Steven’s Cuba Blog

GSM Cellphone roaming in Cuba finally working

October 23, 2006 at 10:00 pm | In Technology |

I was able to use my cell phone - albeit with some difficulty, and not all the time - in Cuba last week.

Apparently there is a roaming agreement in effect now with Rogers and Fido, two major Canadian GSM operators. When I landed in Havana I saw huge billboards announcing the availability of GSM 900 service, with a photo of Vinales country in the background… I switched on my phone, and still couldn’t pick up a signal, outside Jose Marti airport a few kilometers from Havana.

However, after a few days, someone told me to set my phone’s network name to “manual” - something I never have to do when roaming elsewhere - and use CUBACEL as the access name (I have a Nokia 7610 - intructions may differ on your phone). Once I did that, I was more or less able to use my phone and send text messages - I obviously didn’t try web browsing / emailing, and I didn’t receive calls. The connection was surprisingly clear, as clear as it was from, say, Mexico the week before.

Cuba is listed as a “Zone 5″ roaming partner, meaning that incoming and back-to-Canada calls run at $4.00 a minute, local calls are $2.50 a minute, and international calls are $5.00 a minute. Not exactly cheap, but there it is.

Fido customers can check for more information on rates and details on the Fido international roaming page.

I should note that before I left, I reset my phone to “automatic” for the network name, and it picked up CUBACEL as well as two (!) more network names, one of which was CU C_COM (same exact network, I’m told) and another elaborate one with letters and digits… Maybe it was just a hiccup that it didn’t connect right away when I first landed; the infrastructure is young and still being developed evidently.

You can also rent phones and cards from Cubacel / ETECSA, though I can’t report on that. You can get more information on Cubacel’s homepage.

Incidentally, I also saw / met many more Cubans with cell phones this time around than I did last year. The service is obviously still out of reach for most Cubans (need to get a phone, pay to “activate” the line, then pay the usage costs), but the fact that it’s getting more widespread is a small step in the right direction.

Now, about that cheap broadband internet access…