AFP, Havana :
Cuba announced plans Thursday to open 35 public wifi hotspots and halve the price to go online, seeking to expand Internet access in one of the world’s least-connected countries.
State telecoms firm Etecsa said the hotspots, a first for the communist island, would be set up nationwide and begin service in July.
It is “a first step toward increasing Internet access,” Etecsa communications chief Luis Manuel Diaz told a state newspaper.
Etecsa had previously offered public wifi in a small pilot program, and unstable illegal connections periodically appear and disappear in Cuba.
To access the official hotspots, users will have to create an account with Etecsa for $1.50 and pay an hourly connection fee.
Etecsa also announced it was reducing the price to access the Internet to $2 an hour, down from the current promotional rate of $2.50 and the long-time rate of $4.50.
It did not say whether the same rate would apply to the new wifi connections.
Since 2013, Cuba has had 155 public Internet cafes where users can go online for the hourly rate.
Cuba announced plans Thursday to open 35 public wifi hotspots and halve the price to go online, seeking to expand Internet access in one of the world’s least-connected countries.
State telecoms firm Etecsa said the hotspots, a first for the communist island, would be set up nationwide and begin service in July.
It is “a first step toward increasing Internet access,” Etecsa communications chief Luis Manuel Diaz told a state newspaper.
Etecsa had previously offered public wifi in a small pilot program, and unstable illegal connections periodically appear and disappear in Cuba.
To access the official hotspots, users will have to create an account with Etecsa for $1.50 and pay an hourly connection fee.
Etecsa also announced it was reducing the price to access the Internet to $2 an hour, down from the current promotional rate of $2.50 and the long-time rate of $4.50.
It did not say whether the same rate would apply to the new wifi connections.
Since 2013, Cuba has had 155 public Internet cafes where users can go online for the hourly rate.
