Authorities of the Cuban Telecommunications Company (ETECSA), the only one of its kind in Cuba, issued a stern warning of "prison and confiscations" in the official newspaper Granma for the use of illegal repeaters and antennas on the island.
According to the report in the newspaper GranmaKevin Castro Rodríguez, Deputy Director of the ETECSA Network Operations Vice Presidency, assured that the use of "antennas and signal repeaters" illegally installed in houses and open spaces to improve Internet coverage negatively interfere with the quality of their services.
He specified that because of this, around 61% of the cells nationwide are interfered with and clarified that these non-certified devices are prohibited and degrade the quality of landline telephony and mobile networks on the island.
The authorities blamed these antennas and repeaters for "improving" the Internet signal in homes, increasing the problems that ETECSA services usually face such as "intermittent noises during conversations, issues accessing mobile data, and slow browsing."
Etecsa talks about jail for those who have illegal repeaters in Cuba
Castro Rodríguez added that these are clear "violations" that not only hinder the quality of services of the island's only telecommunications entity but also have judicial responses in the Penal Code, which foresees the application of misdemeanors, confiscations, and in extreme cases, jail for offenders.
We need to increase surveillance to combat crime, as well as provide more training and rigor for the staff, he added.
Some Cubans advocated for jail sanctions related to sabotage for those with antennas or repeaters.
According to Articles 125 and 126 of the current Penal Code, those who "destroy, alter, or damage essential infrastructure" face sentences ranging from seven to fifteen years of imprisonment.
Regarding this, a user commented to the ETECSA specialist that if they provided "a quality service, people wouldn't feel the need to use those devices."
Now the blame for the terrible service provided by the only telecommunications company in the country lies with all those people who, having the opportunity, buy those devices to improve internet and other services that, as I mentioned, ETECSA poorly offers, commented another.
Do you think it would be necessary to import and spend resources on equipment if ETECSA's signal and service were sufficient? he reiterated along the same lines, M. Hernández Chacón.
These ETECSA warnings come alongside other similar ones against the antennas used to connect to the Elon Musk's Starlink Internet.
And since when is it a crime or illegal to have a BETTER antenna to IMPROVE the reception of a radio signal, these bastards invent that because according to the current penal code, it states that those who "destroy, alter, or damage essential infrastructures" and having an antenna to better receive a signal is not a crime in any country in the world, aside from the fact that it neither alters, damages, nor destroys anything, much less the radioelectric space... they no longer know what garbage to invent to screw over the average Cuban and continue banning things that make no sense.
Likewise, sir, that ETECSA offers one of the worst and most terrible services on this planet, they must be incredibly ashamed those fools in charge are constantly inventing new threats against the Cuban people.
The first one to be fined is Etecsa, for the poor service they provide and on top of that, expensive. If they offered an average acceptable service, maybe there wouldn't be a need to invent things just to have a little connection.