Cuban University Students vs. ETECSA
By Francisco Acevedo
HAVANA TIMES – Last week, the Cuban Telecommunications Company (ETECSA), the sole owner of the sector in the country, announced a change in its rates, plans, and mobile service packages to prices that are unaffordable for most Cubans.
Among the protests that quickly emerged, a surprising one came from six faculties of the pro-government University Student Federation (FEU), which openly rejected the new rates, stating that they limit the right to information and education.
In any other country this protest would seem normal, since the measure directly undermines the educational process, especially post-COVID-19 with a significant amount of coursework and reading materials online. However, it raises eyebrows in Cuba, where very few usually raise their voices against the dictatorship’s constant abuses.
A week later, far from subsiding, the protests grew, with more faculties joining in each day across the island.
It has become unsustainable to complete a university degree, arguably any level of education, when traditional mobile top-ups in the national currency have now been limited to just 360 Cuban pesos (CUP) every 30 days, equivalent to 6 gigabytes (GB).
With such limited access, neither students nor remote workers can carry out even basic tasks, let alone exercise their fundamental rights to communication and information.
ETECSA proposed a 15 GB plan for 11,760 pesos, more than double the country’s average monthly salary. Simultaneously, it promotes packages priced in dollars at $10, $20, and $35 USD, an option only viable for those who receive remittances or have access to foreign currency.
In addition, and without the slightest shame, the company launched a new international top-up promotion for Father’s Day, which has sparked heavy criticism from users both inside and outside Cuba.
The offer, valid from June 9 to 15, includes 25 GB for all networks and unlimited overnight browsing for 35 days. However, to access the promotion, relatives abroad must pay US $65.99 for a 1,500 CUP recharge.
Aside from the high cost in relation to the actual value of the service in national currency, many internet users criticized the exploitation of emotionally significant dates to encourage remittance sending, as well as the lack of domestic alternatives for residents who do not receive international top-ups.
ETECSA’s executive president, Tania Velazquez Rodriguez, tried to defend the controversial rate hike by citing a lack of foreign currency and revenue—a difficult argument to accept when dealing with a monopoly. In most other countries, companies like this are billion dollar giants. Yet here, despite controlling 100% of the market with no competition, they can’t even sustain their existing infrastructure.
It’s not enough for them to bleed emigrants who buy packages to help their relatives. Now they’re targeting those who don’t receive foreign top-ups and were still managing to pay for their connectivity through personal sacrifice.
In various videos leaked on social media, students question where the many millions of dollars collected in recent years have gone and why the people should have to bear the consequences of ETECSA’s mismanagement, poor investments, and resource misallocation.
Despite being a monopoly, ETECSA is incapable of providing decent service. When there is no electricity, which is most of the day in much of the country, getting online is a nightmare. And there’s also a shortage of equipment, even for traditional landline service.
The situation escalated when law students at the University of Holguín filed an unprecedented legal complaint against the state telecom monopoly for “breach of contract terms,” citing its failure to provide 30 days’ notice of service changes.
The law students demanded greater transparency, respect for constitutional rights, and solutions for deteriorating connectivity, which they argued hinders access to education and undermines equity.
One of the primary demands in their legal filing is the opening of a dialogue and negotiation channel with ETECSA, in pursuit of responses and solutions.
Following the uproar, authorities promised to consider an intermediate rate for extra data, but for now, that remains just a promise.
This issue could turn into something quite serious because if you start pulling at the thread, it becomes clear that ETECSA is merely a government tool, the true decision-maker on where the revenue goes, even if pro-government influencer El Necio refuses to see it.
If instead of building luxurious hotels that stay empty nearly all year, the company could use its revenues to improve infrastructure. Then there would be no need for a rate hike.
If this situation isn’t brought under control soon, the snowball could keep growing. Protests that began over communication could spread to bread, transportation, healthcare, and every other crumbling sector, ultimately pointing to the true culprit: the failed state.
This legal challenge not only represents a courageous act in a repressive environment, but it also opens the door to a new form of legal activism in Cuba, one based on using existing legal frameworks to confront the system’s arbitrariness. That alone should have the authorities trembling.
As I noted in a previous commentary, if the rate hike stands, it could set a dangerous precedent. The Electric Company might soon decide to charge in dollars too. That’s why it’s imperative not to let a finger be stolen—lest we lose the entire hand.