How Cubans Have Been Affected by the Data Rate Hike
The price increase reduces online activity to the essentials and makes video calls an unreachable luxury for many Cubans.
By Natalia Lopez Moya (14ymedio)
HAVANA TIMES – “I’ll send the birthday photos next month because I’m out of data,” was the last message Natacha received from her sister two weeks ago. The constant exchange of images and videos via WhatsApp was the lifeline that kept the two women—separated by more than 600 kilometers—connected: one in Havana, the other in Las Tunas. Now, after the steep rate hike imposed by Etecsa two months ago, those connections have been dissolving into longer and longer silences.
“Between the blackouts and how expensive the internet has gotten, we can barely see each other anymore,” laments Natacha, a nurse by profession. Her chats with her sister were never just for catching up. “My sister takes care of my mother, who has lupus. Since I’m a nurse, I gave her daily advice,” she explains. With every video call, Natacha would guide her sister: a photo of a new skin lesion, a video showing how to prepare a purée to help her mother swallow better during a crisis—even images that helped her assess digestive problems.
Since May 30, Etecsa has limited mobile top-ups in Cuban pesos and made web browsing more expensive, while encouraging top-ups from abroad to capture foreign currency amid its financial crisis. The measure abruptly changed the digital routine of thousands of families, forcing them to ration every last megabyte.
For Natacha, that rationing has been painful. “No more live videos or keeping my mom company during lunch by leaving my phone on so she wouldn’t feel alone. Now I buy the package only for the basics. I’ve gone up to two weeks without seeing her face on screen,” she says with sadness.
Olivia, an 18-year-old from Pinar del Río, has also felt the blow. Her daily connection with a friend studying at the University of the Arts in Havana went from watching theater rehearsals to exchanging plain text messages. “I used to give her ideas for the play while she was rehearsing—it felt like I was there. Now none of that,” she says. Without a job, she depends on her parents—both state employees—to pay for her mobile data, but they can’t afford foreign currency top-ups. “I asked a cousin in Miami for help, but she doesn’t even have a work permit right now. She can’t throw me a lifeline,” she laments.
Meanwhile, emigrants who can send phone credit from abroad have boosted Etecsa’s coffers. In mid-July, Prime Minister Manuel Marrero told Parliament that the company had collected more than $24.8 million in just over a month, confirming what students and users had already been denouncing: that the company aims to “prioritize foreign currency over customers on the Island.”
The rate hike has widened the gap between those who have access to foreign currency and those who depend on Cuban pesos. Olivia sums up her new digital routine in a single phrase: “I’ve had to learn to save every megabyte.” With the cap of 360 pesos per month for national top-ups, a user can only buy a basic package: 6 GB, 60 call minutes, and 70 SMS. If they want more, they must go for the extra packages: 3 GB for 3,360 pesos, 7 GB for 6,720, or the coveted 15 GB package for 11,760 pesos—almost twice the average salary.
At the same time, some private businesses have benefited from the rate hike. “I’ve gotten a lot of customers back who used to spend all day on YouTube or Netflix,” admits a seller of offline media packages at his shop near Infanta and San Lazaro in Central Havana. “Now they come to get downloaded series and movies because they can’t afford streaming.” Even though the cost per gigabyte from his suppliers—who download the content from the internet—has also increased, the rise in clientele makes up for it.
In this new landscape, a few have seen their profits grow while the majority tighten their budgets, cut back on calls, and leave screens turned off. For Natacha, who watches helplessly as her daily connection with her mother and sister shrinks to brief voice calls, the conclusion is clear: “The rate hike has left us disconnected—and in the end, Etecsa is the only one that wins.”
[Another benefit for the government, which censors and controls all media is that users have less ability to stay informed about Cuba and abroad via social media and websites
This is what 66 years of communism brings. It is a failed system that has failed everywhere it’s been tried. I find it amazing that some would still defend communism with a straight face.
same in Canada free internet of 1 hour per day in certain stores and gov buildings Cuba is not a safe place to live even if a family has $ from the US.
Most of downtown San Francisco has public access (free) high-speed internet. We also have dirty streets and an overwhelming homeless population. For many years, I used to defend Cuba when folks criticized the poor internet quality by saying at least the streets were clean and there were very few people living on the streets. Now, by pricing the same crappy internet service out of the reach of most Cubans along with incredibly dirty streets and a real homeless problem, there’s even fewer reasons to defend Cuba.