Slashdot Mirror
Thousands Of Cubans Now Have Internet Access (ap.org)
There's been a dramatic change in one of the world's least-connected countries. An anonymous reader quotes the AP:
Since the summer of 2015, the Cuban government has opened 240 public Wi-Fi spots in parks and on street corners across the country... The government estimates that 100,000 Cubans connect to the internet daily. A new feature of urban life in Cuba is the sight of people sitting at all hours on street corners or park benches, their faces illuminated by the screen of smartphones connected by applications such as Facebook Messenger to relatives in Miami, Ecuador or other outposts of the Cuban diaspora...
Cuban ingenuity has spread internet far beyond those public places: thousands of people grab the public signals through commercially available repeaters, imported illegally into Cuba and often sold for about $100 -- double the original price. Mounted on rooftops, the repeaters grab the public signals and create a form of home internet increasingly available in private rentals for tourists and cafes and restaurants for Cubans and visitors alike.
The article also points out that last month, for the first time ever, 2,000 Cubans began receiving home internet access.
Cuban ingenuity has spread internet far beyond those public places: thousands of people grab the public signals through commercially available repeaters, imported illegally into Cuba and often sold for about $100 -- double the original price. Mounted on rooftops, the repeaters grab the public signals and create a form of home internet increasingly available in private rentals for tourists and cafes and restaurants for Cubans and visitors alike.
The article also points out that last month, for the first time ever, 2,000 Cubans began receiving home internet access.
Would have voted "no" on this in the firehose. Guess that's why it didn't show up there.
Let's see how long it takes for the government to start shutting down access to those that are accessing the "wrong" type of information. The Chinese government has a good model for how this oppression can work.
If humans are mostly water, and beer is mostly water, then humans must be mostly beer.
Mierda Fidel
I was all set to rag on them for only having 'thousands', when the article stated Hundreds of thousands. Big difference. Most people I know have thousands of dollars in the bank - rent cost more than 1 thousand, after all. But not many people have hundreds of thousands.
Hundreds of thousands means they actually are letting every day Cubans use the internet, rather than just government officials.
excitingthingstodo.blogspot.com
They don't need Internet, Russia already hacked that, and already owns Cuban leader already.
Page 3, Source E, Source F (the two agents at the Ritz Moscow hotel) and Source B and Source G (the two US spies in Russia's FSB who confirmed Russia has Trump various pee and sex romps on tape), Trump will have access to the names of those US spies in Russia, and can trade those in exchange for Putin's help in the next election.
Even his divestment lawyers work for Russian approved firm (Russian law firm of the year!) with direct contracts to the Russian government.
"But another possible link between Trump and the Russian government has materialized: Morgan Lewis does work directly for the Russian government, according to a Newsweek review. At least three lawyers in the firm’s Moscow and London offices list work for Russian sovereign wealth funds or state corporations".
https://europe.newsweek.com/trump-business-plan-spotlight-law-firm-worked-russia-542399/amp
Coincidence?
gotta love that 110 baud rs-232 connection.
I wonder how many of those HUNDREDS of thousands (no thanks to the title writer) have UNRESTRICTED access to the internet? It's of no use to people if the Government tells you what you can and cannot read. "There are thousands of books in the library. All of them are Mao's little red book."
Welcome to the club.
Have gnu, will travel.
Thousands of North Koreans now have Internet access.
That's roughly an equivalence.
Except N.K. is a much more expensive air flight, so gets fewer tourists.
This is help a corrupt and oppressive government stay in power for another 50 years. Another win for freedom!
you are now even more vulnerable to your neighbor in the north, the largest propaganda machine and manufacturer of social pretexts for civil uprise and political change.
The good news is that the Cuban government isn't blocking access to websites, and that smartphones are becoming more widely available, but the absence of alternatives to ETECSA means that costs are likely to remain prohibitive for the vast majority of Cubans for the foreseeable future.
Y cuáles son estos "gatos de LOL?"
Welcome to the internet. Please send your credit card details so we can activate your special internet features.
Whats the point of an internet enabled cigar?
because the internet is so much more cost effective than legions of secret policemen and neighborhood snitches. Enjoy your heavily filtered internet Cubanos. Just be careful what you post.
Or read an article on submarine cables because that is what would be involved. It would be relatively easy considering the closeness of the island to the US, but it is still quite a distance.
just wait and see, on the next 10 years, child prostution rising on cuba. oh wait, obama is not the president anymore!
So within a year, instead of having a beautiful, vibrant, colorful and historic culture, Cubans will be posting pictures of their cats on Facebook and getting into fights with total strangers online about the Kardashians.
Oh great. So now this means I won't be able to find a place to sit down inside a damned Starbucks in Cuba either. This means we have exported those fucking laptop loafers to another nation.