# Cuba to Allow Private Wi-Fi Networks



## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

*Cuba legalizes private Wi-Fi networks in bid to boost connectivity *
_Excerpt_

HAVANA, May 29 (Reuters) - Cuba announced on Wednesday it would legalize private Wi-Fi networks to access the internet and connect computers, as well as allow imports of equipment like routers in another step toward expanding connectivity on the Communist-run island.

The new rules, which take effect on July 29, will regulate the many existing wireless networks Cubans have crafted in recent years with smuggled equipment and likely encourage the creation of new ones.

The move, announced in state-run media, looks set to allow private businesses to provide their customers with Wi-Fi internet legally, a boon for the tourism sector.

No network owner, however, will be able to sell that service, with state telecoms company ETECSA maintaining a monopoly on commercial internet access on the Caribbean's largest island.

Ordinary citizens will be able to connect to ETECSA's infrastructure via Wi-Fi by asking for a permit, state website Cubadebate said.

Cuba has lagged far behind most of the Western Hemisphere in Web access, whether because of a lack of cash, a long-running U.S. trade embargo or concerns about the flow of information. Until 2013, internet was largely available to the public only at tourist hotels on the island.

The government has since made boosting connectivity a priority, introducing outdoor Wi-Fi hot spots and mobile internet.

Given the slow pace of hooking up homes to broadband internet, some Cubans have used illegal antenna to connect to the hot spots instead, hoping authorities will turn a blind eye.

More : https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...ks-in-bid-to-boost-connectivity-idUSKCN1SZ2UD


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

* Cuba’s informal market finds new space on growing internet *
_Excerpt_
Nov 27, 2022

HAVANA (AP) — In the Telegram group chat, the messages roll in like waves.

“I need liquid ibuprofen and acetaminophen, please,” wrote one user. “It’s urgent, it’s for my 10-month-old baby.”

Others offer medicine brought from outside of Cuba, adding, “Write to me in a direct message.” Emoji-speckled lists offer antibiotics, pregnancy tests, vitamins, rash creams and more.

The group message, which includes 170,000 people, is just one of many that have flourished in recent years in Cuba alongside an exponential increase in internet usage on the communist-governed island.

The informal sale of everything from eggs to car parts – the country’s so-called black market – is a time-honored practice in crisis-stricken Cuba, where access to the most basic items such as milk, chicken, medicine and cleaning products has always been limited. The market is technically illegal, but the extent of illegality, in official eyes, can vary by the sort of items sold and how they were obtained.

More : Cuba's informal market finds new space on growing internet


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