A resident of Pinar del Río publicly called out ETECSA on Facebook for restricting internet service in the municipality of La Palma to less than eight hours a day—from 10 AM to 6 PM—without the company providing any explanation, at least in the comments on the post.
Luis Enrique Rodríguez Ortega asked his question on Saturday with a direct appeal to the state monopoly: «ETECSA... In La Palma, Pinar del Río, CUBA... less than 8 hours of daily connection, from 10 am to 6 pm. Can you explain the reasons?». No one from the company responded.
Cubans, on the other hand, did. An internet user residing in La Palma noted that the scheduled hours are even optimistic: "From 10 to 6 is a lot; I think they sometimes shut it down earlier." Another confirmed that the problem extends to the provincial capital: "It's the same in Pinar del Río."
The most shocking testimony came from a user who recounted: "I would love to know... but nobody is here to face it... My mom passed away at 1 AM, and I found out at 10 in the morning." The absence of a nighttime signal turned a family tragedy into a piece of news that arrived nine hours late.
The restriction on daytime hours is not a one-time issue. ETECSA installed solar panels in municipal headquarters as a response to power outages, but the autonomy of their backup batteries lasts barely between seven and eight hours without external electricity supply. The connection window in La Palma coincides exactly with the hours of peak solar radiation, which reveals that the local infrastructure may largely depend on photovoltaic generation.
Pinar del Río ranks among the provinces with the greatest progress in ETECSA's solar installation, but the company itself admitted that this coverage does not guarantee service 24 hours a day.
The national outlook is equally bleak: the company acknowledged that during power outages, more than 45% of mobile radio bases and over 55% of telecommunications cabinets can be out of service nationwide. In light of this situation, ETECSA has stated that it is not viable to continue investing in expanding the access network without energy support; thus, it shifts the responsibility to the electrical crisis without providing solutions or timelines.
Internet users, however, have their own theories about the fate of available energy. Several sarcastically pointed out the electric vehicles of the executives. "The head of ETECSA has to charge her little car; she can't walk, but the people can be without communication," wrote one user. The theory garnered enthusiastic responses.
Another commentator linked the complaint to the "rate hike" that ETECSA implemented in May 2025, when it increased the price of mobile internet by more than 10 times and raised its daily revenues from about $10,000 to $540,000, as acknowledged by Prime Minister Manuel Marrero.
"When ETECSA implemented the 'tarifazo', they explained that it would improve the infrastructure [...] they installed solar panels to maintain the service, and then... they equipped themselves with electric transportation so that the commercial offices could operate better. [...] the improvements are not for the population, ETECSA prioritizes itself over its customers", wrote the forum user.
The pattern of silence in response to citizens' complaints is documented in multiple locations. In Alamar, a resident sarcastically suggested dismantling the useless communications tower in his neighborhood to repurpose its angle pieces for garages or gates. The comedian Ulises Toirac described ETECSA's service as "a shotgun scam" and referred to the company as one that "doesn’t answer, doesn’t accept lawsuits, and doesn’t communicate, yet still charges."
And if there is hardly any connection, the freedom of it is also very limited: Cuba obtained only 19 points out of 100 in the Freedom House Internet Freedom Index in 2026.
A netizen commenting on the publication about La Palma placed the crisis within the context of overall decline: "The cause is the same that leaves an entire town without water for months [...] this issue of connectivity is just another stripe for the tiger."
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