900USD/mo for 70mb seem to be a dream that some parts of Africa would be glad to wake up to in reality ;-) Cheers! Sent from my LG G4 Kindly excuse brevity and typos On 30 Mar 2016 18:00, "Sam Lanfranco" <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Google has supplied equipment for the studio of Cuban artist Alexis Leiva > Machado (kown as "Kcho") in barrio Romerillo, in Havana. The facility is > reported to have a 70mps link and supports free access for about 40 users, > although users report spotty actual access. Kcho is well connected to the > Cuban government and reputedly is paying the $US 900/mo access cost, this > in a country where the average salary is about $20/month, and paid access > is $2/hour. This is probably more a symbolic effort than a real opening in > Cuba for either Cuban access or Google's presence. The Cuban phone company > roll out of hotspots in community locations, and an eventual reduction in > access costs are where change will take place. The University of Havana > wi-fi effort is intended to extend (paid) access to the neighborhoods > surrounding the multiple UofH campuses in Havana. It is hard to tell when > cell and internet access will be open to competition as in Myanmar, since > that is where access will explode and costs will fall. > > Sam L. > > *On 30/03/2016 10:29 AM, Joly MacFie wrote:* > > > *Yesterday I* > * browsed a bunch of YouTube vids of the Stones concert in Havana. Plenty > of smartphones in evidence.* > > *j* > > *On Wed, Mar 30, 2016 at 9:44 AM, William Drake **<[log in to unmask] > <[log in to unmask]> <[log in to unmask]>>** wrote:* > >> *FWIW I had lunch with Vint Cerf at Google in DC the other day and he’d >> just returned from a week in Cuba, where Google’s been invited to play a >> notable role in broadening out access **http://www.wsj.com/articles/google-and-obama-administration-connect-over-cuba-1458763836 >> <http://www.wsj.com/articles/google-and-obama-administration-connect-over-cuba-1458763836>**. >> He said the Cubans actually have some pretty decent technology in place >> already, much of it Chinese but also some home grown stuff. So they’re >> playing off companies from different countries against each other for >> contracts, kind of the new nonaligned movement.* >> >> * I suspect many US companies expecting to cut deals quickly will >> disappointed, as there’s growing reports of the government imposing delays >> and backtracking on agreements as part of an effort to push US businesses >> into the ‘end the embargo’ camp in US congressional politics. Not a >> surprising strategy, hope it works. US businesses, especially the tech >> sector, have become an important force in stopping discriminatory state >> policies, maybe they’ll emerge as the key here as well.* >> >> * Bill* >> > >