Roaming in Cuba? Verizon Now Lets You Do It

Roaming in Cuba? Verizon Now Lets You Do It
by REUTERS

Verizon Wireless announced on Thursday it would begin to offer roaming
wireless service in Cuba next week, becoming the first U.S. company to
do so.

The announcement by the No. 1 U.S. wireless carrier follows the
restoration of diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States
in July after 54 years. The United States has set connectivity as a
priority in its new relationship with the communist-run island.

The news came on the same day Cuba said its first ambassador to the
United States since 1961 had presented his credentials at the White
House. Telecommunications equipment, technology and services were among
the first exemptions to a U.S. economic embargo of the island after
Washington and Havana announced plans to restore diplomatic relations in
December.

Verizon will charge $2.99 per minute for voice calls and $2.05 per
megabyte for data, making the option an expensive one. Currently,
visiting Americans must purchase a pay-as-you-go cellphone through state
telephone company Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba SA (ETECSA) to
have cellular service on the island, or have a cellphone account in a
third country. ETECSA does not offer data.

Boost Mobile, part of Sprint Corp., in April launched a prepaid plan for
U.S. consumers calling and texting Cuba. In March, U.S.-based IDT Corp.
reached an agreement with ETECSA to provide direct international
long-distance service. Previously phone communication between the two
countries had to pass through third countries.

Scarcely 2 million people out of Cuba's population of 11 million have
cellphones. Cuban officials cite the U.S. embargo as the reason for its
weak development and say they hope to reach 60 percent mobile-phone
access by 2020.

Source: Roaming in Cuba? Verizon Now Lets You Do It - NBC News -
http://www.nbcnews.com/tech/mobile/roaming-cuba-verizon-now-lets-you-do-it-n429476