Cuba's Fixed-Line Services Remain a Monopoly in the Hands of Government Controlled Etecsa, The Cuba - Telecoms, Mobile, and Broadband profiles the fixed-line, mobile and broadband markets in Cuba.

Cuba still has the lowest mobile phone penetration in Latin America, one of the lowest levels of Internet penetration, and is among the five lowest in terms of fixed-line teledensity.

Cuba's fixed-line services remain a monopoly in the hands of government-controlled Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba SA (Etecsa), while mobile services are provided exclusively by Cubacel, a subsidiary of Etecsa.

There remains substantial state control over the right to own and use certain communications services, including the right to access the Internet.

The genuine liberalisation of Cuba's telecommunications sector is expected to occur slowly over the next five to ten years.

Stimulus for reform may also be aided by recently improved bilateral relations with Russia. In March 2010 Cuba and Russian signed a telecommunications pact in which the two countries agreed to jointly develop information technology.

As part of the pact, delegates from both countries would also evaluate other possibilities for cooperation in the areas of radio spectrum, telecommunications and professional training.

In the meantime, the substantial gap between Cubas mobile penetration, which stands at around 6% as at early 2010, and the rest of Latin Americas, which averages above 80%, continues to widen.