Shortly after my arrival in Havana on June 24, I ask my friend Ramsés Urquiaga, a second-year student at the School of Medicine, what his most pressing needs are. On top of his list is open access to the Internet. A few days later, on July 2, ETECSA (Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba, S.A.) grants Ramsés’s wish when it opens over thirty Wi-Fi access points in Havana and other provinces. The Rampa stretch between the Habana Libre Hotel and the Malecón is one such point. Another is the Centro de Negocios on 5th Avenue and 76th St. in Miramar. Anyone with a Nauta account, which can be obtained for 4.50 CUC, can now access the Internet from these hot spots. The fee gives users the right to an hour of navigation, and additional hours can be purchased for 2 CUC each.
Up until now Cubans had to rely on the outdated modem connection used in state Internet parlors and cyber-cafes. The new development allows them to enjoy the advantages of mobile connectivity. Another advantage is the reduced fee per hour of usage. Prior to July 2, I was spending up to 13.50 CUC on a daily basis as I was teaching an on-line summer course. With Wi-Fi availability, the fee was cut in more than half.
Still, the present solution is far from being a panacea. First of all, Wi-Fi is found in limited areas only. In Miramar, users need to stand next to the ETECSA office at the Centro de Negocios. Twenty-five meters away, where there is an outdoor cafe that would ideally invite users to linger, the signal is nowhere to be found. A slow connection during peak times is also a problem. Second of all, access is not guaranteed even in areas where Wi-Fi is provided. I was able to connect from the lobby of the Hotel Presidente, but not from the lobbies of the Copacabana and the Inglaterra hotels. Some sites still require a password. The baffling arbitrariness that permeates many aspects of Cuban life, which makes it more difficult to navigate than the Internet, extends to this area as well. While my friend Ramsés has no access at the School of Medicine, the daughter of a friend of mine can browse the web at the University of Havana’s School of Humanities.
Last but not least, even the fee of 2 CUC an hour is beyond what an average Cuban can afford. Most Cubans get paid in Cuban pesos, not the convertible currency ETECSA charges for these accounts. For instance, Ramsés’s father earns 250 pesos a month as a state employee in a bodega. The equivalent of 10 CUC, his salary is below average and hardly enough to get by. Like many others, he needs alternative sources of income in order to resolver. For this reason, Internet access is even now largely out of reach for Ramsés.
In addition to its most immediate purpose, Wi-Fi is a metaphor for openness, normalization, and opportunity. On June 29th, the popular TV program Vivir del cuento devoted its weekly airing to this topic. Pánfilo, the protagonist, strikes gold when he discovers that a free Wi-Fi signal miraculously reaches his home, which he then converts into an Internet cafe. He runs out of luck, though, when a neighbor manages to redirect the signal to her home. Success can be elusive not only with regard to connection, but also with reference to entrepreneurship. Yet the perils of competition are not preventing Cubans to try their hand at private businesses, which have flourished in the past several years even in depressed areas such as Centro Habana. Cuentapropistas would benefit from self-promotion in digital publications such as LaHabana.com (formerly Cuba Absolutely) and Vistar magazine, which thus far only a minority of Cubans can read.
In general terms, the arrival of Wi-Fi is an unequivocal sign of progress, part of the slow recovery process impacting various areas of daily life. ETECSA, for one, stands to gain from the switch. If it succeeds in maintaining and improving access, it might shed the creative nickname it has gained in popular parlance: “Estamos Tratando de Establecer Comunicaciones Sin Apuro”. Instead of leisurely, its service ought to be fast, reliable, extensive, and affordable.
Havana, July 11, 2015
–Iraida López
Iraida López is Professor of Spanish at Ramapo College. She is the author of Impossible Returns: Narratives of the Cuban Diaspora (forthcoming from the University Press of Florida in September 2015).
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