Cuban Telecommunications and its Problems

Cuban Telecommunications and its Problems

April 24, 2014

Janis Hernandez



HAVANA TIMES — Communications have always been a problem in Cuba, and

telephone services have been the biggest of the lot. There aren't enough

land and cell phone lines and existing services are inadequate. I won't

go into the causes or name those responsible (we all know who is to blame).



ETECSA is the only telecommunications company on the island. According

to the government, it was created in response to the need to unify all

communications companies in the country.



Previously, there were 14 communications firms responsible for

telephone, radio, postal and press services, as well as other domestic

entities specializing in related services. The latter included the

Empresa de Proyectos, Construccion y Montaje ("Projects, Construction

and Assembly Company"), Cable Coaxial ("Coaxial Cable"), EMTELCUBA and

Larga Distancia ("Long Distance").



The organizational and financial problems that all economic sectors were

facing in the 1990s were also being felt in the telephone services

industry. The sector was one of the first to open up to foreign

investment, as part of the new market-oriented economic strategies

traced by the government in response to the Special Period crisis.



The decision was to create a company that would offer all of the

country's telecommunication services and reinvigorate the industry. The

establishment of ETECSA was approved in 1993 and, in 1994, the company

was officially authorized to offer and market public telecommunications

services.



While it is true the company never managed to satisfy all of the needs

of the population, it is undeniable that this vital service saw much

improvement following this.



In December of 2003, on the basis of Agreement 4,996 of the Executive

Committee of Cuba's Council of Ministers and of Decree Law 275, ETECSA

was expanded as telecommunications operator through the merger of

Cubacel and C_COM. This was done with a view to bringing all landline,

mobile phone and other telecommunication services under the management

of a single joint venture company.



When they announced the introduction of mobile phones in Cuba, many

naive souls thought we were starting to walk in step with the world.



Nothing was further from the truth. For the longest time, the cost of

mobile services were prohibitive for the vast majority. Though rates

have gone down over the years and other services have improved, as the

saying goes, "when it's not one thing, it's the other."



On February 4, 2011, Cuba's Official Gazette announced the island had

secured 100 percent of the company's shares and had become ETECSA's sole

owner for the first time since 1993. Needless to say, nothing has

improved much since.



We don't know – and no one is explaining – what kind of problems cell

phone lines are experiencing here in Santiago de Cuba. The fact is that,

for more than a week now, it's been impossible to contact anyone over

one's cell phone. "We're sorry. The phone you are dialing is turned off

or outside the coverage area" – this is the recording we all hear when

we try to call our relatives, colleagues or friends.



To be sure, we've done some tests, calling people who are standing a few

steps away from us – and we always get the same recording.

I believe ETECSA must go back to being what it was: a company in the

hands of foreign capital or foreign capitalists. Or we must again have

more than one communications company, to see if things improve some.



Source: Cuban Telecommunications and its Problems - Havana Times.org -

http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=103232