Cuba performing quality test of high speed fiber-optic cable

Cuba's state telecommunications firm ETECSA has confirmed that the fiber-optic cable connecting Cuba to Venezuela is currently undergoing quality testing for its Internet-trafficking capabilities. An official statement said that the cable has been in use primarily for international phone calls since August 2012, and that the current internet tests began on January 10.

Financed by the Venezuelan government and completed in February 2011, ALBA-1 reportedly possesses the capability to increase Internet speeds on the island by up to 3,000 times and will be capable of handling millions of phone calls simultaneously, but reports of mismanagement involving the project apparently halted progress. The official statement says that "When the testing process ends, the activation of the cable will not mean that access possibilities will automatically multiply." The government has indicated that initially, the cable will be used to improve current connections, rather than to increase points of access to the Internet. Up to now, Cuba has linked to the Internet through satellite hook-ups that are excruciatingly slow due to restrictions under the U.S. trade embargo.

Cuba monopolizes communications in the state-controlled economy. There is no broadband Internet in the island and the relatively few Internet users suffer through agonizingly long waits to open an email, let alone view a photo or video, which also hampers government and business operations.

The National Statistics Office reported the number of "Internet" users reached 2.6 million in 2011, out of a population of 11.2 million, although almost all were likely on the government-filtered "intranet" offered through state-run computer clubs, schools and offices.

Cuba is the last country in the western hemisphere to get a fiber-optic hookup and, according to Akamai Technologies Inc., has the second-lowest Internet connectivity rates in the world.