4 ms·

It's really fascinating to see the cables go around Cuba (except for a single cable), compared to much of the rest of the world where there is a great deal of r

It's really fascinating to see the cables go around Cuba (except for a single cable), compared to much of the rest of the world where there is a great deal of redundancy (except where it would be too much work, like a couple of the more remote islands).

guard-of-terra 14y ago
Not so strange considering USA's continued bullying of Cuba despite there being no reasons to do so for a long time.
- refurb 14y ago
  I would imagine has more to do with the absolute shambles that is the Cuba economy. When you can't feed your populous, underseas communication cables seem like a bit of a luxury.
  - pvarangot 14y ago
    The last time there was endemic food distribution problems in Cuba (the "periodo especial") sort of completely ended before the beginning of the 21st century. It was mostly because Cuba was unable to meet its own demand for oil during the collapse of the Soviet Union. You can bash the Cuban economy all you want, but feeding of its population is not a good place to start. It ranks among the top american countries (that includes the US and Canada) in the UNs undernourishment rating since 2002. As of 2006 it has also ranked consistently in the top3/top5 of american countries in children undernourishment indexes, sometimes above or matching the USA and Canada.
uvdiv 14y ago
Wikipedia gives some insight: Most access is to a national intranet which consists of an in-country e-mail system, a Cuban encyclopedia, and websites that are supportive of the government.[7] Such a network, similar to the Kwangmyong used by North Korea, prevents unwanted information from outside of the country getting into the closed system. One network link connects to the global internet and is used by government officials and tourists, while another connection for use by the general public has restricted content. Myanmar uses and Iran has plans to implement a similar system.[11] [...] A new undersea fiber-optic link to Venezuela (ALBA-1) was scheduled for 2011.[12][13] [...] In May 2012 there were reports that the cable was operational, but with use restricted to Cuban and Venezuelan government entities. Internet access by the general public still uses the slower and more expensive satellite links.[17] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_in_Cuba http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_in_Cuba
pvarangot 14y ago
That cable was sold to Cuba by Venezuela. Cuba paid market price for the whole contract. Venezuela triangulated the sale using I believe a French contractor, in order to avoid the economic blockade imposed by the US. Even with Venezuela and France in the middle of the transaction it is still debatable whether someone violated the blockade... Getting and undersea cable through to you when there is a law in the US that prevents virtually any commercial transaction with your country turns out to be extremely difficult. I believe the cable is not yet operational because of last-moment technical issues. It was also the first undersea cable to reach Jamaica, though they got another connection from Puerto Rico not a short time ago.

guard-of-terra 14y ago

Not so strange considering USA's continued bullying of Cuba despite there being no reasons to do so for a long time.

refurb 14y ago
I would imagine has more to do with the absolute shambles that is the Cuba economy. When you can't feed your populous, underseas communication cables seem like a bit of a luxury.
- pvarangot 14y ago
  The last time there was endemic food distribution problems in Cuba (the "periodo especial") sort of completely ended before the beginning of the 21st century. It was mostly because Cuba was unable to meet its own demand for oil during the collapse of the Soviet Union. You can bash the Cuban economy all you want, but feeding of its population is not a good place to start. It ranks among the top american countries (that includes the US and Canada) in the UNs undernourishment rating since 2002. As of 2006 it has also ranked consistently in the top3/top5 of american countries in children undernourishment indexes, sometimes above or matching the USA and Canada.

uvdiv 14y ago

Wikipedia gives some insight: Most access is to a national intranet which consists of an in-country e-mail system, a Cuban encyclopedia, and websites that are supportive of the government.[7] Such a network, similar to the Kwangmyong used by North Korea, prevents unwanted information from outside of the country getting into the closed system. One network link connects to the global internet and is used by government officials and tourists, while another connection for use by the general public has restricted content. Myanmar uses and Iran has plans to implement a similar system.[11] [...] A new undersea fiber-optic link to Venezuela (ALBA-1) was scheduled for 2011.[12][13] [...] In May 2012 there were reports that the cable was operational, but with use restricted to Cuban and Venezuelan government entities. Internet access by the general public still uses the slower and more expensive satellite links.[17] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_in_Cuba http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_in_Cuba

pvarangot 14y ago

That cable was sold to Cuba by Venezuela. Cuba paid market price for the whole contract. Venezuela triangulated the sale using I believe a French contractor, in order to avoid the economic blockade imposed by the US. Even with Venezuela and France in the middle of the transaction it is still debatable whether someone violated the blockade... Getting and undersea cable through to you when there is a law in the US that prevents virtually any commercial transaction with your country turns out to be extremely difficult. I believe the cable is not yet operational because of last-moment technical issues. It was also the first undersea cable to reach Jamaica, though they got another connection from Puerto Rico not a short time ago.