Cubans finally get to read this story on their phones
We’re close to 5G, but the country is just starting on 3G services.
Cubans are finally getting access to mobile internet, even if it's just 3G.
While you may be reading this on your phone, Cubans are just beginning to get internet connection on theirs.
The Communist-run country has begun connecting selected phone users to the world wide web, Reuters reported Tuesday, adding that it wants to make mobile internet available across the nation by end of this year.
The service, provided by local telco ETECSA, was first rolled out to journalists at state-run media. All 5 million ETECSA mobile customers -- half of Cuba's entire population -- will receive mobile internet by end of the year.
Price is not clear, but the telco listed new data plans for postpaid mobile customers, including companies, accredited press and embassies, charging $45 a month for 4 gigabytes. By comparison, an unlimited data plan in the US begins from $60.
This is part of a wider campaign for greater internet access which new president Miguel Diaz-Canel has advocated for on grounds that it will help the economy and defend the revolution, according to Reuters.
"This rollout will expand slowly at first and then more quickly, if the government is increasingly confident that it can control any political fallout," Cuba expert Ted Henken from Baruch College in the US told Reuters.
CNET has reached out to ETECSA for a comment.
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