• Submitted by: manso
• Business and Economy
• 10 / 09 / 2010

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HAVANA, Oct. 8(Xinhua) -- The undersea fiber optic cable between Cuba and Venezuela will be put into operation in July 2011 and it will multiply the current connection speed by 3,000 times, Cuban Vice Minister of Informatics and
Communications Alberto Rodriguez said Friday.

"This project strengthens our technological independence and national security," Rodriguez added.

According to the expert, the cable covers a distance of 5,340 kilometers and its cost is 70 million U.S. dollars, with a lifespan of 25 years.

"The undersea connection will provide more quality of the info-communications services and will create more favorable conditions to meet the need of future development projects," he said.

Rodriguez noted that the cable "will allow Cuba to multiply the current transmission speed of data, images and voice by 3,000 times " and will favor the "social exchange among the countries involved in the project."

The cable will connect Venezuela, Cuba and Jamaica. According to Rodriguez, the cable installation does not mean the end of the satellite internet service "for the country, but it will cheapen the connection cost by 25 percent."

An official survey released last month showed that only 2.9 percent of Cubans had access to Internet during the past 12 months.

Source: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/message/118396