ETECSA

The Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba SA, ETECSA short, is a Cuban telecommunications company owned by the state.

In February 2011, belonged, according to a publication in the Gaceta Oficial, the Cuban Law Journal, 51 percent of the shares Telefónica Antillana, 27 percent Rafin, 11 percent of the Universal Trade & Management Corporation ( Utisa ), 6.15 percent of Banco Financiero Internacional, 3, Negocios en Telecomunicaciones 8 percent and 0.9 percent of the Banco Internacional de Comercio.

Previously, 27 percent of the shares of Telecom Italia were held. This was initially considering due to the difficult market environment, few Cubans can afford a mobile phone, a sale of its stake in the Spanish Telefónica. Ultimately, however, the shares were sold for 706 million U.S. dollars to the Cuban society Rafin. Of these, 500 million immediately and the rest in 36 monthly installments were due.

The ETECSA offers locals and tourists telephone, mobile and Internet from a single source. In every major city of Cuba is a telegraph office of ETECSA with internet workstations and a mobile station.

Mobile network

The mobile communications ETECSA is operated by the subsidiary Cubacel.

Initially, a TDMA network were ( 800 MHz) and GSM network ( 900 and 850 MHz), side by side. The TDMA network should be shut down, according to an official announcement of ETECSA March 31, 2009. The GSM network now reaches to 900 MHz, a broad coverage of the entire island; 850 MHz is offered as an additional option of tourist places (eg, Varadero, Cayo Coco ).

There are roaming agreements with German mobile operators.

Mobile was a long time for the Cuban population severely restricted. Mobile phone contracts for private use (even prepaid ) could initially be completed only by foreigners and then left to a local. Since March 2008, this restriction has been lifted. Since then successively occurred further reductions in force that led to the rapid growth of the port numbers. They grew from 331,000 (April 2008) to 838,000 (March 2010) .. Since the summer of 2010, there are more than one million.