Getting online in Cuba has never been an easy process. With all internet services controlled by the state-owned telecoms company Etecsa, internet access in private houses is practically unheard of. Recently however, the situation has begun to change, with wifi hotspots popping up across Cuba’s major cities, Cubans are beginning to embrace the internet revolution.

Web access is not cheap, Etesca internet cards cost 2 CUCs (roughly £2), approximately two thirds of the average weekly wage, and will give you up to an hours use - Cubans are understandably parsimonious with their minutes, quickly checking their Facebook page and keeping IMO conversations brief. And with a signal that tends to be erratic, surfing the web is kept to a minimum.

Getting your hands on a phone in Cuba is another hurdle, with most devices hidden away in shopkeepers drawers or briefcases after following a circuitous route of acquisition: friends and relatives from the Cuban diaspora send the phones and these are either sold new or distributed amongst the extended family, then cashed in.

Despite all these difficulties, the internet revolution is taking hold in Cuba. It is estimated that around 25% of the Cuban population (mostly younger people) own a mobile phone and as darkness falls in Havana, phone screens cast a gentle light onto the faces of the Cuban conectados, standing alongside tourists outside the Ambos Mundos bar. Cubans are gazing into a brave new future in which information, acquisition and dissent are open to everyone.



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