Number of wireless users in Cuba tops 3 mn in April

The number of wireless users in Cuba topped 3 million in April, when a promotion by state telecommunications monopoly Etecsa enabled the company to meet 40 percent of its 2015 target for new cellular lines, the official daily Juventud Rebelde reported Thursday.

The figure of more than 3 million users confirms the “evident growth” of that sector, according to the paper, which published data obtained from Etecsa.

The company has set a goal of achieving annual growth between 2015 and 2018 of some 800,000 cellular lines and said it fulfilled 38 percent of this year’s target with the new customers it signed up in April.

“The figure projected for this year was nearly half-achieved with the ‘Sign up and get 30’ (convertible pesos worth of minutes) promotion,” which was held a few weeks ago and led to more than 300,000 new lines being added in just five days, Etecsa told Juventud Rebelde.

Etecsa told Cuba’s parliament last December there were 3.7 million fixed-line and cellular subscribers in Cuba, without breaking down those figures by type of service.

It also said it had set a target of adding roughly 800,000 new cellular lines, 300,000 fixed lines and 1,300 “public service” lines in 2015.

Mobile service has grown considerably on this Communist-ruled island of 11.1 million inhabitants since 2008, when President Raul Castro’s government authorized the use of mobile phones by ordinary citizens.

(From: La Prensa)