ETECSA's Service Up for International Award: Is This a Joke?

The Online Services Portal of the Cuban telecommunications company, Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba S.A. (ETECSA), has been nominated for the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Prizes 2026, organized by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), as reported by the Cuban News Agency on Saturday. Official media outlets have dubbed it a "historic nomination." However, millions of Cubans who endure daily challenges just to make a call or load a webpage might have a very different perspective.

According to the official statement, the portal tienda.etecsa.cu "stands out among more than 1,500 projects worldwide, of which only 360 were selected." The Cuban News Agency conveniently omits that these 360 projects merely represent a preselection phase: from there, only 90 advance to the status of Champions, and merely 18 are awarded the final prize, which will be presented on July 6, 2026, at the WSIS Forum. ETECSA, at present, is merely in the initial round.

Online public voting to progress in the competition closes this Tuesday, May 5, and the company is requesting "the support of the Cuban public" because, according to them, this "constitutes a boost to the digital transformation that directly benefits the entire Cuban society." For Cubans to vote online for ETECSA, they must first manage to connect to the internet.

The portal was developed by "a team of young professionals" using agile Scrum methodology and launched in January 2022. The Cuban News Agency claims that this advancement "means less time in queues, more convenience for managing telecommunications services from home." A beautiful promise for those who, in reality, report a terrible connection and lack of response from the country's sole telecommunications company when issues arise.

The Disconnect Between Promise and Reality

The quality of service provided by ETECSA on a daily basis falls far short of international standards. Cuba's internet speed lags at a mere 7.21 Mbps according to the Speedtest Global Index, ranking it among the slowest in the world and at the bottom in Latin America. The state-owned monopoly faces no competition: if the service is subpar, users have nowhere else to turn.

Moreover, during any social unrest, the conglomerate completely cuts off connections to prevent communication, the reporting of state repression, and organizing efforts against it.

High Costs and Limited Options

The pricing structure is no help either. A 3 GB mobile data plan costs 3,360 Cuban pesos monthly in a country where the average salary was 6,649 pesos in 2025. This means a month of internet is priced at more than half a month's wages. Since May 2025, ETECSA has additionally restricted national currency recharges to a maximum of 360 CUP monthly, forcing users to pay in dollars for additional data. This measure sparked outrage, leading many Cubans to protest the exorbitant rates.

Technical issues aren't just tales of woe. In June 2025, over 60,000 landlines in Pinar del Río went out of service for two days after a central telephone exchange failure, with only half restored in the following days. In February this year, users reported instability with Nauta service recharges, unable to even view available balances. Some customers in Havana have been waiting over a year for their phone lines to be repaired.

When users report problems, they receive automated responses stating that their areas "are already reported," yet no solutions are implemented. And for those wishing to make international calls, ETECSA's roaming charges reach up to 3 dollars per minute, a rate in effect since January 29, 2026.

In August 2025, when the company increased the minimum recharge amount, a headline capturing public sentiment boldly stated: "Couldn't Be More Cynical!" This phrase, more than any international nomination, accurately reflects the true relationship between ETECSA and the Cubans who rely on it every day.