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PHONES • PUBLIC, LAND LINES AND CELLS
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Like everywhere else on the planet, cellular phones have replaced land lines in Cuba. Every kid (and house owner) wants one; it has become a household item and for many, a status symbol.
HOW TO DIAL A CUBAN PHONE NUMBER
IN CUBA — FROM A CELL PHONE TO ANOTHER CELL PHONE :
Dial the 8 digits of the number (starting by a 5). Example, I call Etecsa's cell number 264 2266 Because it is a cell, it has the mandatory 5 before, ie 5264 2266 N.B. If you do not want the cell owner to pay for the call, dial *88 (Star 88) before the number. Example *88 5 264 2266 (We add spaces to make it easier to read.)
IN CUBA — FROM A CELL PHONE TO A LAND LINE PHONE :
0 + code of the locality ("area code") + phone number. Example, I call La Habana : 0 7 862-xxxx
IN CUBA — FROM A LAND LINE PHONE TO A CELLULAR :
First, dial 0 from La Habana or 01 from anywhere else on the island then the 8 digits of the mobile (cell). Example, I am in La Habana and I call Etecsa's cell : 0 5264 2266 Example, I am in Santa Clara, and I call Etecsa's cell : 01 5264 2266
IN CUBA — FROM A LAND LINE PHONE TO ANOTHER LAND LINE PHONE :
0 + code of the locality ("area code" or codigo local) + phone number.
IN CUBA — FROM A CELL PHONE TO A PHONE OFF THE ISLAND :
119 or the plus (+) sign, then the country code then area (city) code (except if calling a cell) then the phone number. If the cell phone you are calling from is attached to a (your) cell phone service provider abroad (and not temporarily using Etecsa's services), this call will be very expensive.
FROM OUTSIDE CUBA TO A CELL PHONE IN CUBA :
• from Canada and the USA : the code to call out of the country 011 + Cuba's country code 53 + the 8 numbers of the Cuban cell phone starting with 5 + seven other digits; the cell phone owner does not pay for the call
• from Europe, the UK, Scandinavia and Mexico : the code to call out of the country 00 + Cuba's country code 53 + the 8 digits of the mobile (cell) starting with 5; the cell phone owner does not pay for the call
MORE INFO : call Etecsa, the Cuban phone company (53) 5264 2266 (this is a cell because, of course, it starts with a 5).
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Two types of telephone calling cards are sold in Cuba. Both show one side with a picture of nature (or painting) and a gold micro-chip where the value resides. The other side has instructions on its use. |
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CUBAN PHONE BOOK • ON THE WEB
Looking for a phone number in Cuba ? Try the officlal web site (slow connection ...) http://www.pamarillas.cu/paginas/p_blanca.aspx
Apellido is last name, Nombre is first name.
PUBLIC PHONES • CALLING CARDS
You can purchase a pre-paid calling card that can be used in any blue public ETECSA (the national phone company) phone, located everywhere in Cuba on street corners, in hotel lobbies, and the ETECSA office you'll find in every major city and at the airport on arrival, usually at the same counter where they exchange money.
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In Cuba, you can make calls from/to any specially-equiped public phone with the prepaid card. Two types of telephone calling cards are sold in Cuba. Either type shows one side with a picture of nature (or painting) and a gold micro-chip where the value resides. The other side has instructions on its use.
• Cards sold in cucs (Pesos convertibles) in values of 10, 20 and 50cuc are handy for both calls within Cuba and calls overseas. These are used in a type of public phone with the slot and value window at the top.
• Cards sold in Pesos cubanos (Moneda nacional) in values of 5, 10 and more are used in another type of public phone with the slot at the bottom.
When you insert either of these, the window shows the value remaining and you see it decrease as the call goes on. Cost is about 2cuc per minute for calls overseas and only a few centavos for calls within Cuba.
These cards cannot be used in public phones which only accept Cuban pesos (Moneda nacional) in coins which are also everywhere in Cuba (usually, right by the Calling Card phones). Be advised that in small towns, there are no calling card phones so you should carry Cuban pesos in one-peso coins if you're traveling off the beaten path and, of course, you can't make overseas calls from a Cuban Pesos (Moneda nacional) phone, whether with a card or with coins.
• So, to recap, there are three types of public phones in Cuba : Peso coins only (local calls), Pesos convertibles calling cards (intra-Cuba and overseas calls), Pesos cubanos (moneda nacional) calling cards (local and intra-Cuba calls only).
Wait, there's more ! There is yet another phone card (used by Cubans) which carries a code that must be dialed in before the number.
Obviously, Cuban phone authorities never heard of Bill Clinton's favorite saying which was KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupîd). Did Bill "smoke" Cuban cigars ?
• Air-conditioned (more like frigid), large phone booths accomodating four callers and one operator/handler (albeit without intimacy) have sprouted in hundreds of locations in every large city and dozens of towns. Overseas calls can be made by Cubans and visitors from there and Phone Cards can be purchased as well.
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PRIVATE PHONES • CALLING FROM A CASA
• If you're calling long distance within Cuba from a private casa, the owner is billed for the call and the cost is quite low. If you're going to make many inter-city calls, you can offer the owner a few pesos. Even local calls are charged as ETECSA stopped providing unlimited service in Cuban homes in 1995. Instead, it offers 300 minutes a month for a set fee with a per-minute charge after that.
• If you're making overseas calls from a casa in Cuba, it can only be charged to the person you're calling overseas (reversed charges, as we say). Recently (but these are exceptional), some casa owners can make arrangements with ETECSA to call overseas and be charged to their account. You make the call and after the call, the owner calls ETECSA to find out the cost and can charge it to you.
CELLS - PROGRAMS
• Visitors can bring their own cellular phone (using either the GSM or TDMA standards) and activate them for use in Cuba through CUBACEL at ETECSA boutiques .
• Both GSM or TDMA types require a one-time activation fee of 120$US.
• GSM per-minute rates vary from 26 to 40 US cents per minute within Cuba and do not require a monthly fee.
• TDMA per-minute rates are 30 to 40US cents within Cuba with the 40US$ monthly Clasico Plan or 45US$ per month with the Ideal Plan which includes 115 minutes (additional minutes are 25-28US cents).
Calling outside Cuba to Canada and the US costs about $2.45US/minute, to South America $4.45US, to Europe, about $5.85US a minute.
More Cellular Use & Activation details on Cubacel here. cubacel @cubacel.com
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CELLS - PREPAIDS
To avoid the 120$ activation fee, short-term visitors can bring their own cell phone (GSM or TDMA types) to one of 376 point of sales and use the prepaid time method (GSM or TDMA type prepaid cards are sold in increments of 10, 20 or 40US$ value in 50 locations in La Habana and in various locations in most provinces except Granma and Santiago). Service activation costs 3US$ per day plus 36 to 60US cents per minute depending on time of day (8 am to 7:59 pm. for "Normal" rates and 8 pm to 7:59 am for "Reducido" rates).
• Another option is renting a phone for 6US$ per day, (Nokia, Siemens, Motorola, etc). You must add to that, the 3US$ per day activation fee and your calls cost 36 to 60US cents per minute of use, depending on time of day.
More on Prepagos and Rentals on Cubacel here.
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Mobiles (cells) in Cuba operate under the GSM (900 MHz) standard over most of the island except with the GSM (850 MHz) norm in La Habana, Varadero, Cayo Coco and Cayo Guillermo.
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Click this image to open the web page and « zoom » for the coverage by region |
CELLS - SMS
One advantage of buying a Cuban family member (friend or lover) a cell phone is being able to send text messages (SMS) to each other all the time. Since the service started in 2003, it costs 16centsUS for Cubans to receive messages (125 characters max.) originating in Cuba, as long as these Cubans pay a 9.95US$ monthly fee to Cubacel. On October 3, 2005, the Cuban Government and CUBACEL decided to raise the price for receiving/originating a text message to/from outside the country to 1US$ per message.
More on SMS messages on this Cubacel page here. cubacel @cubacel.com
CUBACEL was founded in 1991, partly owned by Mexico's Timsa and Canada's Sherritt International Corp., merged with C-COM and was purchased for $43 million in 2003 by ETECSA, now in partnership with Telecom Italia whose equity is 29.3%.
• Cubans can buy cell phones (Motorola, Nokia, Panasonic, Siemens) from CUBACEL in ETECSA offices. As many Cuban teenagers wish to have one (influenced by the freedom it purportedly affords its owner), the trend of finding a tourist willing to register a cell under his/her name is over since March 28 2008 when Raul Castro decreted that Cubans could buy cells without having to go through a workaround of the law.
That said, many visiting family members (ETECSA gets more than $50 million a year in long-distance revenues from the Cuban community residing in the USA) as well as new-found lovers whose foreign half can afford it, gladly offer a cell phone to their Cuban companion before going back to their country, going as far (pun intended) as sending money over even if only to cover the 9.95US$ SMS monthly fees.
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SEND MONEY • THROUGH THE WEB
You can send money to a Cuban by using an Internet service which allows you to debit the amount from your credit card. You must register first, fax a photocopy of your passport and the company issues a card to the Cuban recipient who can use it in most large cities in Cuba to either withdraw the amount or spend it like a credit card in over 7,000 businesses on the island. Money sent by you is credited to the card within 24 hours in La Habana and within 10 days in other Cuban cities. Link (secure site) to the service (AWS of Switzerland) here. [We have no relation with this bank.]
TRANSFER FUNDS • FROM A BANK ABROAD
Transfer funds to the Banco Popular de Ahorro in La Habana through the National Bank in Canada or the Havana International Bank or the HSBC in London (UK), the Dresdner Bank AG in Frankfurt, etc. Full list of banks here. Same process for fund transfers to an account at the Banco Metropolitano in La Habana from banks abroad. List here.
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INTERNET • GETTING ONLINE • WI-FI
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TARJETAS DE NAVEGACION
Prepaid Internet Navigation cards (in various increments) are scratched to reveal a User (Usuario) number and a Contraseña (password). These are entered in the appropriate boxes on computers in hotels and some Internet agencies or cafes.
Some hotels offer spaces with wi-fi (wireless connections, usually in their lobby) allowing travellers with their own laptop computer (iPad, iPod or intelligent phone) to connect to the Web, after the purchase (with passport ID) of a coded card — for a fee.
In Playa/Miramar, the Chateau, the Melia Habana, the Panorama, the Monte Habana and the Occidental hotels. In Vedado, the Melia Cohiba and the National. In Habana Vieja, the Parque Central, the Saratoga and the Sevilla Hotel.
In Varadero, the SolyMar, the las Palmas, the Sandals Royal Hicacos, the Barcelo Solymar and the Iberostar Varadero. In Santiago, the Melia Santiago. In Guardalavaca, the Paradisus Rio de Oro. In Trinidad the Iberostar Grand in town center.
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There is no high-speed Internet in Cuba so be patient : these are 56k telephone modem connections. Best is to connect after 7 p.m.
Hotels offer the wi-fi service for free to their clients and some non-clients if he/she "consumes" — beer, rhum, lunch such as the Iberostar in Trinidad which, incidentally, only has European-type electric wall plugs (to recharge your unit) : bring an adaptor if you're from North America — transformers are now included in mp3 readers, tablets and portable computers nowadays.
Other Havana spots — some travellers say — have wi-fi : Callejón de Hamel, Hamel between Aramburu & Hospital; restaurant La Zorra y el Cuervo, Calle 23 between N & O; Café Cantante Mi Habana, Plaza de la Revolucion, Paseo y Calle 39; El Delirio Habanero, Plaza de la Revolucion, Paseo y Calle 39 |
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The TELEPUNTO SALAS DE NAVEGACION of ETECSA abound in the capital and many more all over the island with rates averaging 6CUC per hour for Internet use (some are as low as 3CUC an hour, others reach 12CUC. Most in Varadero are 10CUC.
The unused portion of the card can be used anywhere on the Cuban network. List of Cuban salas here. Photo : Telepunto Sala in Trinidad
Again, through ETECSA, now a national communications monopoly, more Cubans than before (although still a small minority) now have Internet at home something which was unthinkable before 2002 when this was limited to medical profesionals through the Infomed network.
A list of the major Cuban Internet web sites can be found on our French version here.
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