wiredinUSA May 2019

Photo by Alexander Kunze on Unsplash

Cuban collaboration

“We are creating a working group which is comprised of engineers from Google and ETECSA who would work together to analyze ways to implement the direct Internet connection,” said Google’s chief in Cuba, Brett Perlmutter. Mobile Internet has been available on the island since December, and nearly two million of ETECSA’s five million customers have already subscribed to the 3G service. FormostCubans, however, Internet access is still only available in internet cafes or via outdoor Wi-Fi hotspots. and Washington have cooled under President Donald Trump after a diplomatic thaw under his predecessor Barack Obama briefly raised hopes of lifting the 1962 trade embargo. Relations between Havana

Despite diplomatic tensions between Washington and Havana, Google has signed a deal with Cuban operator ETECSA to explore ways of boosting Internet service in Cuba. The companies’ memorandum of understanding is aimed at speeding up connectivity to help “bring communications on the island into the 21 st Century”, a key policy of president Miguel Diaz-Canel. Cuba’s Internet provider is currently dependent on a submarine fiber optic cable link to Venezuela, but service is often overloaded and slow. The island would benefit from connection to submarine cables between the US and Latin America, so engineers from the two companies will work together to achieve a faster, direct Internet connection.

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wiredInUSA - May 2019