Communications in Cuba

Email in Cuba

An image of an ETECSA officeInternet and E-mail is becoming increasingly available in Cuba, although these services are still scarce, slow, and expensive compared to most other countries. The main telecommunications company in Cuba is called ETECSA, which has offices throughout the country. These sometimes have machines for e-mail use for tourists and journalists visiting Cuba. The ETECSA e-mail system requires that you show your passport. Rates are quite expensive at 6CUC per hour. Some hotels in Cuba also have internet available, and this can be more expensive - up to 12CUC per hour in some 5 star hotels.

Telephoning from Cuba

International phone calls from Cuba are very expensive. The cheapest being about 2CUC per minute to Canada and the most expensive being over 4CUC per minute to Europe, Africa, and Australia. You can either buy a phone card from an ETECSA to use on public phones, or call from a hotel. At present in Cuba there are 10CUC to 25CUC cards available. The rates from hotels may be slightly more expensive but more convenient as you are not cut off when the card runs out, and only pay the cost of the call. 119 is the code to make international calls from Cuba.

Global Roaming in Cuba

Celular or mobile phones from other countries will work in most cities in Cuba if they meet the following requirements:

  • Your phone works on the the 900Mhz frequency band
  • Your operating network has a contract with the Cuban mobile network Cubacel. You with have to check this with your own operating network for this.
  • You have the global roaming service activated

Local Mobile Phone Service

Cuba's only mobile phone operator, Cubacel, provides the service of renting SIM cards for tourists to use in their mobile phones, thus providing them with a local mobile phone number while they are in Cuba.

The cost of renting a SIM card is 3CUC per day, and to rent a handset costs 6CUC per day. There is no official system for tourists to buy a SIM card in Cuba.

If you are using your own handset, it needs to work on the 900MHz frequency band for it to work in Cuba.

Post in Cuba

The postal system in Cuba is reasonably reliable, although sometimes a little slower than in other countries. However, anything larger than a letter or a postcard invariably gets 'lost' in the system. There are some attractive and interesting post cards widely sold in Cuba (old photos of Che, Fidel, and the 'heroes of the revolution' being quite popular). You can also buy pre-paid postcards in Cuba from the shops which are quite convenient and do work. The cost of sending a postcard internationally is about 1CUC.