Cable Could Spur Cuba Telecom Market Past PR’s

AP
February 14, 2011

A long-awaited undersea fiber-optic cable linking Cuba with the outside world arrived on the island last week, promising a bandwidth bonanza for a country saddled with exorbitant telephone rates and among the slowest Internet connection speeds on the planet.

The cable connecting Cuba with key ally Venezuela was brought ashore in the eastern resort of Siboney in a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the two countries, the state-run Prensa Latina news agency reported.

The cable is not expected to be operational until the summer, but its arrival is a landmark for an island that often feels cut off from the outside world, 52 years after Fidel Castro’s revolution turned it from decadent American playground to crumbling Soviet satellite. Venezuela President Hugo Chávez has heralded the link as a way to break the 50-year U.S. “blockade” of Cuba.

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