A Cuban woman questioned this Monday the constant international promotions offered by ETECSA and the lack of similar offers in Cuban pesos for those who rely on their income within the island.
"One should save characters and remove 'international' since there is none that is national," ironized Roxanne Castellanos Cabrera in a post on Facebook that sparked some comments against the state monopoly on telecommunications.
The reaction came after receiving an SMS from ETECSA announcing a new "international promotion," valid from September 7 to 13, which offers 25 GB and unlimited data from 12:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. for 35 days.
This offer is complemented by another one announced by the company featuring "unlimited data for 24 hours" over a period of ten days, available from September 4 to September 30. In both instances, these are promotions associated with payments made from abroad.
Castellanos also questioned what happens to the foreign currency that the company is acquiring through this model.
"In short, all the millions of dollars they are raising, it is unclear where they are putting them, despite all the 'I swear by the kangaroo's pouch' they made at the time," he wrote.
Her criticism also addressed one of the issues that currently most affects users: paying for data packages that are often difficult to use due to power outages and connectivity problems.
"Now they accumulate because there is no connection throughout the day, except during the few hours of electricity. [...] And the worst part is that at the end of the month, you have to buy again without having used the megabytes due to the poor service," he stated.
"It is truly abusive and disrespectful," she added.
In the comments on the post, other Cubans shared similar experiences. One user lamented that the best options depend on foreign currency: "It has to be in dollars, and not everyone can access that."
For his part, another user stated that he has been without a landline for 21 months without finding a solution.
"It is a complete lack of respect and a blatant robbery. A tremendous scam. A whole day without internet connection," expressed a Cuban, who also questioned ETECSA's operation without competitors in the Cuban market.
Criticism is set against the backdrop of the measures adopted by the company since May 2025, when ETECSA limited national top-ups to 360 CUP every 30 days and began selling additional packages paid for in dollars.
Since then, international promotions have become a fundamental way to access larger amounts of data, putting users without relatives or resources abroad at a disadvantage.
This is compounded by the deterioration of service during power outages. In March 2026, for example, internet traffic in Cuba fell by 65% during a blackout lasting almost 29 hours.
More than a year after the controversial rate change, ETECSA generates millions of dollars through its new services, while criticism regarding the quality of the connection and infrastructure continues.
In August, the comedian Ulises Toirac also publicly demanded that ETECSA invest in improving its services, amidst the repeated complaints from users.
Among the comments on Castellanos’ post, a Cuban summarized the discontent with another question: "Do they know the meaning of 'DIGNIFY' for the citizens? I don't think so."
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