When you're reading angry tweets about dropping to 3G in an LTE dead zone, it's easy to forget that for some people, getting online isn't even an option. In Cuba, internet access is extremely limited and out of financial reach for most, but news early this year of an undersea cable to Venezuela suggested the country might, with time, become better connected. As it turns out, that link has already made something of an impact, as the Associated Press is reporting that 118 government-run centers where one can swap cash for web time have just opened.
That doesn't mean all Cubans will be able to while away hours on YouTube from now on, though, as the cost of full access at one of these centers is $4.50 per hour, or in other words, roughly a quarter of the average monthly wage (AP pegs a typical salary at around $20 per month). We guess really expensive internet is better than none, and if Cuba's vice minister of communications Wilfredo Gonzalez is to be believed, mobile internet is said to be arriving in "a relatively near future."
[Image credit: Franklin Reyes, Associated Press]
Filed under: Internet
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Via: CNET
Source: Associated Press
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