Relations between the United States and Cuba are gradually improving and the island nation has a long way to go before it can catch up with the technological advancements that have been made in the past few decades. Anybody who has been to Cuba will tell you that getting online is a big hassle there. With trade restrictions being eased and American companies finally being allowed to offer services in Cuba, Google will be one of the first U.S. based companies working in Cuba to open it up to the internet.
President Obama is on a historic visit to the island nation, the first by a U.S. president in several decades. “One of the things that we’ll be announcing here is that Google has a deal to start setting up more WiFi and broadband access on the island,” he said in an interview with ABC News.
It was only last year that Cuba launched its first public Wi-Fi hotspots, however, the $4.50 per hour fee is expensive for most residents. Speeds are poor and the Wi-Fi hotspots are few and far between. There’s a significant room for improvement there and Google can play a major role in bringing Cubans online.
It’s unclear as yet what service Google will be providing in the country and when it will be launched, the company hasn’t commented on that yet, it could supposedly provide a cheaper way for people to access the internet given its experience with setting up infrastructure.
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