Internet/Cuba: Time Marches On…
Fernando Ravsberg*
HAVANA TIMES — Days, weeks, months and years go by without achieving the promised computerization of Cuban society.
Gone is the debate as to whether the Internet will be social or individual; most Internet users are ready to accept any option as long as they have access.
I’m continuing to try to get some official at the Ministry of Communications to give me some answers regarding the Internet situation in Cuba.
It’s true that their subordinates always warn me not to try to get too close, but my optimism compels me to keep on insisting.
I managed to buttonhole one of the deputy ministers at the opening of the 15th Computer Technology Fair. I decided to approach him since he was fairly young and because a Cuban colleague assured me that “this guy knows what’s going on,” explaining to me that he wasn’t a simple bureaucrat.
I must admit he was more courteous and friendlier than other officials I’ve met in the past, but in the end his response was essentially the same: “I’m not going to make any statements…this isn’t the place…some other time…etc., etc., etc.
It was a shame he refused to talk because I wanted to ask him about an issue that concerns the vast majority of Cuban cybernauts: the difficulty connecting to the Internet and the extreme slowness of navigating on it – even worse than it was several years ago.
The national telephone company (Etecsa) alerted people in its latest statement that the existence of the new underwater cable “won’t mean an automatic increase possibilities for access,” but what it never said was that these possibilities would be reduced in the manner they’ve been.
My intention in speaking with the deputy minister was to either confirm or rule out some of the rumors circulating on the island. People here are speculating about the reasons for the ever increasing difficulties in achieving even minimal internet access.
When I talk about the extreme slowness in navigating, what I mean is that downloading a video is completely impossible. Similarly, opening photos can take between 10 and 15 minutes, and opening 20 websites to review the news takes about three hours.
As always, there are those who blame all the difficulties on the US blockade, while of course the opposition assures us that it’s a government conspiracy to monopolize information.
Nevertheless there’s a third group that recognizes the problem as being a technical crisis.
The first two perspectives need no further explanations. We’ve been hearing them forever, with them centering on everything being good or everything being bad. In contrast, most of the experts I consulted believe the dire situation is due to technological difficulties.
One source told me that this time it has nothing to do with the fiber-optic cable from Venezuela, which apparently doesn’t work, but doesn’t harm. Currently there seems to be a greater problem with the internal networks and systems of the island, which apparently have begun to fail.
According to experts in the field, Cuban equipment and systems are so outdated that they aren’t even parts for them. This has been reducing the country’s capacity and forcing the regrouping of users in what’s still functioning, which would explain the declining speeds.
I’m beginning to understand the meaning of the statement made by Etecsa when it said they need more “internal investment in the telecommunications infrastructure.”
I’m continuing to try to get some official at the Ministry of Communications to give me some answers regarding the Internet situation in Cuba. It’s true that their subordinates always warn me not to try to get too close, but my optimism compels me to keep on insisting.
There were four paragraphs in which — while not lying — would require magic for them to reveal the truth.
Some experts agree that break downs are continuing to worsen, and they say the only solution is the complete modernization of the internal infrastructure, which would involve huge investment of money and time, and would mean inconvenience to users.
The truth is that despite the government’s investments in this sector, connectivity is worsening with each passing day. This snail’s pace is a fact, but its causes are impossible to confirm with the authorities at the Ministry of Communications.
Everything having to do with the Internet is maintained in the greatest secrecy. The cable [from Venezuela] remains in the “testing” phase, while there’s talk about new investments but with no details. On top of all that, they insist that people need to be patient while hoping for “gradual growth.”
Maybe we’re wasting time thinking. In the end, potential Cuban Internet users will remain exasperated in front of their computer screens while the Ministry continues responding like in that old song: “Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps.”
—–
(*) An authorized Havana Times translation of the original published by BBC Mundo.
While Cuban gov consider internet access to the majority of the population a “crime against the state”, no real access to the internet will exist on Cuba to most part of
the people. A fiber optic cable will be broken by a shark bite, the millions that ETECSA earn per month will not be enough to buy cheap Chinese equipments,….
See >>>
http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=55758
The answer is easy; Cuba needs control and filter information that most part of the
Cubans receives, because needs have the population passive. Massive internet access breaks this principle in a country where only national tv channels and newspapers are allowed to the population. A fake reality is presented to visitors that can access to internet or see not Cuban Channels in hotels. With current prices charge in Cuba to internet access they can buy new equipments in less than 3 months in a factory locate outside the solar system. Until Cuba do not release access to satellite TV, internet to Cuban population will continue impossible because it is a question of an old state policy.
The answer is easy; Cuba needs control and filter information that most part of the Cubans receives, because needs have the population passive. Massive internet access breaks this principle in a country where only national tv channels and newspapers are allowed to the population.
A fake reality is presented to visitors that can access to internet or see not Cuban Channels in hotels. With current prices charge in Cuba to internet access they can buy new equipments in less than 3 months in a factory locate outside the solar system. Internet massive access in Cuba is something that gov do not desire.
You can easily find, for example, Isbel (yep, the one from this site) on facebook. Stop your useless propaganda for once!
I thought you were an accountability expert and invested capital on a high-tech business once. Well it seems I was wrong, as you know absolutely nothing about anything by comparing the weight of a snow flake with one of an elephant.
You should worry about the trillions of dollars wasted on the war-machine instead.
Luis, you may be on to something. If Cuba would spend less money organizing protests against Yoani Sanchez in foreign countries, driving dissidents off the road, erecting billboards in Cuba to support spies imprisoned in the US and throwing rocks at the homes of peaceful protestors, they could invest the savings in building the internal infrastruture that you so aptly describe is lacking. Good idea, laddie!
On March 15, 2013 I stayed in Melia Habana and connected to the internet. It really felt that the speed became slower then before. It felt slower than dial up and cost me $10/hr. Before it was $8/hr. At home I have 150 Mbps down and 10 Mbps up and it is not the fastest connection available. Until the leaders of Cuba start using internet themselves they will not understand why younger people need it.
“The first two perspectives need no further explanations. We’ve been
hearing them forever, with them centering on everything being good or
everything being bad. In contrast, most of the experts I consulted
believe the dire situation is due to technological difficulties.
One source told me that this time it has nothing to do with the
fiber-optic cable from Venezuela, which apparently doesn’t work, but
doesn’t harm. Currently there seems to be a greater problem with the
internal networks and systems of the island, which apparently have begun
to fail.
According to experts in the field, Cuban equipment and systems are so
outdated that they aren’t even parts for them. This has been reducing
the country’s capacity and forcing the regrouping of users in what’s
still functioning, which would explain the declining speeds.
I’m beginning to understand the meaning of the statement made by
Etecsa when it said they need more “internal investment in the
telecommunications infrastructure.”
Thank you very much Fernando for a concise essay of what I have tried to argue on this issue before. People with little or no knowledge of how the internet works physically have talked utter nonsense over and over again, thinking the ALBA-1 cable would ‘magically’ solve the problem just like that, without considering how much a high-end switcher-router costs, how many optical couplers and miles of fiber cables would be necessary to substitute the obsolete Cuban network. I’ve argued that it took about 10 years from the very first laying of fiber-optic links between universities in my country to work for the very first broadband ISP’s to provide services to end users, be them institutional or home users.
Did you upload photos to your Facebook account? Did you download any music or a movie maybe? Did you to any gamer sites? The answers are probably no. By the way, since you were connected in a hotel, you probably paid between 6 cuc and 10 cuc to connect for an hour. Would you have been willing to use between half and one-third of your monthly salary to spend that hour browsing? By the way, the cable from Venezuela is probably up and running as you read. The question is for who?
Only 2 weeks ago I used the internet in a Holguin hotel and the connection was as good as my broadband connection in the UK. Also according to information on the internet the link from Venezuela is up and running.