Cubans To Gain Access To Mobile Services

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State-controlled telecoms operator Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba (Etecsa) will allow ordinary Cubans to purchase mobile phones, the operator announced in government newspaper Granma. Previously mobile services have only been available to workers in foreign companies or those working for state-run organisations. Ordinary Cubans could obtain a mobile through a third party, often foreigners, but the cost of the service was usually prohibitively high. Cubans will now be able to sign up for prepaid services in their own names, but will be required to pay for the services in Cuban convertible pesos, worth 24 times the Cuban peso in which state workers are paid.