The number of fixed and mobile lines in Cuba are now similar, with a total of 2.4 million lines in service — 1.2 million of each type — which is an increase of 18.5% for both modalities, said Mayra Arevich Marin, president of the Cuban Telecommunication Co. (ETECSA), according to Cuban newspaper Juventud Rebelde. However, the number remains low, given the departure of about 11.2 million people in 2010. Both mobile and fixed penetration are about 10.7%.
More than 43,000 fixed lines have been installed this year, which is higher than 33,000 project in the annual plan. Of the total 1.2 million fixed lines in service, about 53,000 are public telephones.
About 300,000 mobile lines were added this year. The current total of 1.2 million mobile phone subscribers is more than six times higher than the 198,000 users of March 2008, when Fidel Castro allowed Cubans to buy phones, which had been reserved for foreigners.
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By the end of 2010, the number of Cubans using mobile phones was close to 1 million, up from 621,000 in 2009 and 330,000 in 2008. The numbers, released by the National Statistics Office, show the jump almost two years after the government lifted restrictions on mobile telephones.
The increase comes after several initiatives that have reduced activation fees by 80%, instituted a sliding scale of rates and allowed prepaid subscribers to have friends or family outside Cuba add minutes to their accounts.
However, buying a cell line on the island remains expensive. According to Cubanálisis, it costs about U.S. $30 to buy a mobile line, which exceeds the average monthly salary, equivalent to $17. The amount is cheaper than in 2008, when a mobile line cost about $120. That’s why most Cubans use their cell phones as pagers or to send and receive text messages.
In addition, Cubanálisis points that although ETECSA sells mobile phones, thousands of devices used on the island, some of the latest generation, new or second hand, are sent from abroad by relatives and friends of the premises.
