COMMUNICATION

Communication in Cuba is quite limited.  International telephone calls to and from Cuba are probably one of the most expensive compared to communicating with other countries.  This makes it more difficult for friends and family overseas from keeping in touch with each other.  Whilst some Cubans now have email addresses; it is possible to open an account with ‘Correos de Cuba’, the Cuban post office, internet access is still restricted and Cubans can mostly only access email accounts.  Internet access is available at ETECSA however it is unaffordable for most Cubans and mostly used by tourists. 

ETECSA

ETECSA is the government run organisation responsible for all communication services within Cuba; landline telephones, mobile telephones, public telephones and internet.  They sell national / international telephone cards and internet cards.  There are limited supplies of these cards so if an ETECSA office does not have cards one day it is worth returning the following day to see if they have received a delivery.

ETECSA can be found in most populated areas including Havana, Viñales, Varadero, Cienfuegos, Trinidad, Camaguey, Santiago and Baracoa.  There is sometimes more than 1 queue at the ETECSA office, especially at the branch on Calle Obispo, Havana, so ask the security guard which queue you should join and don’t forget to ask ‘el ultimo’.

NATIONAL CALLS

Making nationalcalls can be quite inexpensive if using a telephone card.  Cards can be bought at the ETECSA office in Cuban pesos (CUP) / ‘moneda nacional (MN)’ only for approx 10 MN, which includes 10 MN worth of credit.

On the back of the card there is a unique pin number which you need to use each time before making a call.  Telephone calls using this card can be made at public telephone booths or on home land line telephones; not on mobile phones. 

These cards can be re-charged at the ETECSA office, paying only with moneda nacional.  The cards can be quite scarce, so do not throw them away, they have an expiry date and can be used for upto 10 months.  At the end of your stay why not hand your card to a Cuban to continue using.

INTERNATIONAL CALLS

Internationalcalls in Cuba are very expensive, so warn family and friends that you won’t be keeping in touch too often by telephone.  The best way to make an international call is by buying an international telephone card at the ETECSA office.  The value of their cards varies from 5 CUC upto 50 CUC.  These cards can be used at public telephone booths or on a house telephone, however they do not last long e.g. you can make a 3 minute telephone call to the UK with 5 CUC or a 6 minute telephone call to Australia with 10 CUC.

It is not possible to make internet based international telephone calls from the ETECSA office, neither will you be able to access Skype.

INTERNET

Cuba does not have internet cafes on every street corner, very few people have internet access in their homes and WIFI is difficult to find.  When you do find it, you will have to pay for it and it will be slow.  Here are a few of the hotels that offer WIFI in Havana and Trinidad:

Havana

Melia Cohiba – Vedado
NH Parque Central – Havana Vieja
Hotel Saratoga – Havana Vieja
Hotel Sevilla – Havana Vieja
Hotel National – Vedado

Trinidad

Iberostar Trinidad
Hotel Ronda

This is your chance to immerse yourself completely into another world, forget about technology for a short while, hell you might even enjoy being unobtainable!  Forget about updating facebook or going online every day while you are in Cuba, it is expensive and quite slow.  ETECSA sell internet cards, 2 CUC and they last 1 hour.  These cards come with a unique login and pin number and can be used several times until the 2 CUC balance has finished.  Hence you do not have to use the 2 CUC balance in one day, you can use 10 minutes one day, come back another day and use 20 minutes etc until you have used up an hour.  The internet cards bought at an ETECSA office can be used in any ETECSA office across the country and at all WIFI hotspots.