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The Cuban Telecommunications Company (ETECSA) launched a new payment method for the Nauta Hogar service on Monday, allowing customers to browse first and pay later.
The measure comes after years of complaints from users who pay for hours of connection that they cannot enjoy due to the continuous blackouts affecting the entire country.
According to the official media Cubadebate, ETECSA's commercial vice president, Lidia Esther Hidalgo Rodríguez, acknowledged that the postpaid option aims to "make the service usage more flexible," although in practice, it is a response to the accumulated criticism regarding the poor performance of the prepaid system and the limitations arising from the energy crisis.
With this option, users will be able to choose between maintaining the traditional prepaid plan —paying in advance and then browsing— or switching to the postpaid plan, which allows them to use connection hours and pay the bill at the end of the month.
However, the company specified that customers will be able to accumulate only up to 1,080 unused hours, a possibility that did not exist until now, but as is customary, the state-owned company always seeks to impose restrictions on clients.
Additionally, the activation of the new option cannot be done online: users will need to visit ETECSA's commercial offices in person, a process that keeps the bureaucracy and the usual inconveniences of the state monopoly.
During the presentation, the management acknowledged that 35% of customers do not use the total hours contracted each month, primarily due to power outages, travel, or technical difficulties—factors that the company has been unable to resolve despite repeated promises of improvement.
This figure can worsen, for example, when a province is hit by a hurricane, due to the aftermath it leaves behind, including damage to communication lines.
ETECSA announced that the monthly bill can be viewed starting on the 10th of each month and can be paid via Transfermóvil, Online Services, or directly at their offices.
El Nauta Hogar, launched in 2016, currently has around 305,000 users across the country, while over 90,000 requests – quite a substantial number – remain pending, officials admitted.
The company acknowledged that the infrastructure supporting its fixed network is outdated and that it lacks the technical and financial capacity to expand the service at the pace demanded.
In June, amid the controversy generated by the increase in mobile service tariffs by ETECSA, Cuba's telecommunications monopoly announced that it would implement a new mode for home Internet access services, although without providing concrete details about its operation or pricing.
The commercial vice president of the state company, Lidia Esther Hidalgo, stated at that time that "during the summer we will announce a new option, which will be optional," referring to the Nauta Hogar service, one of the most criticized by users due to its prices and technical limitations.
According to Hidalgo, the new offer would aim to adapt to the different consumption profiles of customers, a statement that, considering how unpopular the changes were at that time, generated skepticism and little trust among users.
"Some exhaust the available hours, while others do not. We are going to put forth an offer that we find quite interesting," he said.
Despite the official narrative, the launch of postpaid services seems more like a maneuver to contain discontent than a genuine improvement in service.
Amid daily blackouts, high prices, and an aging infrastructure, Cubans continue to pay dearly for a slow and unreliable connection.
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