Google Inks Deal with Cuba to Speed Up Internet Service
Google Inks Deal with Cuba to Speed Up Internet Service
The Google-Cuba deal is so important to continue the "trust-building" process that can eventually lead to broader service on the island, comments AS/COA’s Alana Tummino.
MIAMI — Google announced Monday that it signed a new deal with Cuba's state-run telecommunications company to speed up Internet service for Cubans using YouTube and other Google products.
The move, however, will affect only a small percentage of Cubans since the vast majority of communist country's 11 million residents do not have access to the Internet.
The Mountain View, Calif., Internet giant has been making small inroads into Cuba over the past two years as the United States works to re-establish diplomatic relations with its Cold War foe. On Monday, Google CEO Eric Schmidt signed the latest deal in Havana with Mayra Arevich Marin, president of State Enterprise of Telecommunications of Cuba, the government-run communications company known as ETECSA that handles all Internet and phone services in Cuba.
While Google's deal does not expand service to more Cubans, it does lay the groundwork for doing so in the future, according to Alana Tummino, head of the Cuba working group at Americas Society/Council of the Americas….
That's why Monday's deal with Google is so important, Tummino said, to continue the "trust-building" process that can eventually lead to broader service on the island.
"This is a step in the right direction to try and chip away at those challenges," she said….
