Google goes to Cuba

Currently, Cuba gets most of its internet through an underwater cable from Venezuela, which makes connection speeds very slow.

“Right now, it’s cumbersome to access the Internet in Cuba, even in a big metropolitan area like Havana – and forget about the countryside,” Mark Grabowski, an an associate professor of Internet Law and Ethics at Adelphi University on Long Island, tells the Monitor via email. “Typically, to get online, you have to buy a card from a street vendor, and it has a code that gives you internet access for an hour. These cards are relatively expensive – perhaps $2 or $3, which is a lot in a country where the average person makes the equivalent of $25 per month. Then you must find one of the rare hot spots to login with your card. And, of course, you need some sort of device, like a smart phone or laptop, that will allow you to get online. To put it in perspective, I had easier and more access to the internet when I lived in Cairo, Egypt, in 1998 than I did when I visited Havana last year.”

Then there’s the matter of censorship, too.