Cuba Offers 3G Mobile Internet Access To Citizens (bbc.com) 42
Cuba's population is to be offered internet access via a 3G mobile network from later this week. From a report: Telecom provider Etecsa said citizens would be able to start subscribing to the service from Thursday. Until now, locals have mostly relied on wi-fi hotspots and internet cafes and the 3G service has been restricted to state-employed journalists and foreign businesses among others. This will change -- but many will still be unable to afford the new contracts. Etecsa's packages range from a month's use of 600MB of data for 7CUC ($7) to 4GB for 30CUC. Users get a bonus 300MB use of local .cu domain websites. But the average state wage for the island's 11.2 million residents is the equivalent of about $30 per month.
Just enough for indoctrination (Score:3)
That's really not enough data to do anything of consequence, except deliver a small amount of propaganda to users' handsets. Congratulations on keeping it dictatorial, Cuba.
Re: Just enough for indoctrination (Score:5, Insightful)
Quite the opposite. The only thing that a broad band gives is YouTube videos and pics. Under a slower connection, one must resort to what scares american children the most: text, which has a long history of encouraging independent critical thought.
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That's really not enough data to do anything of consequence, except deliver a small amount of propaganda to users' handsets. Congratulations on keeping it dictatorial, Cuba.
Shocking, isn't it?
And here I would have thought that communist dictatorships would somehow be less dictatorial ...
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And here I would have thought that communist dictatorships would somehow be less dictatorial ...
Cuba has never been communist any more than China or Russia. They have always been ruled by a moneyed power elite. That's not Communism, it's capitalism dressed up as Communism. It is essentially jumping straight to late-stage capitalism without enjoying any of the benefits of the early or middle stages.
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And here I would have thought that communist dictatorships would somehow be less dictatorial ...
Cuba has never been communist any more than China or Russia.
Sorry, but at some point you just have to own it.
Cuba, China, and Soviet Russia are/were communist. They are exactly what you get when true believers in communism implement communism. You've had over a century to come up with some sort of counterexample.
Your assertion is actually worse than No True Scotsman ... we're going to have to invent a new one for this ... it's more like No True Scotland or something.
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Cuba has never been communist any more than China or Russia. They have always been ruled by a moneyed power elite. That's not Communism, it's capitalism dressed up as Communism. It is essentially jumping straight to late-stage capitalism without enjoying any of the benefits of the early or middle stages.
This is a typical mistake, to confuse a type of economic system (capitalism) with a type of government (oligarchy), mainly due to being misnamed 'communism' in the above examples.
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"That's really not enough data"
*What's* not enough data? The summary noted plans from 600MB to 4GB, and the .cu TLD 'bonus' of 300MB.
Which number were you referring to as 'not enough'? 4GB is enough for even a savvy Cuban user with nothing yesterday, unless you think they are more focused on YouTube BS than actual information, and your 'propaganda' comment seems to indicate you don't believe that.
Sheesh. Of course it's not enough. Oh, wait, going from zero, 300MB might be useful if the Miami exiles pump up
Enough for most uses. (Score:2)
Come on, "Anarchist Cookbook" is well below 300MB ;-)
Internet was already available in Cuba, just not through mobile connection. You would know where the hotspots are when you saw large number of people lost in their smartphones. Everywhere else you would see normal human interactions. Sadly with 3G the streets of Cuba may start to look just more like USA cities, with people interacting more with their phones, less with other people.
Teenagers should make an obligatory 2-week tour to Cuba to learn what it is
will they push ios and android roms for data free? (Score:2)
will they push ios and android roms for data free?
att roaming is $2 a meg and $0.50 a text there (Score:2)
att roaming is $2 a meg and $0.50 a text there
Awesome! (Score:2, Funny)
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My donkey and my 56 Chevy can only use 2G though :(
But viva la revolucion!
Bonus for .cu? (Score:2)
Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)
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If there is anything I've ever been impressed about Brazi
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Not long ago, I read an article about how Cuban police will sometimes stop buses to search for contraband food. Is it endangered species they're after? Nope, extra cans of stuff we can legally get off the shelf for about $1 in our Oppressive, Reactionary, Sexist Hellhole.
A source for that would be very informative as context would really matter here. Are they looking for brands/foods that cannot be regularly found on the island and have therefore been smuggled in? Cuba is still technically under embargo by the US so its access to goods is restricted: did the government put rationing laws into effect (a reasonable measure when goods are scarce, and one the US has taken before as well) and the police are just looking for goods in excess of the rationing law? Or are the pol
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It's because of black market food sellers. They transport food from places of low demand and sell it in places of high demand. This is very obviously illegal in Cuba, as the smart people are in charge of the government and they do not recognize that "ability to pay" should be a determinant of who gets which food. Instead, they very smartly use a rationing system that makes sure all Cubans get the same food, no matter who they are. Social justice. Black marketeers can expect prison sentences where the
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Cuba has two parallel currencies. The normal peso can't be legally exchanged for foreign currency, and is worth about 4 cents on the black market. The CUC can be converted, and is pegged one-to-one with the US dollar.
Many corrupt dictatorships have parallel currencies. The elite are paid in the convertible currency, which they can then sell on the black market for a huge profit (2500% in Cuba).
The fact that the 3G service described in TFA can only be bought with CUC means that normal people, paid in unconvertible pesos, can't use it unless they buy CUC on the black market at an exorbitant markup.
Marxist Utopia works better in theory than in practice.
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Faster than many places in the U.S. (Score:1)