Year end interview of the president of ETECSA

"The people want to be connected."

ETECSA president, ingeniera Mayra Arevich Marín

Mayra Arevich Marín has been president of ETECSA for four years. The following are a few points from a recent year-end interview.

• Internet access was improved through the rollout of Nauta rooms, WiFi hotpsots and improved connectivity at institutions that are important to the society.
• By the end of the year, there will be 65 WiFi hotspots and they will add 80 more during 2016.
• Today there are over 700 public access points in navigation rooms, cyber-cafes, hotels and airports.
• Average daily access is over 150,000 people -- double last year.
• They are encouraging the move to permanent Nauta accounts and hiring agents at WiFi hotspots to stop resellers. They are also experimenting with having people at the WiFi hotspots to assist customers. (It takes time to train support and marketing people).
• They are also working on a system to let people buy time online rather than through an agent. (It seems they could have done this from the start -- send a 2 CUC text message to ETECSA in return for a 1-hour passcode).
• They are working on infrastructure to support this access. They have expanded the capacity of their existing data center and will build two new data centers and augment backbone access to the international undersea cable in 2016. (She did not mention it, but the bulk of Cuba's international traffic shifted from satellite to cable this year, enabling the increase in access).

In addition to access, she mentioned new applications and improved connectivity in several government sectors:

• There are now 40 thousand doctors who connect from their homes to the Internet via Infomed. They also improved the connectivity of health institutions.
• The Ministry of Justice is putting applications like access to municipal records online.
• Fiber connectivity has been provided at over 25 higher education facilities. By the end of the year, all Cuban universities were connected.
• An interbank network was created and banking applications implemented. There are now 773 ATMs in Cuba, 150 of which were installed this year.
• The Attorney General's office, the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP), the Ministry of Agriculture, the National Institute of Water Resources and BioCubaFarma business group have improved fiber connectivity.
• She said they are preparing new service offerings for 2016, but did not say what they were.

Entertainment is one critical application that was not mentioned. Today digital entertainment is being handled off line by El Paquete, but normalization of relations with the US will at some point eliminate the piracy subsidy upon which it is based, leaving a cost gap.

Finally, Arevich Marín said that since they must pay for infrastructure and equipment with convertible currency, they need to continue generating revenue through expensive service, foreign recharging, exportable services, international voice and roaming charges and government subsidy.

In a way, this was a typical year-end summary by any CEO -- mentioning achievements for the year past and hinting at some plans for the coming year, while ignoring problems.

Viewed from the perspective of the Internet in a developed nation, I am saddened by how little connectivity Cubans have, but I am more interested in where Cuba will be five or more years from now, so, for me, the key point in this interview was the last one -- citing the need for convertible currency. It is an indication that, at least for now, Cuba has decided to be relatively self-sufficient with respect to the Internet, but can they afford a self-sufficient Internet?

The conventional wisdom is that if Cuba wants to expand the Internet quickly, they should privatize and regulate the Internet in return for foreign investment. For example, Doug Madory has suggested licensing mobile providers, an approach that has led to rapid improvement of the mobile Internet in Myanmar, another "green field" nation. Cuba is seeking foreign investment in industries like mining and oil production, but the Internet is basic domestic infrastructure that might reasonably be kept independent. They should consider alternatives for infrastructure ownership and regulation along with foreign investment.

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Update 2/5/2016

ETECSA officials held a press conference yesterday. Here is some of what they said. (My comments are in parenthesis).

At the end of the year there were 3.3 million mobile accounts. (Mobile Internet access is primarily used for personal communication and entertainment, not content creation or productivity applications).

They acknowledge and are working on peak load problems.

Rates have been reduced. (But they remain high enough to create a digital divide within Cuba).

They cautioned that the Old Havana pilot study was only a trial.

There are now agents selling telecommunication cards and recharge coupons (but not satellite access, which US operators are now allowed to provide).

They acknowledged that some of the public access hotspots were in inappropriate locations.

100 cellular base stations will be upgraded from 2G to 3G during the first half of 2016. (How many base stations are there altogether, what percent of the population will have 3G coverage at their homes and offices and why 3G)?

They will establish 80 new public WiFi hotspots this year and offer a variety of handsets for sale. (Is ETECSA the sole vendor for handsets)?

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Update 3/31/2016

ETECSA executives held a round-table discussion on Internet services and WiFi hotspots and you can read the transcript here.

A couple of items caught my eye:

• They will be upgrading access points to accommodate both 2.4 and 5 Ghz connections since 82 percent of today's connections are at 2.4 Ghz and today's laptops and tablets can utilize the 5 Ghz band.
• Approximately 200,000 users connect daily at WiFi hotspots -- up from 150,000 reported in December.
• They plan to upgrade 100 radio base stations (RBS) in Havana to 3G mobile. (Note that "RBS" is a term used by Ericsson, not Huawei).
• Details of what will be a very expensive home connectivity project have not been ironed out, but they plan to upgrade equipment to provide a capacity of 1.2 million ADSL land lines. (That is fewer than the goal of nearly 2 million private homes that was stated in a home-connectivity presentation that was leaked last year).

They said a lot more, so you might want to read the transcript for yourself.

In general, I was struck by their reiteration of commitment to already obsolete equipment like ADSL to homes and 3G mobile. I hope they consider this and the WiFi hotspots stopgap technology and are making plans for leapfrogging today's technology and today's infrastructure ownership and regulation policies.


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Update 8/16/2016

Last month, vice minister of communications Wilfredo González Vidal reportedly announced that they planned to have 655 public access locations in ETECSA "navigation rooms, Youth Computer Clubs, hotel and airports by the end of this year. He also said they now have 125 WiFi hotspots.

But, at the end of last year, Mayra Arevich Marín, president of ETECSA said there were already 700 public access points in navigation rooms, cyber-cafes, hotels and airports (see above).

Perhaps I misunderstood -- my Spanish is bad at best -- maybe the vice minister was saying they would add 655 new public access points. Here is the quote: "Los planes para ampliar el acceso público a internet prevén el aumento de capacidades con un total de 655 instalaciones a finales de este año" (my italics).

Regardless, proud announcements of such low numbers are discouraging. It is reminiscent the highly publicized offerings of the artist Kcho. What he did was fine, but it is an inconsequential drop in the bucket in a nation of over 11 million people.

By the end of the year, two years will have passed since the beginning of rapprochement between the US and Cuba. The Internet related announcements made at the time of President Obama's visit to Cuba have turned out to have been little more than public relations. Citmatel is embarrassingly out of touch with their goofy software and content offerings. Etc.

If I saw evidence of serious long range planning for "leapfrogging" today's technology and policy, I would understand a slow, stop-gap approach to public access, but I don't.

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Update 8/22/2016

I noted inconsistency (above) in the number of public access points claimed by the Cuban Ministry of Communication and ETECSA, so I checked the ETECSA connectivity page for clarification. They list 259 public access rooms with a total of 921 computers, as follows:

ETECSA and the Ministry of Communication seem to agree that there will be at least 655 public access spots in ETECSA navigation rooms, Youth Computer Clubs, hotels and airports by the end of this year. I don't know how many are in hotels and airports, but the navigation rooms and Youth Computer Club installations shown here are well below that target.

The Ministry of Communication also said they now have 125 WiFi hotspots, but ETECSA lists 178. (They are silent on the characteristics of each -- for example, on whether the backhaul capacity from each is the same).

Some time ago, I noted that the roles of ETECSA and the Ministry of Communication with respect to the Internet are unclear. So are the statistics.

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Update 9/11/2-16

Juventad Rebelde reports that there are now 1,006 public access locations in Cuba -- 200 WiFi hotspots, 193 “navigation rooms” and 613 other locations at Youth Computer Clubs, hotels, Health Ministry and Postal offices and airports. The article also says there are 250,000 WiFi connections daily -- 80% at 2.4Ghz.

ETECSA lists the locations of the WiFi hotspots here and the following map shows the number of WiFi hotspots, navigation rooms and other access locations in each province.

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Update 9/23/2016

ETECSA has plans to install WiFi hotspots along a five mile stretch of the Malecon by the end of this year. They did not release details on the number of access points or their distribution or backhaul plans, but it will be a really nice touch if all goes well.

Iván García's description of the Cuban "computer rooms" -- a success in spite of everything

The internet arouses affection and fear.

Iván García has posted a great description of the Cuban "computer rooms". (As he notes, there is no good English translation for "salas de navegación").

Here are a few random quotes:

• On average, each internet room has received 7,600 customers a month in the first 12 months. Some 250 internet users a day. 25 an hour: the internet premises are open 10 and a half hours every day of the week, from 8:30 am to 7 pm.
• Of the blogs or webs originating in Cuba, like Primavera Digital, out of every 100 people consulted, only 9% said they copy the contents onto a pendrive to read later at home.
• A technician tells me that, right now, the Ministry of the Interior (MININT) has a fleet of vehicles equipped to detect illegal internet signals and cable satellite channels.
• The connection speed can’t be compared with what you find in other countries: between 512 Kb and 2 Mb.
• For those who like to read the international media, the favourites are the BBC, El Pais and the Financial Times. Of the Cuban pages, the most visited are Diario de Cuba and Havana Times, and, of the Miami newspapers, El Nuevo Herald and Diario de las Américas.

I better stop before I copy the entire post -- go read it for yourself.

Young professionals online in Havana

I've come across a video and a short post that give a sense of what it is like to get Internet access in Cuba.

The short post describes a frustrating session at an Internet access centers. It reminded me immediately of a time I tried to exchange currency in Moscow during the Soviet Union days. I stood in line for about half an hour, and when I finally got to the front of the line, the woman behind the counter placed a "gone for lunch" sign in front of her window and walked away without a word.

The video, Redes.cu, shows three Internet users. The woman shown below is a blogger at a university and has Internet access as part of her job. The two men have a hard time getting online. In all three cases, we hear the alternating static/squeal sound of a dial-up modem handshake when they connect.

I've included screen shots of their working environments below. Note that the blogger has a laptop, which is docked to a computer display. It seems that she works from home. In another shot, we see that she also has a large, SLR camera for taking pictures.

The men are also working at home, and have large monitors. The one with the guitar on the wall is driving his with a laptop that seems to be running Excel. I suspect the monitors are TV sets with low resolution connections, since what looks like a spreadsheet with only about 6 columns fills the screen, but that is speculation. Note that it looks like there is a phone and tablet on the table behind him.

The other man repairs iPhones and it looks like his monitor may be connected to an iPhone in front of it. He also has what seems to be an Apple keyboard and a tablet. He speaks of jail-breaking and spoofing Apple -- I suspect one might find novel applications running on Cuban smart phones. Again, I am reminded of the past -- of riding in old cars, kept running by innovative part repair and fabrication. (Here is an example).

What could these people be doing if they had high speed access to the Internet?

Home connectivity is coming 4Q 2014 and there are 11,000 Nauta accounts

EFE reports that ETECSA plans to offer home Internet connectivity in the fourth quarter of 2014. They also hinted that some mobile connectivity may be offered at that time.

The connections will use DSL, not dial up, according to Jorge Legrá, Director of Strategic Programs ETECSA.

There was no mention of the costs of the home service or the places it would be available. It is clear that Cuba's poor domestic Internet infrastructure is hampering wider usage.

Legrá also discussed the new Nauta access centers, saying that ETECSA sold about 11,000 accounts in the first 15 days they were offered. He acknowledged that prices were high and would be adjusted over time.

Legrá also gave a glimpse of the surveillance in the centers -- users must present identity documents to get online and a session can be suspended for "any violation of the standards of ethical behavior that promotes the Cuban state."

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Update 7/11/2013

The New York Times has an article on the new access centers -- anecdotes and opinion as to what they foretell.

Yoani online near Playa Siboney -- slow and filtered, but a start

Yoani Sánchez has written a post on her visit to Siboney, the city where the ALBA-1 undersea cable lands.

Siboney was hard hit by Hurricane Sandy, destroying property, causing environmental damage and reducing toursim. Sánchez suggests that improved Internet connectivity would have been relatively cheap and helped with recovery, but that has not happened.

Sánchez visited one of the new Internet access centers in Santiago de Cuba, less than 10 miles from the Siboney landing point. The center was an air-conditioned room with four computers and an attendant, who she suspects is keeping an eye on the users.
She was able to access several blogs, but the classified ad site Revolico was blocked as were Cubaencuentro and Cubanet. She ran a speed test and saw she was getting 1.77 Mbps download and .56 Mbps upload with a ping time of 234 ms.

In spite of these discouraging observations, she concludes on a positive note -- this is a crack in the Internet wall, and it may widen.

Yoani Sánchez tweets from a new Internet access center

The Nuevo Herald newspaper wrote about initial experience with the new Internet centers.  The say that connectivity is expensive and slow, but faster than before -- no surprises.  The Herald article notes that Yoani Sánchez visited one of the centers, where she accessed her blog and the Nuevo Herald Web site and viewed an unintentionally ironic warning that others might see information you send to the Internet.

Check the photos she tweeted below.

Etecsa officials provide some details and make some promises

Etecsa officials held a press conference in which they made the point that the 118 new Internet access rooms are just the start of improved Internet service.

They promised lower prices, more access rooms, WiFi in access rooms, mobile connectivity, etc., but did not give specifics.

The article did, however, give some specifics about the service which will be offered starting June 4. The connection speed will be "up to" two megabits per second, depending upon the available infrastructure at each location. All Web services will be available -- chat, social networks, email, uploading and downloading of files, etc.

However, VOIP calls will be prohibited in accordance with Resolution 120/2003 of the Telecommunications Company of Cuba. I wonder whether "click to talk" services on Web sites will work. The VOIP restriction protects Etecsa revenue for now, but it may turn out to be difficult to enforce.

The slow connection speed -- up to 2 mbps -- reflects the remark of Jorge Luis Legros, Director of Etecsa Strategic Programs,  when asked about the impact of the undersea cable.  He said that it will improve service but "investments in networks and systems to bring access closer to the end user are needed."

What can Cuba do to attract that investment from China or other nations?

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Update 5/31/2013

Related commentary on the opening of the new access rooms from Granma:

La estrategia es continuar ampliando los servicios de Internet a la población
Vague promises of things to come

No será el mercado quien regule el acceso al conocimiento
Interview of Wilfredo González Vidal, viceministro del Ministerio de Comunicaciones

New public access will open June 4

The undersea cable link between Cuba and Jamaica came online in mid May and that connection may now be bearing fruit. Etecsa will open 118 new public access centers on June 4.

It is noteworthy that the access centers are dispersed throughout the island. Only 12 of the 118 are in Havana. That indicates the existence of a domestic backbone.  It would be interesting to get some information on it.

It is also indicative of a Cuban policy of developing areas outside the capital and major cities, which has been followed since the early networking days.  Even then, Cuba was less focused on one or two major cities than other developing nations.

Pricing will be as follows:

• Domestic browsing and email .60 CUC/hour
• International email plus domestic navigation 1.50 CUC/hour
• International browsing and email 4.50 CUC/hour

Patrons will also be allowed to bring flash drives for uploading and downloading files.

This is a step in the right direction, but these rates are very high by international standards and beyond the reach of many Cubans.  Given the capacity of the undersea cable, it is hard to understand the high prices and the large difference between domestic and international connectivity.  Perhaps Etecsa consulted with AT&T, Comcast and Verizon in setting their rates :-).

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Update 5/28/2013

Cuban access prices

Here is full price schedule for permanent (rechargeable) and prepaid tourist Internet access.

The graphic design of the page is trendy by Cuban standards -- they must have been watching ads for MicroSoft Windows 8!

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Update
5/29/2013

The New York Times had an article on the new centers and prices (nyti.ms/18tZEr8). It makes the usual points about cost, constraints and survailance. Here is an ironic quote:

“It’s a real bargain,” said a user on the state news Web site Cuba Si who gave the name Osvaldo Ulloa. “I mean, I work for a week and then I can get online for hour — fabulous.”

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Update 5/29/2013

It is noteworthy that only 12 of the 118 new access centers are in Havana.

Havana  12 Pinar del Rio  5 Artemis  8 Mayabeque  2 Matanzas  18 Cienfuegos  5 Villa Clara  15 Sancti Spiritus  9 Ciego de Avila  4 Camaguey  9 Las Tunas  9 Holguin  4 Granma  7 Santiago de Cuba  7 Guantanamo  3 Isle of Youth  1 Total 118

Since the early days of the Internet, Cuba has favored wide dispersal more than most developing nations.