Cuba lags region in telecoms, Internet access

The National Statistics Office released 2008 telecommunications data showing there were 1.4 million telephones, fixed and mobile, in the country of 11.2 million inhabitants. (www.one.cu/aec2008/esp/20080618_tabla_cuadro.htm)

This gave a total density of 12.6 telephones per 100 inhabitants, the lowest in the region, according to the United Nations International Telecommunications Union.

Computers were also scarce at just 630,000 and most were believed to be in government offices, health facilities and schools.

The report said 13 percent of Cuba's population had Internet access, but in most cases this was to a government Intranet. No data was available for access to the worldwide web, but diplomats and residents say it is severely restricted.

In Jamaica, Internet access was 53.27 per 100 inhabitants, the Dominican Republic 25.87 percent and in Haiti 10.42 percent, the ITU reported.

"I would love one day to have a telephone, computer and Internet at home, but I see little prospects for now," said 23-year-old Yenisey Peraza, a Cuban dancer who recently bought a cellphone for emergencies.

In a reform introduced by President Raul Castro after he took over from his ailing brother, Fidel, in February last year, Cubans were given permission to freely buy and use cellphones.

But they can only pay for them in hard currency equivalent convertible pesos, which are not available to all Cubans. The government pegs the Cuban convertible currency (CUC) at $1.08.

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