• Submitted by: manso
• Editorial Articles
• 02 / 08 / 2011

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Cuba owns a recently updated digital phone network encompassing the whole country, in spite of the fact that the number of fixed or mobile lines are still low, the truth is it is possible to settle a communication from any tourist destination or city with any other place of the island or abroad.

At the end of the year 2010, the country reached 1,007.000 wireless lines under a process of new subscriptions with a vertiginous growth.

The country’s expectancies is to reach more than 2,4 millions mobiles for the year 2015, including those commercialized in hard currency or those given for social care, among them the Alternative Fixed Lines.

Mobile communication in Cuba began in 1991 through Cubacel S.A. State Enterprise under the norm tdma (800 mhz) with national coverage. In 2001, the GSM norm (900 mhz) was put into service by means of the Caribbean Telecommunications Enterprise known by its acronym (C_COM).

In the year 2004, the two companies were unified thus all mobile communication services were left in charge of Cubacel that pertains to the vice presidency of mobile communication of the Etecsa Company (the Cuban State Enterprise for Telecommunications)

Due to international roaming agreements undersigned by Cubacel with foreign partners it is possible to use the mobile phones on the island from nearly any region of Europe, America and part of Asia. Besides it is possible to buy or rent an apparatus at the time of hiring the cell phone services since the country has 306 agreements with phone operators from 128 nations, specifically with GSM main operators of Europe.

Regular Tariff: 7:00 am to 10:59 pm
Reduced Tariff: 7:00 am to 10:59 pm

It has been necessary to keep the charge of incoming calls to mobiles due to the variety and quantity of phones, the prices and quantity of calls between such modality and the fixed line.

At present, the charge for a call being received either from a mobile or from a fixed line is of 0,46 CUC cents, the one being made towards another cell phone is of 0,50 cents  and towards a fixed line is of 0,60 cents and in the case of calls received from abroad they are completely free.

GSM Universal

Tariffs for international calls in the cell communication are as follows (also valid for the fixed line)

Region     
    Cost per minute (CUC)
USA
    1.83
Canada
    1.60
Central America, the Caribbean and Mexico
    1.60
Venezuela
    1.40
Rest of  South America
    1.60
Rest of the World  
    1.80

In force offer for international calls:

    * Incoming calls (International ones) are free
    * The exit calls (International ones) cost 1.00 CUC per minute + time on the air.

Recharging

You may recharge your cell phone in Cuba or activate a line and rent a phone for the time you will stay on the island or you may activate a permanent line if your stay is going to be long, prices are:

Permanent recharging: 40.00 CUC + 10.00 CUC for the first recharging.
Temporary recharging (Visitors): Value of recharging:  3.00 CUC a day
Hiring of cell phones (optional): 6.00 CUC a day

Tariffs discount

Since June the first 2010, tariffs were reduced for mobile phones calls, putting into practice the slogan “the one calling pays.”

Provision 54 from the Ministry of Informatics and Communications settles the entering into force since June the first 2010 of a new tariff scheme for prepaid cell phones which are recharged with cards.

The new tariffs fit and unify the cost of the calls, made or received according to the time schedule in which they are made with a 0,45 CUC cents tariff  from 7 AM to 22:59 PM at  a sole cost of 0.10 CUC cents from 11.00 P.M. to 06:59 in the morning , also the provision states the application of a reversed charge by means of which the person receiving the call is the one assuming the expenditure of the conversation.