4G Internet in Cuba: the future

In March this year, officials of the Cuban Telecommunications Company ETECSA confirmed the beginning of the deployment of fourth-generation radio bases or 4G network. As of Monday, there were 94 such radiobases in the territories of Mariel, Havana, Varadero and Cardenas.

The reason for the deployment of 4G service in Cuba was to decongest 3G and 2G networks. Thus, to offer a more efficient experience to all mobile telephony users, in navigation and in calls or sending text messages.

In the case of Cuba's capital, Havana, 4G first reached the entire northern coast, but LTE has already begun to spread to other areas. ETECSA has recently installed new radio bases in municipalities such as Regla, Cerro, Guanabacoa and Diez de Octubre.

With the installation of radio bases, new users will be incorporated to 4G. As he explained to the digital portal of the Cuban newspaper Rebel YouthAccording to Frank Pavón Carbonell, central director of ETECSA's Mobile Services Division, as of last Monday there were 70,000 Cubans enjoying the service. This figure is 30 thousand more than the 30 thousand registered only two weeks before.

In this regard, Frank Pavón Carbonell pointed out that if you are surfing the Internet and have a 4G connection, when you make or receive a call/SMS, the mobile will switch to 3G mode, and then return to 4G for data usage.

According to figures provided by the ETECSA executive, although there are about 70 thousand people who can use the 4G network, at present only about 5 thousand use it. On the other hand, more than 221 thousand people use the 3G network throughout the country.

Since the start of mobile data Internet service in Cuba, on December 6, 2018, ETECSA has registered the mobile browsing of more than 2.3 million Cubans. The average increase, has been about 5 thousand daily users. Through the 3G network, according to Pavón Carbonell, the daily navigation of 1.4 million Cubans is registered.

In order to add users to the 4G technology test developed by ETECSA, the following elements are taken into account: the user must consume more than one hundred megabytes monthly; have a USIM card in his/her cell phone and reside in an area with 4G coverage.

How can a user know if his cell phone has a USIM?

It has two ways:

• The first way is to identify the IMEI number of the cell phone with the USSD code *#06#. Then, you must send a free SMS to 2266 containing the first eight digits of the IMEI. The user will receive a reply notifying whether his mobile can navigate in the 4G network.
• The second way is to send an SMS to the same 2266 with the text SIM (no matter if it is in upper or lower case), and you will get the same answer.

The 4G network can reach a speed of 43 MB/s, which is much higher than the seven to eight MB/s achieved on the 3G network. As a result, the fourth generation of data transmission is much faster.

In 2019, ETECSA plans to extend 4G technology to most of Havana, the most densely populated city in Cuba. In this sense, it plans to bring 4G technology to the provincial capitals and tourist centers of the island.

As of June 10, ETECSA had installed more than 2,500 mobile telephony radio bases in Cuba: 1,255 with 3G technology; another 94 with 4G technology, of which 66 are located in Havana, 19 in Matanzas and nine in Mariel.

In this regard, Pavón Carbonell stressed to the press: the priority is to deploy the 4G network to decongest data traffic, and as it becomes more widespread, this will contribute to the mobile network as a whole.