Home Internet: A ‘pilot’ test

HAVANA — About 2,000 residents of the Plaza Vieja and Catedral Peoples Councils, both in the Historic Center of Old Havana, will be chosen for the initial test of Internet service to homes.

The announcement, made by the Cuban News Agency (ACN), confirms that the pilot project will begin before the end of this year.

According to ACN, Eudes Monier Núñez, chief of the Marketing and Communications Department of ETECSA in the capital, said that technological renovation in that area will allow the pilot project to proceed. The technology was purchased from the Chinese company Huawei.

[http://www.cbsnews.com/news/cuba-announces-launch-of-broadband-home-internet/]

The designated area is one of the most visited in Havana’s historic center. It contains an appreciable number of restaurants and private eating places, but the announcement does not specify if both the state-run and the private establishments will be included in this communications effort.

As to the speed of communications and the cost of connections, Eudes Monier said that “the price chart has still not been approved but we expect a variety of prices. As to the speed of connections, he said that “it will depend on the technical parameters of the line and the users’ computerized devices.”

The rates and quality of service are very much a concern for the likely beneficiaries of this project, because — as some have told Progreso Weekly — “we know that so far this service has been paid in CUC [convertible pesos] and is expensive.” They say they know that the cheapest prices hover around 60 CUCs [sixty dollars], the equivalent of 1,500 Cuban pesos, about three times the average monthly wage.

“Even if [the rates] were lower, we couldn’t pay them — though the restaurants could,” a local resident told our reporter. “We’ll be disappointed or we can go, when possible, to an ETECSA connection point.”