The state-owned sole telecommunications company of Cuba S.A. (Etecsa) called on businesses and entrepreneurs in Granma to participate in the digital fair "Impulse to Transformation with Etecsa," while its network remains inoperative during power outages, its rates are skyrocketing, and connectivity continues to rank among the most inadequate.
Carlos Rafael Riera Guerra, head of the Commercial Department of the Territorial Division of Etecsa in Granma, presented the event scheduled for August 11 and 12 at La Casa de la Fiesta in the city of Bayamo, as a space intended to showcase technological solutions and foster partnerships with economic stakeholders.
"The fair will be a space to promote strategic alliances with economic actors, aimed at accelerating digital transformation in Granma and strengthening cooperation on joint projects," declared the official this Saturday to the station Radio Bayamo.
Riera added that the initiative aims to "raise awareness among the population about the benefits of the Cuban digital ecosystem" and to highlight the opportunities that technology offers to drive innovation, improve the quality of life, and increase the participation of economic actors in the digital age.
The official discourse contrasts with the difficulties faced by the residents of Granma in maintaining communications during the prolonged blackouts.
In July, the Canal Caribe of the official television broadcast a report on the installation of solar panels at the Niquero telephone center, presented as a guarantee of uninterrupted communications.
However, residents of the province itself questioned that narrative in the comments of the official video. "That's a lie, I'm from Granma, when the power goes out, nothing works," wrote one of them, while another neighbor from Guisa stated that "there's never any power here."
Etecsa itself acknowledged in June that its backup batteries cannot keep the network operational for more than 24 hours without power from the public grid.
During the outages, approximately 47.5% of mobile radio bases and 56.5% of cabinets are out of service, according to the information provided by the company.
The situation occurs amidst an electrical crisis that has caused Cuba to experience repeated total collapses of the National Electroenergy System so far this year.
In addition to the infrastructure issues, there is the rejection caused by the rates set by the state telecommunications monopoly.
As of May 30, 2025, the company limited top-ups in Cuban pesos to a maximum of 360 CUP per month and set prices in dollars for internet packages, offering options of 4 GB for 10 USD, 8 GB for 20 USD, and 16 GB for 35 USD.
The Prime Minister Manuel Marrero acknowledged that during the first 46 days following the increase in rates, Etecsa collected over 24.8 million dollars, approximately 540,000 USD daily, without any corresponding improvement in service quality.
Cuban connectivity remains among the most deficient in the world. Fixed broadband download speeds averaged around 3.48 Mbps at the end of 2025 and fell below 2 Mbps in several provinces in April of this year.
The pattern of presenting partial advances as solutions to structural problems has also been questioned previously. Amid the tariff hike, the official newspaper Granma published an article that recalled the punitive framework of the Penal Code for those who criticize the government on social media, referencing crimes such as "Enemy propaganda," "Defamation," and "Contempt."
While Etecsa is organizing the fair to promote "digital transformation" in Granma, the comedian Ulises Toirac recently published an open letter in which he demanded that the company reinvest the profits gained from the price hike to improve the service or allow the entry of Starlink into Cuba.
Related videos:
Filed under: