[Published: Wednesday December 05 2018]
 Cuba to roll out mobile internet services
HAVANA 5 Dec (ANA) - Cubans will be able to access the internet on their mobile phones for the first time from Thursday, according to the state-run telecoms company ETECSA.
The announcement is a milestone for the Communist-run island, which has long been one of the Western Hemisphere's least-connected countries and is one of the last countries in the world without mobile internet.
Nearly half of the Caribbean country's 11.2 million residents have mobile phones, although not all will be able to afford to access the internet on them.
In the Mesa Redonda news programme broadcast late on Tuesday, ETECSA executives announced a range of packages valid for 30 days from 600 MB for the equivalent of $7 to 4 GB for $30. Without a package, 100 MB will cost users $10.
The cost will be out of reach for many Cubans as the average state wage is around $30 a month, with many people relying on relatives abroad sending money or side gigs to get by.
"It was about time this became a possibility for Cubans too," Havana resident Joaquin Montiel, 58, told Reuters. "But for some, like me, it's still a remote one."
Montiel said he will not be able to afford a mobile phone with 3G technology on his wage of less than $20 a month as a salesman in a state company.
Prior to the announcement, President Miguel Diaz-Canel welcomed the move in a post on Twitter, saying Cuba "continues to advance in the digitisation of society".
Diaz-Canel, who took over from Raul Castro in April, has championed greater connectivity, underscoring the potential for internet to boost the economy and enable Cuba to better defend its revolution online.
In an unprecedented move by a Cuban leader, he opened a twitter account in October, with many government officials following suit.(ANA)
FA/ANA/5 December 2018-------
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