Introduction

To the south of Florida, in the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean, lies the familiar, under-developed country called Cuba. This tropical region is the home for over 11 million people, mostly in between 15 and 64 years old. There are many different types of ethnic groups including 50 % mulatto, 37% white, 11% black, and 1% Chinese. The main language is Spanish. Most of the land is used for agriculture from the cultivation of crops, pastures, and forests as well as industrial work. Fidel Castro is Cuba's prominent figure holding the office as the President of the Council of the State, or the Prime Minister. Castro's Cuban Communist Political Party creates a durable dictatorship that strictly controls everything from communications, taxes, and foreign trade. Recently, Cuba's economy has increased rapidly from the early 1990s because of the tourism in the area.

The Digital Divide in Cuba

There is clearly a digital divide in Cuba compared to the rest of the world. The lack of US interest and involvement in improving this country's technological advancements has not helped either. Nonetheless, Cuba does firmly believe "' we can't prevent the net, so we must learn to use it'" (The Guardian, 1999). Yet, it becomes a problem when part of the population cannot read or write, so how could they possibly email or surf the web? And, since the Internet instigates globalization, merging different parts of the world together, we need to think about whom it's benefiting? It is certainly not Cubans when they are compared to the Western "one computer one desk" standard. They are not even close to those figures, with approximately 1 computer per 1000 people. Secondly, another critical problem is how the Cuban government regulates private use on the net. "Controlling what Cubans read and hear has been part of President Fidel Castro's rule from the beginning" (The Guardian, 1999). The government understands that if the Internet grows to what it is in other areas, it will be a serious threat to the "information monopoly" that the government prefers to regulate and oversee. Only about 40,000 officials, business people, and foreigners out of 11 million are authorized and linked to the web. (The Guardian, 1999) Although thousands of others have found unofficial ways to get connected, the government is slowly increasing access in public places. These areas include public libraries and schools and now even companies want to build cybercafes throughout the country. Unfortunately, even these advancements will limit the average Cuban who is not familiar with computer technology. Moreover, the cost to have the Internet is about 36.23 USD per month for someone who makes on average around 10 USD per month; it just is not feasible for most Cubans. (Press & Snyder)

Internet User Patterns

Internet connections, as we have said are closely regulated by the government, and are granted almost solely for academic purposes. According to a questionnaire answered by a contact at CENAI, the primary networking institute in Cuba, of his registered users 81% were university and faculty research staff, 0% university students, 4% government employees, 12% commercial employees, 3% NGO employees, and 0% employees of international organizations.* Despite the resistance to widespread private use of the Internet, the government acknowledges and embraces the financial opportunities of e-commerce, especially with the tourism industry. And despite the perceived utility of some that "we cannot prevent the internet so we must learn to use it," youth clubs now provide a vast array of computer courses for students of all ages who seem to show quite a desire to get connected. Some also see the Internet as potentially beneficial for broadcasting Cuban ideas and culture to counter-effect anti-Cuban rhetoric, and as an interface for networking Cuban literature to get around paper shortage problems.

Telecommunication Infrastructure

Today, it is imperative to connect to the world through technology, especially the Internet, and it is clear Cuba is falling behind in regards to its infrastructure. First off, out of 11 million people only 385, 000 have main telephone lines (UNDP, 2000). "Cuba has fewer main telephone lines as a proportion of population and GDP than any Caribbean nation but Haiti." (Press, 1996) The phone system is set up as a trunk system connected with a coaxial cable. There is fiber-optic distribution in Havana and on Isla de la Juventud. In addition to the lack of phone lines, most of the telephone systems have not been renovated since the 1930s and 40s. This poor infrastructure causes echoes, disconnections, and also hinders both voice and fax calls. Although there is a satellite earth station for international calls, it is very expensive and unreliable. Recently, there have been analog and digital mobile/cellular services established in Cuba, however, it is still rare for the average person to afford cellular, or regular, phones these days. (Regular phones cost 6.25 pesos) Furthermore, only about 2,000 cellular phones are used through out the entire country. (CIA, 2000) Electronic mail services were first at the university and educational facilities for students and teachers, but this technology is still highly concentrated. As of 2001, there are 5 total ISPs for business and academic institutions (Ashby and Bourget). The IP link once online is as low as 64 kb/sec, although there are plans to upgrade to 256 kb/sec soon. Even if someone is experienced on the web, paying for it is another issue. The charge time in 1995 was 53 cents per minute and traffic costs were 53 cents per kilobyte. (Press and Snyder) In 1998, the Human Development Report could not even count one personal computer per every thousand citizens because of the cost. One critic claims, " 'we are an underdeveloped country which fights every day just to feed and cloth itself. (The) Internet means nothing to the majority of the people'" (The Guardian, 1999).

Economic Issues

Cuba's domestic economy and foreign trade are primarily controlled by the state, under the socialist dictatorship of President of the Council of State, Fidel Castro Ruiz. Major industries are sugar, petroleum, food, tobacco, textiles, paper and wood, nickel, and livestock, but Cuba's driving industry of today is tourism, which has grown 20% annually since 1993. It is estimated that by 2010, the island will attract up to 10 million foreign tourists, spending $5 billion (Trumbull, citing Godinez, 1998). The GDP is $18.6 billion, with a per capita GDP of $1,700. Breaking down the GDP by sector, agriculture accounts for 7.4%, industry, 36.5%, and services, 56.1% (CIA World Factbook, 2000).

During the early 1990's, in the wake of the collapse of the USSR and its withdrawal of support to the Soviet Bloc, the Cuban economy fell by 40% and with it, employment rates (Trumbull). To worsen the effects of this "Crisis Period," as it is called, the U.S. strengthening of its embargo on Cuba, under the Helms-Burton Act, has created a large obstacle to the bringing in of new technology such as U.S. software, not to mention other needed goods. Meanwhile, although Castro initiated a reform to liberalize foreign investment, Cuba's foreign debts have established it as a high-risk country for investment (Orro), largely preventing it from attracting foreign investors and securing new loans.

Other reforms implemented by Castro such as the dollarization of the economy, and the legalization of self-employment has improved the status of the economy, which increasingly appears to adopt market-based values. Cubans who work in the private sector earn considerably more than state workers do, and those who earn dollars have even more purchasing power. However, heavy taxes discourage many Cubans from making the jump to self-employment. With the average monthly wage at approximately $13, and Internet access costing $5/hr., use is mostly restricted to tourists or Cubans who are paid in U.S. dollars. State workers do not make nearly enough money to afford the cost of access. As if the economics wasn't enough of a barrier itself, Internet connections are outright prohibited without government permission, due to fear of dissent and dissemination of anti-propaganda propaganda.

Social Issues

Education is highly valued by Castro and by Cuba, where law requires school attendance through the ninth grade. About 7% of the population has graduated from college, 4% with degrees. An additional 1.3 million Cubans have graduated from technical schools. Eight universities in Cuba offer degrees in information technology, while the Institute for Science runs 40 branches around the country providing computer science education to adults (Ashby). Literacy level is not much of a barrier to Internet access for the Cuban population, of whom 96.4% above the age of 15 can read. Sadly, however, as mentioned above, the dollarization of the economy, and legalization of self-employment, while improving the overall economy, have created class/wealth distinctions atypical of socialist tradition, which effectively restricts state workers, farmers, and peasants from being able to afford Internet access.

Conclusion

While the antiquated infrastructure definitely poses a problem for phone line Internet connections, Cuba's primary concerns for the future of Internet access are economic and regulatory issues. These two factors are so closely related that they pose a potentially formidable opposition to development, but just how long they can keep the clamp down on a population of such educated and future-minded citizens remains to be seen