Cuba Allows Unrestricted Mobile Service March 28, 2008
Cuba announced on Friday that it will allow Cubans the unrestricted use of mobile telephones for the first time in the latest step by new President Raul Castro to improve access to consumer goods.
Cuba has the lowest rate of cellular telephone use in Latin America with the service been mainly restricted until now to foreigners and government officials.
The Cuban telecommunications monopoly ETECSA said it would begin mobile phone service for the general public in the next few days.
"ETECSA is able to offer mobile phone service to the public," it said in a statement published in the Communist Party newspaper Granma.
Many Cubans have for long wanted access to cellular phones and hoped it would be among the first steps taken by Raul Castro, who took over from his ailing brother Fidel Castro as Cuba's first new leader in almost half a century on February 24.
Some Cubans have mobile phone service in the name of foreigners or their work places. They will now be able to put the contract in their own names, ETECSA said.
It said the new service would be paid for in hard currency in order to fund the development of Cuba's telecommunications systems and extend land line telephone services
Originally posted by Steve Cohen: Lucky you need to go to Cuba and see how hard life is for the average Cuban (99.999%).
quote:
Originally posted by LuckyBreak: WHY THE **** were Cubans banned from cell phones?
Yes I know Steve, I haven't been there but I certainly can get the picture. I can understand Cubans not having enough money to get luxuries like cell phones, but not having them because they are not allowed is another story.
______________________________ "Stick to your blue collar RASS, I will smoke Cohibas"- ccsigloIII.
Posts: 1911 | Location: Egypt | Registered: June 14, 2007
The restrictions are unbelievable, like the necessities of life, a tooth brush, ASA, tampons, pencils, erasures, paper, oh yea and right to vote for someone other than a Castro.
quote:
Originally posted by LuckyBreak:
quote:
Originally posted by Steve Cohen: Lucky you need to go to Cuba and see how hard life is for the average Cuban (99.999%).
quote:
Originally posted by LuckyBreak: WHY THE **** were Cubans banned from cell phones?
Yes I know Steve, I haven't been there but I certainly can get the picture. I can understand Cubans not having enough money to get luxuries like cell phones, but not having them because they are not allowed is another story.
"Bud spelers of the word unight, and remumber: cabron is most abundent elemant in hte youknwverse"
This totally sucks. It's really a shame that honorable revolutions like Castro's turn into this. Our 1952 revolution also turned into something not very democratic, but heck, social freedoms were at it's height back in the 60's. Political freedoms weren't as much, but social freedoms were a billion times better than today. Religion did not dominate people's brains back then like today.
______________________________ "Stick to your blue collar RASS, I will smoke Cohibas"- ccsigloIII.
Posts: 1911 | Location: Egypt | Registered: June 14, 2007
The very fact that having cell phones is a major to-do should tell us all something...specifically, that we are very lucky that our headlines are just about political lies, crazy preachers, $4.00/gal gasoline...
"Whatsoever is rightly done, however humble, is noble." Sir Henry Royce, 1924
Posts: 992 | Location: Newnan, GA | Registered: June 13, 2005
Originally posted by joel482: The very fact that having cell phones is a major to-do should tell us all something...specifically, that we are very lucky that our headlines are just about political lies, crazy preachers, $4.00/gal gasoline...
Amen!
Posts: 1818 | Location: WI | Registered: November 16, 2007
Originally posted by joel482: The very fact that having cell phones is a major to-do should tell us all something...specifically, that we are very lucky that our headlines are just about political lies, crazy preachers, $4.00/gal gasoline...
Amen!
I second that!
No matter where you go or what you want to do....there will always be something or someone in the way.
Posts: 845 | Location: Richmond, IN | Registered: February 07, 2008
"A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools." - Douglas Adams