Internet in Post Offices: on the way

In September, the Associated Press reported that Cuba had adopted a policy that would allow access to the Internet through computer facilities at post offices. Previously, Cubans could access e-mail through the island intranet at such hubs, but had little general web access. The announcement signaled a policy change (the resolution that changed the policy was published in Cuba’s Gaceta Oficial, reproduced here), but unfortunately, real progress has been slow. As the BBC’s Fernando Ravsberg stated this week, “The measure is being applied with typical slowness by the Cuban bureaucracy, such that two months after the resolution there is still not a single post office enabled.”

If it is simply bureaucratic delay, then the new policy, when eventually enacted, will have wide implications. It seems that Cubans now have the ability to access Google, BBC, and other websites and news sources, even those in Miami. Internet access in tourist hotels—limited temporarily to only tourists—has been reopened to Cubans.

The price for Internet access remains high (most between 6-10 US dollars an hour), and the Cuban state blames this on the US embargo, saying that its restrictions force them to connect to the Internet only by expensive satellite. But by next year, Venezuela’s fiber-optic cable will reach Cuba, changing this entirely. And President Obama has already authorized US telecommunications companies to negotiate with Havana. These options for potentially cheaper Internet, together with a policy that allows Cubans Internet access, open the future wide.