This week Google has signed a deal with Cuba’s ETECSA to create a new connection for the island to boost internet speeds for residents. The new deal, however, involves an undersea fiber optic cable being installed.
Google chairman Eric Schmidt represented the Mountain View company in an agreement signed with the Cuban government’s telecom monopoly ETECSA today, which will hopefully provide residents of the island faster access to Google’s sites and services through the Google Global Cache network (via Reuters).
T-Mobile announced via an official blog post this morning that it has inked a deal with ETECSA (Empresa De Telecomunicaciones De Cuba, S.A), a Cuban telecoms company, to offer cheaper calls to Cuba from the US, and offer roaming there for the first time.
About a year after the United States’ historical renewal of its relationship with Cuba, which among other things allowed American firms to do business in the country, it looks like things are looking bright for Cuban people interested in getting online.
In an exclusive interview with ABC News, President Obama stated that ‘change is going to happen’, and notably mentioned Google as one of the first companies about to make the internet a reality for more and more people in the country…
Sprint today announced a new agreement with the Telecommunications Company of Cuba that will allow the fourth-largest US carrier’s subscribers to roam in Cuba. The move comes on the heels of changes to US-Cuban relations recently implemented by the US government.
The Sprint press release (below) mentions two of the company’s global roaming initiatives, but doesn’t specify whether Cuba will join the existing programs or will be part of a different offer.
The company says the exact details and the timing of the launch will be announced at a later date.
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – Nov. 2, 2015 – Sprint (NYSE: S) today became the first U.S. wireless carrier to sign a direct roaming agreement with Telecommunications Company of Cuba (ETECSA).
“As the commercial relationship between the U.S. and Cuba continues to progress, it is expected that the number of travelers to Cuba will increase exponentially,” said Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure. “We want to make sure any Sprint customer traveling to Cuba can use their phone the same way as they do in the United States.”
Claure made the announcement at a signing ceremony in Havana as part of the U.S.-Cuba Business Council (USCBC) delegation to Cuba.
As the only U.S. carrier with a direct roaming agreement and a direct long-distance interconnection agreement with Cuban provider ETECSA, Sprint is leading the way for U.S.-Cuba telecommunications.
More than 3 million people from around the world are expected to visit Cuba this year. Within 10 years, that number is projected to grow to more than 5 million.
The USCBC, an advocacy organization housed at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, is a formal commitment by the American business community to build a strong and strategic commercial relationship between Cuba and the United States.
Earlier this year, Sprint launched Sprint Global Roaming and in August launched Sprint Open World, an industry-leading plan for connectivity in Canada, Mexico and most other countries across Latin America. The agreement signed today with ETECSA makes it much more convenient for Sprint customers who plan to work, study or visit family in Cuba. Offer details and timing of availability will be announced soon.
Google announced today that its Chrome browser is now available for users to download across platforms in Cuba. Up until today, Chrome had not been available to users to in Cuba due to trade restrictions that also block the use of some other Google services in the country.
U.S. export controls and sanctions can sometimes limit the products available in certain countries… We’re happy to say that Internet users in Cuba can now use Chrome too, and browse the web faster and more safely than they could before.
Google said today that it’s “been working to figure out how to make more tools available in sanctioned countries” as U.S. export controls and sanctions change. It also made Chrome available in other sanctioned countries in recent years including Syria and Iran. Google didn’t provide any additional information on what exactly it did to navigate sanctions and make Chrome available in the country.
Users in Cuba can download Chrome for desktop and mobile devices now.