ETECSA announced on Monday that there will be disruptions to cellular service nationwide following the failure of the generator that provides electrical backup to one of the main centers supporting the country's mobile network.
According to the informative note published on Facebook by the state telecommunications company, the affected numbers are those starting with the prefixes 52, 509, 598, and 599.
"We inform you that due to a breakdown of the generator that supports one of the main centers providing mobile services nationwide, the numbers starting with 52, 509, 598, and 599 are affected. Our specialists are working to restore the services," ETECSA stated without specifying a timeline for restoration.
Unlike previous incidents that affected specific areas, this outage impacts prefixes with national reach, significantly increasing the number of users without service.
The failure occurs one day after the National Electric System (SEN) experienced its sixth total disconnection of the year, caused by the tripping of 220 kV lines between Matanzas, Santa Clara, and Cienfuegos.
The dependence of ETECSA on generators is a direct consequence of the electrical crisis that Cuba is experiencing in 2026, the worst in its recent history.
The generation deficit has reached unprecedented figures: 2,174 MW in May, 2,341 MW on July 10, and 2,315 MW on July 24, with service interrupted for 24 hours in the latter case.
This structural instability forces the company to maintain its data centers and radio bases operational through its own generators, which, when they fail, take down the communication network with them.
The pattern of outages in ETECSA's backup equipment is recurring. In March 2026, an identical breakdown in Cárdenas, Matanzas left that municipality and nearby areas such as Perico, Colón, Los Arabos, and Calimete without mobile service and landline communication.
In July 2026, the company itself publicly acknowledged a widespread increase in issues, as reported by Radio Rebelde.
The figures revealed at that time were alarming: nearly 47.5% of mobile radio bases and 56.5% of telecommunications cabinets had gone out of service due to the blackouts affecting the mobile network.
The situation reveals a structural vulnerability in the Cuban telecommunications system: ETECSA, the only company in the sector in the country, lacks sufficient electrical infrastructure to sustain its operations during prolonged outages, and the available backup equipment is inadequate or deteriorates without the possibility of timely replacement.
In August 2025, a diagnosis in Sancti Spíritus revealed that only 21 out of 70 telephone exchanges in that province had backup generators, leaving over 288,000 mobile lines vulnerable to any interruption in the power supply.
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