Telecommunications in Cuba - Telephone

Telephone

See also: Telephone numbers in Cuba

Country code: +53

International call prefix: 119

Telephones - main lines in use: 1.2 million, 72nd in the world, less than 10 per 100 inhabitants (2009).

Telephones - mobile cellular: One million mobile phones at the end of 2010 (9 per 100 inhabitants), up from 621,000 in 2009 and 330,000 in 2008, when all Cubans were allowed to buy and use them for the first time. Mobile-cellular telephone service is expensive and must be paid in convertible pesos, which limits subscribership.

Telephone system: 95% of telephone switches were digitized by end of 2006. Principal trunk system is coaxial cable; fiber-optic distribution in Havana and on Isla de la Juventud; two microwave radio relay installations (one is old, US-built; the other newer, Soviet-built); both analog and digital mobile cellular service established; one international satellite earth station, Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region).

Planned fiber-optic link: A new undersea fiber-optic link with Venezuela was scheduled for 2011. In May 2012 there were reports that the cable was operational, but with use restricted to Cuban and Venezuelan government entities. Internet access by the general public still uses slower and more expensive satellite links.

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