ETECSA
Encyclopedia
Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba S.A. (Telecommunications Company of Cuba; ETECSA) is the government owned full telecommunications service provider for the island of Cuba
. The company is 27% owned by Telecom Italia
with the remainder owned by the Ministry of Information and Communication. The services provided by ETECSA includes telephone
, internet
and wireless
services. The company provides services to the public of Cuba, as well as the millions of tourists who vacation in the Republic of Cuba.
On 25 September 2006, it was announced that the president, José Antonio Fernández, and the vice minister for information, Nelson Ferrer, had been fired by the new Minister Ramiro Valdés
for failing to control the company. http://today.reuters.com/news/articleinvesting.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2006-09-25T181627Z_01_N25288797_RTRIDST_0_CUBA-FIRINGS.XML&pageNumber=0&imageid=&cap=&sz=13&WTModLoc=InvArt-C1-ArticlePage1
and one Mexican.
Later, a second system, C-com, was set up using GSM
.
In 2005, the Cuban government bought Sherritt out (Sherritt International, until today, did not get paid in totality and the company has left Cuba. They also abandoned their mine's exploitation on the Island due to non-payment.) and merged Cubacel and C-com into a division of Etecsa. The two names continue as brands.
ETECSA announced that its D-AMPS network will be deactivated on march 31, 2009. From then on, GSM-900 and GSM-850 will be the only service.
Although, ETECSA has new rates for their mobile communications, incoming and outgoing phone calls are still being paid in Cuban Convertible Pesos (CUC). Which makes receiving and making calls very expensive for Cubans, even for tourists. The price of receiving or making a call with your cell phone in Cuba is currently priced at 0.45CUC/minute which is equal to USD 0.49 per minute.
The police discovered the network and detained all types of elctronic devices,according to ETESA it lost a large numbers of its clients,
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
. The company is 27% owned by Telecom Italia
Telecom Italia
Telecom Italia is the largest Italian telecommunications company, also active in the media and manufacturing industries. Now a private concern listed on the Borsa Italiana, it was founded in 1994 by the merger of several state-owned telecommunications companies, the most important of which was...
with the remainder owned by the Ministry of Information and Communication. The services provided by ETECSA includes telephone
Telephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
, internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
and wireless
Wireless
Wireless telecommunications is the transfer of information between two or more points that are not physically connected. Distances can be short, such as a few meters for television remote control, or as far as thousands or even millions of kilometers for deep-space radio communications...
services. The company provides services to the public of Cuba, as well as the millions of tourists who vacation in the Republic of Cuba.
On 25 September 2006, it was announced that the president, José Antonio Fernández, and the vice minister for information, Nelson Ferrer, had been fired by the new Minister Ramiro Valdés
Ramiro Valdés
Ramiro Valdés Menéndez is a Cuban revolutionary and politician. He became a Government Vice President in the 2009 shake-up by Raúl Castro....
for failing to control the company. http://today.reuters.com/news/articleinvesting.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2006-09-25T181627Z_01_N25288797_RTRIDST_0_CUBA-FIRINGS.XML&pageNumber=0&imageid=&cap=&sz=13&WTModLoc=InvArt-C1-ArticlePage1
Mobile telephone system
The first mobile telephone system was Cubacel, using AMPS and later D-AMPS. The company was a joint venture with Sherritt InternationalSherritt International
Sherritt International is a Canadian energy company, based in Toronto, Ontario. It is involved in nickel and cobalt mining, thermal coal production, oil and gas exploration and production, and electricity generation...
and one Mexican.
Later, a second system, C-com, was set up using GSM
Global System for Mobile Communications
GSM , is a standard set developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute to describe technologies for second generation digital cellular networks...
.
In 2005, the Cuban government bought Sherritt out (Sherritt International, until today, did not get paid in totality and the company has left Cuba. They also abandoned their mine's exploitation on the Island due to non-payment.) and merged Cubacel and C-com into a division of Etecsa. The two names continue as brands.
ETECSA announced that its D-AMPS network will be deactivated on march 31, 2009. From then on, GSM-900 and GSM-850 will be the only service.
Although, ETECSA has new rates for their mobile communications, incoming and outgoing phone calls are still being paid in Cuban Convertible Pesos (CUC). Which makes receiving and making calls very expensive for Cubans, even for tourists. The price of receiving or making a call with your cell phone in Cuba is currently priced at 0.45CUC/minute which is equal to USD 0.49 per minute.
New Instalation
ETECSA now is working for new instalation of public telephones and has decided to import from italy new model that will soon be installed, according to officials working near the Farmacia Escribano near the Ciancias Medicas in the city of Sancti Spiritus in an exclusive interview told that the instalation may be delayed because of financial crisis facing by etecsa, however government is keen providing best facilities for cuban peopleCall Transfer System ,Economic Crisis,Dispute with Pakistani Students
ETECSA reports that a large number of internet connection are owned by pakistani students , as according to country rules only foreigners are eligible to have internet connection , so these students were permitted to have excess with heavy costs as they have to pay 70-150 cuban dollar monthly alongwith heavy dues of phone bills, but amazingly a large number of pakistani students got excess to internet and very soon ETECSA found illegal use of internet as calling was being made from all corners of the country to all around the world, according to ETECSAs official the company was in loss because phone cards selling was slipped less than half down, finding possible reasons they were surprised to see a parallel telecomunication company without specified name was offering cheapest calling in the history of cuba as 20 cen/min, ultimately they were came to know when a Call Transfer System working in Cabaiguan a muncipio of Sancti Spiritus was detected that were offering calling directly from any phone,or even mobile to any part of the world selling cards from 5 dollar to 20 dollar , the cards were being sold in all provinces from Havana to Guantanamo.The police discovered the network and detained all types of elctronic devices,according to ETESA it lost a large numbers of its clients,