Statistics on the telecommunications and information technology sectors in Cuba are now available on the website of the government’s Oficina Nacional de Estadísticas (ONE). ONE’s data reports (particularly on the economy) are widely regarded as suspect: the claims of improvements and growth often appear impossibly inflated. But this particular report shows such poor results that it is difficult to doubt its accuracy. The June report shows Cuba at or near the worst rank in the Hemisphere in terms of per capita fixed telephone lines, personal computers and access to the Internet.
The number of cellular lines did increase significantly in 2008, likely because of Raúl Castro’s decision to allow all Cubans to contract for cell service. The number of cell contracts grew accordingly from 330,000 to 466,000 between 2007 and 2008—an increase of 136,000 lines.
Still, the cost of cell phone service renders it a luxury that is unattainable for most. And with a total of 1.42 million fixed, cell and other telephone lines in a country of 11.2 million people, the island’s telephone density per 100 inhabitants at the end of 2008 stood at 12.6, the lowest in Latin America and even lower than Haiti’s, the poorest country in the hemisphere.
In fact, Cuba reported higher results in this sector in 1958 (15 phone lines per 100 inhabitants) than it did this year. At that time, Cuba boasted the second highest rate in Latin America.
Raúl Castro has given no indication yet whether Cuba will take advantage of Barack Obama’s April decision to loosen telecommunications embargo restrictions. According to the new policy, US companies can now provide cellular service and roaming in Cuba, satellite TV and fiber optic cable facilities, and accept payments for those services from US residents. This last part is key: a Cuban living abroad could pay a US company directly for satellite TV or a cell phone for relatives in Cuba whose meager salary would otherwise not allow it. But the Cuban state will have to allow US companies in first.