Cuba has fewest cell phones of any nation in the hemisphere

Cuba has fewest cell phones of any nation in the hemisphere
By Doreen Hemlock
Havana Bureau
Posted December 14 2006

HAVANA · Cell phones are becoming commonplace worldwide. In Lithuania,
Jamaica and at least a dozen more nations, there is more than one per
resident. In the United States, they're popular even among middle school
students.

But a cell phone in Cuba is about as rare as an American executive
without one.

While the communist-led nation takes pride in its accomplishments in
health and education, it ranks dead last in the Americas in cell phones
per person and shares the second-worst standing in the world, according
to a new U.N. study.

Less than 2 percent of Cuba residents have cell phones, a ranking on par
with countries like Nepal and Eritrea. Only Papua New Guinea has fewer
-- with less than one cell phone for every 100 residents, according to
the study by the U.N. Conference on Trade and Economic Development.

Cuba's government policy explains much of the lag, analysts say.

The state-owned cell-phone company, known as Cubacel, won't allow Cubans
living on the island to sign up for a phone on their own. Only
foreigners or Cubans with residency abroad can open personal accounts.

Some resident Cubans are issued cell phones through their employers --
but cannot open accounts on their own, according to Cubacel policy.
Repeated attempts to reach top officials at Cubacel were unsuccessful.

Havana blames the U.S. economic embargo for the island's low telecom
ranking. It says the embargo prevents Cuba from connecting to undersea
fiber-optic cables and forces it to use more expensive satellites for
international telecom links. It says the embargo also squeezes the
island's economy overall and makes investments tough.

But Cuban dissident Oswaldo Payá, who won a European Union award for his
Varela Project referendum drive, puts the onus on his own government,
not Washington.

"A cell phone represents independence, the ability to communicate
privately, even on the move," said the 54-year-old activist, who does
not have a cell phone. "And this totalitarian regime is designed to take
away people's independence and freedom."

Payá likens his government's cell-phone policy to "apartheid."

But some Cubans have learned to skirt the cell-phone rules, in the same
way islanders engage in other black-market activities, such as skimming
supplies from work. Average salaries of about $15 a month don't stretch
to pay the bills, so Cubans get creative.

Pedro, a taxi driver, said he bought a Nokia cell phone with a Cuban
account from an Italian visitor for roughly $120 to keep in touch with
top clients and boost his tips. He figures he spends about $20 a month
on prepaid calling cards, but earns it back with extra business.

"It helps a lot with work and also with personal emergencies," said
Pedro, who declined to use his last name for fear of government reprisals.

Even so, Pedro said he restricts personal calls, because cell-phone
rates in Cuba are expensive -- among the world's highest, studies show.

Calls from one cell phone to another now run more than 50 cents a
minute, while calls from a cell phone to a fixed phone cost more than 60
cents a minute. And users pay when they receive calls, too -- more than
44 cents a minute, according to a recent Cubacel offer.

Some cell-phone users in Havana said they prefer to send text messages,
which cost less.

"Billing rates [for cell phones] are prohibitive for the vast majority
of Cuban citizens, being higher than the average monthly salaries," said
a recent report from BuddeComm, an Australia-based telecom research service.

Cubacel has argued rates are high because costs for building and
operating the cell-phone system are borne by relatively few subscribers.

But the number of subscribers remains stunted by government rules,
analysts say.

That leaves most of Cuba's 11.2 million residents to rely on
insufficient landlines and public pay phones for calls, while cell
phones proliferate elsewhere around the globe.

Doreen Hemlock can be reached at dhemlock@sun-sentinel.com.

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