscriber base by more
than 130,000 during 2008, in January 2009 the incumbent mobile provider
stated that it intended to add a further 250,000 subscribers during
2009, reaching a total 1.6 million mobile subscribers by 2012 or 10% of
the population.

Key Topics Covered:

* Executive summary
* Key statistics
* Country overview
* Telecommunications market
* Regulatory environment
* Fixed network operator in Cuba
* Telecommunications infrastructure
* Internet market
* Mobile communications
* Related reports

List of Tables

* Table 1 - Country statistics Cuba - 2008
* Table 2 - Telephone network statistics - 2008
* Table 3 - Internet provider statistics - 2008
* Table 4 - Internet user statistics - 2008
* Table 5 - Mobile statistics - 2008
* Table 6 - National telecommunications authority
* Table 7 - Fixed lines in service and teledensity - 1996 - 2008
* Table 8 - Internet users and penetration rate - 1996 - 2008
* Table 9 - Personal computers and penetration rate - 2002 - 2007
* Table 10 - Mobile subscribers and penetration rate - 1996 - 2008
* Exhibit 1 - Proposed submarine cable networks connecting Cuba and
Venezuela

For more information visit
http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/4b3107/cuba_telecoms_m

Contacts:

Research and Markets
Laura Wood,
Senior Manager
Fax from USA: 646-607-1907
Fax from rest of the world: +353-1-481-1716
press@researchandmarkets.com
Research and Markets: In January 2009 Cuba's Etecsa Stated That It
Intended to Add a Further 250,000 Mobile Subscribers During 2009 -

BroadcastNewsroom (18 June 2009)
Http://www.broadcastnewsroom.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=779052