In an Eight-Hour Test, Cuba Makes Internet Access Available Nationwide

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In an Eight-Hour Test, Cuba Makes Internet Access Available Nationwide

By CircleID Reporter
August 15, 2018, 3:53 pm PDT Views: 7,268 Add Comment

Cuba’s government provided free internet to more than 5 million cellphone users on Tuesday as an eight-hour test prior to launching sales of the service. Reuter reports: “Cuba is one of the Western Hemisphere’s least connected countries. State-run telecommunications monopoly ETECSA announced the trial, with Tuesday marking the first time internet services were available nationwide. There are hundreds of WiFi hotspots in Cuba but virtually no home penetration.”

Doug Madory from Oracle’s Internet Intelligence unit noted today that a “Surge in DNS queries from Cuba [was] observed yesterday as the country tested national mobile Internet service.” (see figure on the right)

There are no details yet on the potential cost of the mobile internet for Cubans but ETECSA is currnetly charging embassies and enterprises $45 a month for four gigabytes.

By CircleID Reporter — CircleID’s internal staff reporting on news tips and developing stories. Do you have information the professional Internet community should be aware of? Contact us.
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