Monopoly. 

On Wednesday, March 30, 2016, 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
> <https://ci4.googleusercontent.com/proxy/516kP_ILo6-lYgwYovHSxoo3RZ5Z3XzZsr8J6ePB5A3Y65X2HgNNRBJj3CrQ4qLhIUOFZzpe-W2KbsSLTj4hBdjWIBnAyg4xWKRuzs0z6rNPvQhcdyfqoxdjL76myM2M1KovGQt1ZAZpqUpafQygrd35HFH7EohL7DhtZ1VdRJa9dA=s0-d-e1-ft#https://t.yesware.com/t/b3b03f93acb29dde874548d979c14638352bd06e/cd5aa66cbca6b6bddea6a69db5650683/spacer.gif><https://ci3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/TVOUqYOncSM7c8Uxgz0ueuqfUUlOLn-hRDbfUsr7L8agoC7oU4z7e9w72W2sjZPEIqD_iGyU52XUCxv5xOgzbEA7MS6BTDrC1FMNCWtFc67K_vkQ5nHkLmcoB6suAyL7bKCVsdNY9WtGRZ46cQpJeL8N24PJ2pML_KBlSOfrog7_=s0-d-e1-ft#http://t.yesware.com/t/b3b03f93acb29dde874548d979c14638352bd06e/cd5aa66cbca6b6bddea6a69db5650683/spacer.gif>
> On Wed, Mar 30, 2016 at 9:44 AM, William Drake <[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.  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
>
>

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