Cuba USA
Omar Tejedor, Central Director of Public Telephony at ETECSA, announced a pilot test using public pay phones for mobile access. They will upgrade public phones, enabling them to access the mobile GSM network.
the public phones will link to underutilized mobile base stations and their goal is to augment telephone access in rural and mountain areas. This is a small pilot test -- they've contracted for upgrades to 50 phones so far -- and prices have not been announced.
This is not a major development, but it is consistent with Cuba's history. Since the early days of the Internet, they have put more emphasis on rural connectivity than was common in developing nations.
It is also an instance of Cuban ingenuity -- like equipping a bicycle with an engine, pop-bottle fuel tank and oversize seat, creating El Paquete Semanal or growing street nets.
It also reminds me of a time many years ago in Havana when my wife asked a woman on the street if she knew where the closest pay phone was. She replied that there was one up the street, but it had not worked for years. That was the bad news. The good news was that she had a phone in her home and invited us in to use it.
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Cuba USA
Mobile access phone booths in rural areas
Omar Tejedor, Central Director of Public Telephony at ETECSA, announced a pilot test using public pay phones for mobile access. They will upgrade public phones, enabling them to access the mobile GSM network.
the public phones will link to underutilized mobile base stations and their goal is to augment telephone access in rural and mountain areas. This is a small pilot test -- they've contracted for upgrades to 50 phones so far -- and prices have not been announced.
This is not a major development, but it is consistent with Cuba's history. Since the early days of the Internet, they have put more emphasis on rural connectivity than was common in developing nations.
It is also an instance of Cuban ingenuity -- like equipping a bicycle with an engine, pop-bottle fuel tank and oversize seat, creating El Paquete Semanal or growing street nets.
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It also reminds me of a time many years ago in Havana when my wife asked a woman on the street if she knew where the closest pay phone was. She replied that there was one up the street, but it had not worked for years. That was the bad news. The good news was that she had a phone in her home and invited us in to use it.
- Etecsa Will Sell -- And Service -- Huawei Phones.
ETECSA has agreed to sell and service Huawei phones. Since Cuban cell service is 2G, they will be used for voice calls and Internet access at WiFi hotspots and elsewhere. (I have heard that there is a little 3G coverage in Cuba -- is that the case)? Javier...
- Growing Pains For Mobile Email
Granma reports that demand for nauta.cu email from mobile phones (100.000 new users) has led to congestion on the cellular network of "over 500" base stations, so ETECSA is expanding the network. They will add 80 new base stations -- 15 are already online....
- Cuban Mobile Internet Prices
Cuban authorities have announced that mobile Internet services will be available on the island soon at a maximum rate of 1 Cuban Convertible Peso (CUC) per megabyte of data transferred. (1 CUC = 1.14 USD). As far as I know, they have said nothing about...
- Communication Agents Will Sell Telephone And Internet Time
ETECSA is taking applications for communication agents who will sell and reload prepaid phone and Internet access cards, make calls and collect bills. The agents will work on commission and charge the same prices as ETECSA. They will also pay taxes....
- Updated Cuban Ict Statistics
Cuba’s National Office of Statistics and Information (ONE) released their annual report on Information and Communication Technology in June, 2012. The Internet-related statistics shown here indicate relatively little change. let’s consider each of...