Can you advise me on bringing my Blackberry into Cuba?

Question: I recently sent an email to ONHG asking if I could bring my Blackberry Bold 9000 into Cuba to keep in contact with my family and have not received a reply. Can you please advise me?

Answer: In a phone consultation with Cubacel, the business arm of ETECSA which offers mobile telephony services, they said that a Blackberry can be used in Cuba as long as it is GSM (900 MHz). If it does not contain this technological feature, it won’t work in Cuba.

In order to use your Blackberry with a line from another country, you must be sure to activate International Roaming in your country of origin before you travel.

The other option is to use your Blackberry with a line activated through Cubacel, but again, you must be sure that your Blackberry is GSM (900 MHz) and that it is uncoded, as some coded phones are blocked and the line doesn’t register in Cuba. The cost for activating a line with Cubacel is CUC 40 and then you must pay a minimum credit of CUC 10 against phone use. You will be asked to sign a temporary contract with Cubacel for the time you’ll be using your Blackberry in Cuba.

You will find Cubacel offices in both Terminals #2 and #3 at the José Martí International Airport in Havana, and there is also a Cubacel office in Miramar (Calle 28 #510, e/ 5 y 7, Tel 05?880?2222 or 05?264?2266 for client attention). Cubacel’s website is www.cubacel.cu

You might also want to check out what other visitors to Cuba have to say about Blackberry use on the island. One site that provides information is www.blackberryforums.com and then click on Blackberry in Cuba.