ETECSA announces new WiFi areas for internet access in Cuba

ETECSA, S.A. announced eight new Wifi areas for internet access in Cuba have been opened up in urban and park areas. The following is a list of locations in Cuba where the internet can now be accessed with a WiFi connection.  These Wifi locations were set up because of their popularity:

• Parks Antonio Maceo, Havana
• Consolacion del Sur, Pinar del Rio
• Villuendas, Cienfuegos
• Maximo Gomez, Ciego de Avila
• Antonio Maceo, Las Tunas
• Jose Antonio Echeverria, Cardenas, Matanzas
• Los Framboyanes, Villa Clara
• Madruga, Mayabeque
• Yayabo Cultural Square in Sancti Spiritus

This move now makes a total of 43 areas available for WiFi internet access in Cuba. ETECSA’s Communication Directions department is planning to open up another 12 locations before the end of this year, adding nine locations for Havana where it is most needed because of population density.  Three other areas will be located elsewhere in Cuba. These locations have not yet been decided.

Currently in total there are 32 other Wifi locations which have been up and running since July. Internet access is still too expensive for most Cubans. An hour of Wifi access is 2 CUCs per hour, a price far too high in a country where the average wage of the population is 20 CUCs per month. Approximately 4 million Nauta email and internet access/Wifi access accounts have been opened in Cuba according to reports by ETECSA. For many people this is the first time they have been able to access the internet.

The Cuban government wants “all Cubans” to be connected to the Internet by 2020.  Communication Ministry IT director Ernesto Rodriguez said “The Cuban government is working to ensure that the IT resources and Internet are available and accessible to all Cubans” in five years, according an official news website, Cubadebate.