Continuing to expand internet access and the deployment of the mobile network are the main work projections for this year, which are sustained by the investments that were executed in 2019

«In December, 2018, when mobile internet services were barely beginning, around one million and a half Cubans were estimated to be able to have access to them, and our networks were technologically prepared to allow for them to offer those services, little by little, to all potential users. Just a few months afterwards, we had started to deploy the 4G network across the country, which provides better quality and capacity for data traffic», stated Tania Velázquez Rodríguez, first vice-president of the Cuban Telecommunication Company (ETECSA).

«Those actions have been in accordance with the development strategy that defines our company, even beyond the current COVID-19 situation because we know about the growing demand of our services, as well as the concerns regarding the different offers that we have been promoting and the commercialization prices of some services», she said.

In that sense, the expansion of internet access and the deployment of the mobile network are the main work projections for this year, which are sustained by the investments that were executed in 2019.

In spite of the purchase restrictions concerning certain equipment from other countries and the economic blockade from the United States of America against Cuba, the stability of the services and the support for the computerization of society are guaranteed , remarked Luis Adolfo Iglesias Reyes, Investments vice-president of the company.

«Las year, a record number of mobile telephony radio-bases were installed, featuring 682 3G stations and 497 4G stations, which are features that represent 84% of the ones that had been installed on our network until 2018. Those implementations, which are accompanied by equipment and support that we have in our warehouses and are part of the installation plan conceived for 2020, places us in a favorable situation for expanding our services», he said.

«In Havana, for example, we have the immediate projection of fully covering the national territory with this technology. Likewise, we foresee a strengthening of capacities and 4G coverage in provincial capitals, as well as an expansion of such service to the main municipal capitals and places of socio-economic interest.

«Those operations, at the same time, lead to the necessary extension of systems and services to manage all voice calls and data traffic that might generate, and therefore, many network layers and zones must be optimized to ensure the quality of the service».

Iglesias Reyes also explained that other work guidelines are aimed at adding more than 30 000 new Nauta Hogar capacities, increasing the connectivity of several institutions, expanding the performance of the system of public data centers to store bigger amounts of content, and strengthening e-Commerce platforms.

He said that providing safe internet services entails a constant enhancement of systems to allow them to prevent and eliminate IT attacks and fraudulent telecommunication actions, and all that is also part of the investments.

The main complaints of the clients are undoubtedly linked to the prices of the offers and services.

About it, the First Vice-president of ETECSA commented that the fees have been changed in accordance to the development and infrastructural possibilities of the company to provide quality services.

Since the first internet access services started in Cuba in July, 2013, the telecommunication sector conceived a strategy to deploy such services with the goal of progressively improving the offers for the population as the capacities increased, and we have managed to do that over time, she pointed out.

In 2013, for example, the price of international navigation was 4.50 CUC an hour, and currently, the hour only costs 0.70 CUC. In addition, the fee

for the activation of the mobile telephony services in 2008 was 60 CUC and it has been set to 30 CUC ever since 2011; there are 30 zones in the country that because of their traffic we have been able to lower the price of the calls to 0.20 CUC/minute, detailed Hilda Arias Pérez,  commercial vice-president of the company.

As part of our social work, we have also made the access to some websites free of charge. «The apps EnZona and Bienestar are related to e-Commerce and e-Government; in addition to the websites cubaeduca.cu; mined.gob.cu; MiClasetv; the online reviewer, as well as university platforms and content», she explained.

«Also, other apps like Covid19 Informativa; Covid19 Autopesquisa and Covid19 Pesquisa Activa can be used for free.

Regarding customer attention, she informed that in addition to the 118 telephone line, the exchange through the platform atención.usuarios@etecsa.cu has been encouraged, and nearly 100 workers are in charge of that platform.

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