Progression in the Cuban Govt.

[jerodharris]

Im not sure if this is the right forum or not but I thought it would be interesting to share with ya'll.

From PerezHilton.com

At Least This Is Some Progress
Filed under: Latinolicious > Politik

On Friday, President Communist Dictator Raul Castro said that he would begin allowing ordinary Cubans to use cellphones.

This is the first official announcement of the lifting of a major restriction in Cuba.

Cellphone use in Cuba is a luxury usually reserved for only those who are communist or work for the government. Up until now, Cubans have only been able to get cellphones by having foreigners sign the contracts in their names. And those that even had cellphones, were in the very small minority.

Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba S.A., (ETECSA), Cuba's telecommunications monopoly announced they would allow the general public to use the cellphone by agreeing to sign prepaid contracts using Cuban Pesos.

The Cuban government currently controls over 90% of the economy in which the average monthly salary is about 408 Cuban Pesos, a little bit less than $20.

Yes, $20 a month!!!

But, of course, a program in convertible Pesos will probably ensure that most Cubans will not be able to afford the cellphone service.

Baby steps at least. Though it's doubtful Cuba will get out of it's poverty anytime soon. Instead of giving your people cellphones, why don't you try feeding them instead????

 

[billytpage]

Probably not the most credible of sources. Not to mention, of what use are cell phones without the infrastructure to support them?

Billy

 

[jerodharris]

Probably not the most credible of sources. Not to mention, of what use are cell phones without the infrastructure to support them?

Billy

The infrastructure is there and has been in place for several years now. ETECSA has towers that are supposedly GSM compatible.

On the AP Wire as well

Raul Castro: Cubans Can Have Cell Phones
By WILL WEISSERT – 11 hours ago

HAVANA (AP) — President Raul Castro's government said Friday it is allowing cell phones for ordinary Cubans, a luxury previously reserved for those who worked for foreign firms or held key posts with the communist-run state.

It was the first official announcement of the lifting of a major restriction under the 76-year-old Castro, and marked the kind of small freedom many on the island have been hoping he would embrace since succeeding his older brother Fidel as president last month.

Some Cubans previously ineligible for cell phones had already gotten them by having foreigners sign contracts in their names, but mobile phones are not nearly as common in Cuba as elsewhere in Latin America or the world.

Telecommunications monopoly Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba S.A., or ETECSA said it would allow the general public to sign prepaid contracts in Cuban Convertible Pesos, which are geared toward tourists and foreigners and worth 24 times the regular pesos Cuban state employees are paid in.

The decree was published in a small black box on page 2 of the Communist Party newspaper Granma.

The government controls well over 90 percent of the economy and while the communist system ensures most Cubans have free housing, education and health care and receive ration cards that cover basic food needs, the average monthly state salary is just 408 Cuban pesos, a little less than $20.

A program in Convertible Pesos likely will ensure that cell phone service will be too expensive for many Cubans, but ETECSA's statement said doing so will allow it to improve telecommunication systems using cable technology and eventually expand the services it offers in regular pesos.

The statement promised further instructions in coming days about how the new plan will be implemented, and there were no lines of would-be customers mobbing ETECSA outlets as they opened for business.

ETECSA is a mixed enterprise that operates with foreign capital from the Italian communications firm Italcom.

 

[billytpage]

Maybe they will donate some extra towers to fill the gaps in Kansas! :laugh:

Billy

 

[jerodharris]

Maybe they will donate some extra towers to fill the gaps in Kansas! :laugh:

Billy

Word! Maybe they could spare some change and put one up at Sunset Blvd and La Cienega in Hollywood!

 

[cbob]

Probably not the most credible of sources. Not to mention, of what use are cell phones without the infrastructure to support them?

Billy

I don't know about the source but the info is correct.

But mobiles have been in use in Cuba for a long time. Good coverage in the resorts -all the tour reps have had mobiles for years- and CUBACELL, one of the big providers in Havana has offices everywhere. The past few years you see all the young folk with mobiles and they are very common in business.
No problem with infrastructure.
Problem has been government regulations and the high cost. But Cubans seem to have a way to get around the restrictions and there seems to be no shortage of foreign "friends" to help them get the phones and pay for the services.

Commander Bob
My Canadian phone doesn't work in Cuba.

 

[the nub]

You guys would be surprised at the cell phones they have there. Some of the cabbies carry $$$$ cell phones.

 

[MoeCizlak]

Probably not the most credible of sources. Not to mention, of what use are cell phones without the infrastructure to support them?

Billy

I don't know about the source but the info is correct.

But mobiles have been in use in Cuba for a long time. Good coverage in the resorts -all the tour reps have had mobiles for years- and CUBACELL, one of the big providers in Havana has offices everywhere. The past few years you see all the young folk with mobiles and they are very common in business.
No problem with infrastructure.
Problem has been government regulations and the high cost. But Cubans seem to have a way to get around the restrictions and there seems to be no shortage of foreign "friends" to help them get the phones and pay for the services.

Commander Bob
My Canadian phone doesn't work in Cuba.

I've heard that Mexico's 3rd largest stream of income is money sent from relatives living in the US to relatives still living in Mexico. Is there a large flow of money from Cubans in the US back to Cuba as well?

 

[Drewcali]

i understand the new cell phone users will have to pay for their service in foreign currency.

that should slow the pace of usage considerably.

 

[dvickery]

seems to me every hustler and every tour rep and everybody under 25 has a cell phone already...just my eyeball observation mind you...have never questioned anyone about it.

the anouncement is not really news of great changes...except to raul i suppose.

personally i liken this to the canadian government "legalizing/decriminalizing" marijuana (this comes up from time to time)...more of a tax/money grab(if it ever happened) than an "enlightened" government doing the right thing.

ps:bob fido works in cuba(or so i have been told...it is/was illegal to take your cell to cuba and i wouldnt do anything illegal in a foreign country :whistling: )

derrek :laugh:

 

[cbob]

ps:bob fido works in cuba(or so i have been told...it is/was illegal to take your cell to cuba and i wouldnt do anything illegal in a foreign country :whistling: )

derrek :laugh:

Yeah Derrek; they used to check my phone to see if it worked but not for several years now. "One" of the guys on our November trip (remember Scottie's pal Paul?) had his FIDO (GSM) phone and kept getting "Hope you are having a swell time in Cuba" type messages all the time. he was REALLY hoping that he was not being charged $$$$$ to look at those messages.
But if you were worried that you had YOUR FIDO... we won't mention it. :laugh:
My old Telus CDMA digital phone probably "will" work if I sign up for transfers from the Cuban mobile providers but I don't wanna.

Commander Bob
Doesn't want messages from Fido on his vacation.

 

[cbob]

Rats.
The posting engine just choked, then posted my reply 3 times.

Sorry.

Commander Bob

 

[cbob]

This forum needs a Delete Post button.
CB

 

[cbob]

i understand the new cell phone users will have to pay for their service in foreign currency.

that should slow the pace of usage considerably.

Nope.
They pay in Cuban Convertible Pesos (CUC), the tourist currency rather in Cuban Pesos (CUP) AKA Moneda Nacional.
They get paid in CUP however so finding CUCs to pay for things like mobile phones is an ongoing struggle.
The last time I changed some CUC to CUP I got 24 CUP/CUC.

Even a $50 phone with a usage contract would be something in excess of $1200 CUP and in a country where even doctors and lawyers make about $300 CUP/month it's a big expense. Image saving up for something actually useful like a $300 CUC washing machine!

Commander Bob
Glad my Canada Pension goes a long way in Cuba.

 

[Johnny-O!]

Cuba has two phone systems in place. TDMA and GSM. CDMA will not work in Cuba, but someone for a fee will get it going for you. A phone line is $111 CUC or about $140 US. There are no plans and its about 50 cents a minute. However, incoming calls from outside the country are free (at least from the US) for some time now. An outgoing call to the US from your Cuban Cel phone is about $3 CUC/minute ($4 US) and to most other countries $5 CUC/minute $6.25 US. There is no voice mail service, but text is allowed inside the country. At some time there was incoming text allowed from outside the country but that as of late has been cut off. John

 

[cbob]

... will not work in Cuba, but someone for a fee will get it going for you...

That's true for so many things in Cuba; is it not?

Commander Bob