Cuban ICT statistics report for 2016

I look at the ICT statistics reported annually by ONEI, the Cuban Office of statistics and information, every year. This table shows the Internet-related statistics from the latest report:

And this table shows the percent changes over the years:

The first thing I noticed was that the number of "Internet" users increased by 15.8%. I assume that much of that increase and that of the previous year was due to the opening of public access navigation rooms and WiFi hotspots.

I put "Internet" in quotes because the index is not defined. Given its magnitude, I assume that it combines users with access to the internal Cuban intranet and those with access to the global Internet. Furthermore, it is not clear who they are counting as a "user." Does it include anyone who has purchased access time once during the year, people who theoretically have access to the intranet at work or school, etc.? It is customary for statistical agencies to publish appendices with definitions of their indices, but I have not seen one for these statistics. (I'd love a copy of the index definitions if someone has it).

Note that the user increase is only a little over half the increase during the previous year. My guess is that is because a large portion of the first-year WiFi users were highly motivated "early adopters" who continue to use public access points. They were joined this year by people who did not log on until a location opened up near them, they heard about the Internet by word of mouth or perhaps only got a WiFi equipped device this year.

The number of computers increased by 7.6% with 15.1% more of those on the network. "Computer" is not defined, but this increase might reflect laptops, tablets and perhaps phones which people have acquired in order to use the WiFi hotspots.

The number of mobile accounts increased sharply, but, as with network users, the rate of increase was substantially lower than the previous year. The percent of the population with mobile coverage is unchanged, so the total number of mobile base stations has probably remained abourt the same as it was last year. That being said, we know that there are 879 mobile base stations in Cuba and 358 of them have been upgraded to support third generation communication. The number of users with 3G compatible phones is unknown.

The number of names registered under the .cu top-level domain actually decreased, an inidication that new enterprises are registering under top level domains like .com or .co.

For further discussion of the trends noted in this year's report, check our summary of last year's report.

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Update 8/5/2017

For further discussion of related topics, see this post on a talk on Internet status by Cuba's Minister of Communication. In the post, I comment briefly on the following points made by the Minister:

• They are working on a new regulatory and legal framework.
• They are assembling tablets and laptops running the Cuban operating system, Nova.
• A computer science professional society was created.
• In 2016, 3,330 new data links were established to national agencies and institutions and the bandwidth to these organizations increased by 72 percent.
• There are now 879 mobile base stations in Cuba, 358 of which support third generation (3G) mobile service.
• There are over 630 public access navigation rooms and 370 WiFi access points.
• There are 4.3 million mobile "lines.”
• Four million users have access to the “Internet,” roughly one million through permanent accounts.
• Their home broadband service has about 600 subscribers and they realize that it is not the solution for mass access to the Internet.
• Mass deployment will come from wireless services.
• International bandwidth doubled in 2016 from 4Gb/s to 8 Gb/s.

Cuban ICT statistics report for 2015

I look at the ICT statistics reported anually by ONEI, the Cuban Office of statistics and information, every year. This year's report has been out for a while, but I have been too focused on the impact of the Internet on the US election and its aftermath to look at it until now.

This table shows the Internet-related statistics from the latest report:

And this table shows the percent changes over the years:

The first thing that jumps out is a 28% increase in the number of number of users of Internet services, while the number of computers connected to the net is up by only 2.3%. That means either many more people are sharing computers or they are reporting apples and oranges. While I am sure many people use shared land-line computers to access the net at work or school, the count of users of Internet services must include users who bring their own portable devices to public-access WiFi hotspots.

Furthermore, they combine the number of users with international Internet access and those whose access is restricted to the domestic Cuban intranet. Users at public-access locations can reach most, but not all, of the Internet since the Cuban government and some US companies block some sites and services. I frequently see it stated that 5% of Cubans have international Internet access, but have never seen any data to support that arbitrary number.

Finally, we must remember that the experience of a Cuban Internet or intranet user is not the same as that in most other nations -- connections are slow and unreliable and the cost is extremely high.

We also note that the number of .cu domains has remained essentially flat for two years, probably an indication that most new Cuban Internet sites and services are being registered as .com, .es, etc. I suspect that most new .cu registrations are by government agencies or enterprises, but have no data to support that. I also wonder if some change in Cuban law caused the .cu registration to drop precipitously in 2014.

The report also covers telephone service. Only one new central office was added this year, bringing the total to 741 (689 digital). That is relevant to the Internet because a plan that was leaked in 2015 said that by 2020, Internet connectivity using DSL technology would be available to 50% of Cuban homes. (Note that they say connectivity would be available, but do not project prices or say that 50% of homes would subscribe).

For that to occur, the equipment in central offices must be upgraded and/or phone wires running to many homes replaced. This report says nothing about either and we can not be sure that the plan is being executed. Regardless, if it is carried out, the DSL speeds will be slow. DSL is a poor technology choice, especially in a nation with old telephone wiring.

Cuba should look at other options for home connectivity, and there is an indication that they are doing so in a fiber trial that is expected to begin in Havana this month. (A friend told me it would start on December 5 -- stay tuned).

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Update 12/4/2016

Professor Armando Camacho has posted his analysis of the latest ONEI ICT statistics report (in Spanish). He comments critically on the report and also discusses Cuban ICT statistics in context by comparing them to those of other nations.

He has followed up with an online survey of Cuban Internet users, which you are invited to complete.

Cuban ICT statistics report for 2014

Cuba's National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI) has released their annual report of selected information and communication technology (ICT) indicators, including the following table of physical indicators:

They report that the number of Internet users is over 3 million, but must be including people who access the domestic intranet in that total. There are only 533,900 connected computers, so each one is shared by around 5.6 people. Not only are the users sharing computers, the connections are much slower than we are used to in developing nations. (I don't know how they count smart phone access).

It's also interesting to look at percent changes over time:

We see that the percent of the population with cell coverage has been nearly unchanged since 2010 and completely unchanged since 2012. Evidently, they are no longer expanding the 2G cell network. Presumably, the next deployment will be 4 or 5G. The number of cell phones is growing, but they do not differentiate between modern smart phone/computers and 2G flip and candy-bar phones. Growth in the number of .cu domain names has slowed compared to last year, but it is still substantial, indicating increasing organizational use.

Growth in the number of computers and the number of phone minutes has slowed relative to last year:

Both may be related to the Internet -- people are buying smart phones instead of computers and using Internet applications to make voice over IP calls.

Finally, ONEI reported that there are 1,264,817 fixed phone lines, of which 967,963 are residential. That puts the goal of having DSL service available to 50% of Cuban homes by 2020 in perspective. In addition to installing DSL equipment in central offices, many of these phone lines may have to be upgraded. The number of central offices increased from to 688 to 740 -- perhaps the new ones are already equipped for DSL service.

You can see coverage of previous ONEI ICT reports here.

Annual report on Cuban ICT

The Cuban National Statistics Office reports over one million computers and twice as many .CU domain names as the previous year.

The Cuban National Statistics Office has released their 2014 Information and Communication Technology report. Here are the statistics on computers and networks:

They say there are over a million computers in Cuba and about half of them are networked. They report nearly 3 million Internet users, but say nothing of how many of those users have global access. The experience of a Cuban "user" is also much different than that of a "user" in a developed nation -- most access is via shared computers over dial up links. Access is infrequent and too slow to support modern Web sites.

For more discussion of the limitations of these statistics, see the Pervaiveness section of my 2011 report on the State of the Cuban Internet. The data has changed somewhat, but not the interpretation.

The number of .CU domain names doubled in 2013, reflecting a sharp increase in the number of businesses and other organizations using the Internet. This could have been triggered by liberalization of laws allowing private sector business.

The percent of the population with cell phone coverage was unchanged in 2013, indicating either a lack of capital for investment or a lag in the statistical reporting process.

These statistics are gathered by the Communication Ministry and, as with other nations, self-reported to the International Telecommunication Union.

Cuba publishes 2012 ICT indicators

The National Office of Statistics and Information has published their annual report on information and communication technology.  (We have summarized the 2010 and 2011 reports in earlier posts).

The current report presents telephone, postal, telegraph and computer data from 2008-12. Here are the computer and networking statistics:

Bear in mind that these statistics, like those of other nations, are self-reported to the International Telecommunication Union.

I assume that the numbers of networked computers and number of Internet users refer to the Cuban intranet and the Internet combined.  (While most of the other indicators are defined in the report, these are not).

The number of .cu domain registrations grew by only 2.6%, which is a bit surprising given the recent emphasis on private business.

Mobile coverage is the "star" statistic, but, as far as I know, it is all 2G at this time and the growth in infrastructure (coverage) was considerably slower than subscriber growth. The same domestic infrastructure problems that have plagued the Internet and access to the undersea cable restricts back-haul from cell towers.

Updated Cuban ICT statistics

Cuba’s National Office of Statistics and Information (ONE) released their annual report on Information and Communication Technology in June, 2012. The Internet-related statistics shown here indicate relatively little change. let’s consider each of them.

	2010	2011	Increase
Number of computers (thousands)	724	783	8%
Number of networked computers (thousands)	434	470	8%
Number of Internet users (thousands)	1,790	2,610	46%
PCs/1,000 capita	64	70	9%
Internet users/1,000 capita	159	232	46%
Number of .cu domains	2,225	2,285	3%
Mobile telephone subscribers (thousands)	1,003	1,315	31%
% of population with mobile access	78	78

The report showed a 46% gain in Internet users in 2011, but only an 8% gain in the number of networked computers, indicating increased sharing of computers in public access points or homes and offices. We should also bear in mind that Cuban Internet access is not comparable to that in the developed world. Users are online relatively few hours per month and nearly all access is over dial-up connections, making access to modern Web sites and other applications unfeasible. Most accounts are restricted to domestic traffic.

The new figures reveal a lack of investment. There was only a 3% gain in the number of domains registered in the .cu top level domain, indicating that few new enterprises or other organizations created Web sites or other network applications. The fact that no increase was reported in the percent of the population with access to mobile phones indicates little investment in infrastructure.

The most positive figure may be a 31% increase in mobile phone subscribers, but we should bear in mind that Cuba has second generation phones, used for conversation and text messages, not the smart phones that are increasingly used as pocket computers and Internet access devices in developing nations.

I understand that these figures are government supplied and definitions of indicators vary among agencies like ONE and the ITU, but presumably ONE's 2010 and 2011 methodology is the same. I'd welcome discussion of and alternative interpretations of these and other statistics.

ICT statistics for 2010 -- more Internet users but fewer Internet computers and domain names

The Cuban National Statistics Office has issued their 2011 Annual Statistical Report, which includes data on information and communication technology.

The table shown here (click it to enlarge) presents physical ICT indicators. As you see, there are now over a million mobile phone subscribers. Note that Cuban subscribers do not have "smart" phones used for mobile Internet access -- their phones are limited to calls, text messages, taking pictures, etc.

The number of (often restricted) Internet users increased a little between 2009 and 2010. We always expect Internet growth, but it is surprising that the number of computers on the Net and the number of .cu domain names actually decreased slightly.

Click here to download a spreadsheet with the table.

Reuters summarized the statistics along with a cool photo here.