Cuba USA
It’s going to be for the entire island in anticipation that one day that they’ll be able to extend it into mainland Cuba.
Ronald Bechtold, ex-CIO, office of the Secretary of Defense
Guantánamo has been in the news lately -- not because of the prisoners held there, but because Raúl Castro insists that it be returned to Cuba. The contvoversy is over the 45 square mile base, but I have not seen mention of the undersea cable connecting Guantánamo to an unspecified location in Florida.
The estimated completion date for the cable is December 2015 and it could become a bargaining chip in US-Cuba negotiations.
No technical details have been released, but Ronald Bechtold, who was chief information officer at the Secretary of Defense’s office described the cable as a “gigantic bundle” saying “It’s going to be for the entire island in anticipation that one day that they’ll be able to extend it into mainland Cuba.”
Bechtold's comments were denied by Army Colonel Greg Julian, saying “There is no plan for the Southcom to provide fiber-optic communications support to mainland Cuba." He said the project goal is to improve communications for the workers statinoned at Guantánamo. Julian spoke strongly -- he was quoted as saying "[Bechtold] was out of his mind. He is no longer working for the Department of Defense.”
Bechtold was a civilian employee of the Defense Department at the time he made the statement and was scheduled to retire.
Colonel Julian said there was no plan to extend the cable, but plans can change. I've not found subsequent references to this cable or its current status (using Google), but it could be a significant addition to Cuban internet infrastructure if they are sincere about increased access.
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Update 9/7/2015
The Miami Herald reports that the undersea cable is expected to begin operation in February, 2016 (Paywall). It will land in Dania Beach, just south of Fort Lauderdale and connect to Verizon's network access point in Miami.
Last month, I had a chance to ask a senior State Department official concerned with Cuba whether there had been any discussion of the Guantánamo cable in US negotiations with Cuba and he said there had been none.
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Update 10/3/2015
Slate has published a post summarizing the history of the cable and speculating on possible ways it may be used in the future.
- Will There Be Internet-related Announcements During The President's Cuban Trip?
This week, the Cuban government gave some dissidents one-time permission to travel abroad. I suspect that gesture was related to President Obama's upcoming visit and expect to learn of other agreements when he visits Cuba next month. I asked a Cuban...
- Cuba Connecting Universities With Fiber
Is this the start of a fiber backbone? Walter Baluja, Director of the Computer Science Department of the Ministry of Higher Education has announced that starting January of 2016 all academic centers in the country will have access to fiber connections....
- Cuban Home Connectivity Prices Leaked (with A Tidbit At The End Of The Post)
Diario de Cuba reported that Etecsa will begin selling home Internet connectivity in September. Prime time prices will be: The night time price (8PM - 7AM) will be 20 CUC for 90 hours, with a charge of 20 convertible centavos per hour after the limit...
- Tata Switches From Satellite To Cable And Fidel Likes To Surf The Web
Doug Madory of Renesys, an Internet monitoring company, has reported that Cable and Wireless is no longer carrying traffic between Jamaica and Cuba, Telefonica is carrying less traffic than previously, and Tata is carrying more. Furthermore, the Tata...
- Will China Be Helping With Domestic Internet Infrastructure?
As discussed in a previous post, China has played a major role in financing and installing the undersea cable between Venezuela and Cuba, but there has been little discussion of complementary domestic infrastructure needed to reach beyond the cable landing...
Cuba USA
Guantánamo is in the news, but not the undersea cable to Guantánamo
It’s going to be for the entire island in anticipation that one day that they’ll be able to extend it into mainland Cuba.
Ronald Bechtold, ex-CIO, office of the Secretary of Defense
Guantánamo has been in the news lately -- not because of the prisoners held there, but because Raúl Castro insists that it be returned to Cuba. The contvoversy is over the 45 square mile base, but I have not seen mention of the undersea cable connecting Guantánamo to an unspecified location in Florida.
The estimated completion date for the cable is December 2015 and it could become a bargaining chip in US-Cuba negotiations.
No technical details have been released, but Ronald Bechtold, who was chief information officer at the Secretary of Defense’s office described the cable as a “gigantic bundle” saying “It’s going to be for the entire island in anticipation that one day that they’ll be able to extend it into mainland Cuba.”
Bechtold's comments were denied by Army Colonel Greg Julian, saying “There is no plan for the Southcom to provide fiber-optic communications support to mainland Cuba." He said the project goal is to improve communications for the workers statinoned at Guantánamo. Julian spoke strongly -- he was quoted as saying "[Bechtold] was out of his mind. He is no longer working for the Department of Defense.”
Bechtold was a civilian employee of the Defense Department at the time he made the statement and was scheduled to retire.
Colonel Julian said there was no plan to extend the cable, but plans can change. I've not found subsequent references to this cable or its current status (using Google), but it could be a significant addition to Cuban internet infrastructure if they are sincere about increased access.
-----
Update 9/7/2015
The Miami Herald reports that the undersea cable is expected to begin operation in February, 2016 (Paywall). It will land in Dania Beach, just south of Fort Lauderdale and connect to Verizon's network access point in Miami.
Last month, I had a chance to ask a senior State Department official concerned with Cuba whether there had been any discussion of the Guantánamo cable in US negotiations with Cuba and he said there had been none.
-----
Update 10/3/2015
Slate has published a post summarizing the history of the cable and speculating on possible ways it may be used in the future.
- Will There Be Internet-related Announcements During The President's Cuban Trip?
This week, the Cuban government gave some dissidents one-time permission to travel abroad. I suspect that gesture was related to President Obama's upcoming visit and expect to learn of other agreements when he visits Cuba next month. I asked a Cuban...
- Cuba Connecting Universities With Fiber
Is this the start of a fiber backbone? Walter Baluja, Director of the Computer Science Department of the Ministry of Higher Education has announced that starting January of 2016 all academic centers in the country will have access to fiber connections....
- Cuban Home Connectivity Prices Leaked (with A Tidbit At The End Of The Post)
Diario de Cuba reported that Etecsa will begin selling home Internet connectivity in September. Prime time prices will be: The night time price (8PM - 7AM) will be 20 CUC for 90 hours, with a charge of 20 convertible centavos per hour after the limit...
- Tata Switches From Satellite To Cable And Fidel Likes To Surf The Web
Doug Madory of Renesys, an Internet monitoring company, has reported that Cable and Wireless is no longer carrying traffic between Jamaica and Cuba, Telefonica is carrying less traffic than previously, and Tata is carrying more. Furthermore, the Tata...
- Will China Be Helping With Domestic Internet Infrastructure?
As discussed in a previous post, China has played a major role in financing and installing the undersea cable between Venezuela and Cuba, but there has been little discussion of complementary domestic infrastructure needed to reach beyond the cable landing...