Alberto Rodriguez, Cuba’s vice minister for information and communications, has said that the proposed cable linking Cuba and Venezuela will not be ready until at least July 2011. Rodriguez was speaking to government run newspaper Granma.
The project was…
Alberto Rodriguez, Cuba’s vice minister for information and communications, has said that the proposed cable linking Cuba and Venezuela will not be ready until at least July 2011. Rodriguez was speaking to government run newspaper Granma.
The project was originally envisaged in January 2007, to help upgrade Cuba’s telecommunications infrastructure and reduce its reliance on satellites. Cuba has one of the world’s lowest internet penetration rates, with only 2.9% of the population having internet access.
The project tender was won by Telecomunicaciones Grand Caribe- the sole bidder – in November 2009 to connect Havana, Kingston and Caracas. TGC is 60% owned by state-run Telecom Venezuela with the remainder held by Cuba’s state-owned telco Transbit.
Supplying the equipment to the project is French hardware manufacturer, Alcatel-Lucent.
