Cuba Plans Slight Increase in Public Internet Accessibility

For a fee, and not in homes

Cuba will expand limited public access to the Internet next month by opening up another 118 places where people on this communist-run island can surf the Web for a fee, authorities said Tuesday.

Set to start June 4, the extension takes advantage of an undersea fiber-optic cable from Venezuela and will gradually be rolled out further — but not to homes, according to a Communications Ministry resolution published in the Official Gazette and local media.

The notification says members of the public will be able to access the Web for $4.5 an hour, down from the current $6 an hour, or check their email for an unchanged $1.50.