Officials
August 10, 2010
The Cuba Study Group and the joint Latin America Initiative of the
Brookings Institution and the Council of the Americas recently published
a report in which political experts discuss trade relationships with
Cuba and its impact on the telecoms market. According to the report, the
recent lifting of trade barriers between the United States and Cuba is
not having the expected impact on the U.S. telecoms market, mainly
because business groups are not interested in most of the business
opportunities offered by the U.S. government in Cuba. So far, only
Sprint Nextel and Florida-based carrier TeleCuba have filed petitions to
operate in Cuba.
Significance: In April 2009, the U.S. administration authorised local
telecom network service providers to enter into agreements to establish
fibre-optic cable and satellite facilities linking the United States and
Cuba. This measure has had very limited impact as Cuba is not interested
in allowing U.S. satellite providers to operate in the country. In fact,
the island has opted to develop a fibre-optic submarine cable with
Venezuela that will link the island with the Caribbean and Europe while
bypassing the United States. As part of the overtures made towards the
communist island by U.S. President Barack Obama, Washington has called
on wireless carriers to enter into roaming service agreements with
Cuba's sole mobile service provider, ETECSA. This has proved more
successful as, according to the report, ETECSA has already reached
agreements with 300 mobile providers around the world. Opportunities in
the Cuban telecoms sector therefore remain meagre compared to what was
initially expected. Should trade barriers become more flexible in the
future, Cuba's strong ideological stance against the United States will
prevent it from signing deals except for key strategic services, such
tourism and agriculture.
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