Executives of the Cuban Telecommunications Company (ETECSA) will appear this Friday at the Round Table. Photo: CUBADEBATE.
Starting May 30, Cuban telecommunication company ETECSA modified its commercial offers for prepaid customers. As part of these measures, prepaid mobile service customers may top up their main balance up to 360 CUP total within 30 days.
Company executives were interviewed last Friday on The Roundtable program to report on their services’ status and prepaid service changes effective the same day.
Tania Velázquez, president of ETECSA, said the country has more than eight million mobile lines and about 5,600 base stations operating with 2G, 3G and 4G technology.
She highlighted access to two submarine cables—the result of extensive investment—that serve more than 500 gigabytes: “These 500 gigabytes address needs demanded by the population and organizations.”
However, she warned that the company faces economic challenges impacting service quality and public perception due to unmet demand. Services require constant investment, including significant spending to maintain imported technologies.
During a January press conference, Velázquez said they addressed quality and coverage issues linked to energy shortages. “This affects base stations, Nauta Hogar cabinets and other connection points,” she said.
Resource shortages from import limitations cause prolonged outages, relocations, and delayed equipment replacements.
Velázquez emphasized fraud’s operational impact: “These issues have grown, affecting foreign currency income needed for expenditures to sustain services.”
Explaining connectivity costs, she noted ETECSA covers all expenses – from internal infrastructure to international servers – costing hundreds of millions of dollars.
“We know the internet’s importance,” Velázquez said. “Traffic has nearly quadrupled. 75% of Cuba’s internet traffic uses mobile services. Consumption increasingly shifts to streaming and gaming platforms – normal behavior.”
“This requires a sustainable model even when payments are in CUP,” she continued. “Foreign currency income has decreased. Since December, measures were announced to recover ETECSA’s exports.”
She cited the US blockade as the primary obstacle for telecommunications development, affecting technology imports, costs and market access. “We confront this daily.”
Investment slowdowns also impact connectivity, service provision and research, she added.
Balances, top-ups, and other issues
During the interview, ETECSA’s commercial vice president Lidia Esther Hidalgo Rodríguez highlighted the key role of connectivity as an enabler for national projects, interaction with the population, and research processes. She emphasized that although Cuba is developing digital platforms and infrastructure—such as public data centers and connectivity networks—the pace of progress depends on the capacity for technological support.
Hidalgo Rodríguez mentioned challenges such as the use of artificial intelligence, which demands significant resources from data centers and information technology, areas where telecommunications operators are key players. In this context, ETECSA informed—as announced in December—about a new approach to its services for prepaid users.
She acknowledged that there has been confusion among the public regarding terms such as balance, top-up and packages, so she dedicated the space to clarifying these fundamental concepts.
“We’ve received three times more calls than on a normal day,” she revealed. She added that online forums have allowed for productive exchanges to clear up doubts and better explain the new service modalities.
The executive explained that each mobile line has an associated balance, similar to a virtual wallet, where the user accumulates money to use services. This balance remains valid for 330 days but requires a top-up at least once a year to prevent it from expiring.
The company reiterated its commitment to maintaining this open channel of communication with users. Next Monday, aspects such as the advantages of the new measures, their impact on the population and the projection of these services within the framework of the country’s digital transformation will be discussed in greater detail.
ETECSA emphasized that all decisions are aimed at improving the quality of telecommunications services in Cuba. We have also reported that this balance is part of the changes in the offer.
“The balance that the user has accumulated over time is in that main account; it will remain, and we are respecting it,” she stated categorically, seeking to allay customers’ concerns about possible losses of their existing funds.
The implemented mechanism establishes that when a recharge is made, a 30-day period is activated to use that specific amount. However, the executive clarified: “I don’t lose anything I have; it’s money that comes first, and it also allows me to start counting from today.” She explained that these 30 days begin counting from the first recharge made under the new system, not from the moment of the announcement. “If the user recharges today, those 30 days begin counting,” she clarified.
Hidalgo Rodríguez emphasized the system’s flexibility: “Those who currently have an accumulated balance and don’t have an urgent need can have a little more peace of mind.” She explained that the main balance will maintain its usual validity of 330 days, regardless of the 30-day periods associated with each specific top-up. “I respect what I have, I add it up, and it’s valid for 330 days a year, for a full year without having to perform another transaction,” she stated.
ETECSA maintains four main ways for users to top up their prepaid lines. The Transfermóvil platform remains one of the most widely used options. “We enabled this option a long time ago; it was practically the first service that Transfermóvil launched,” the executive recalled, highlighting that this mobile app was a pioneer in the electronic top-up service.
For those who prefer to manage their services from computers, the institutional web portal is available. Hidalgo Rodríguez described it as “the application behind our institutional website www.etecsa.cu, which is online services,” allowing users to make self-managed top-ups.
In more remote communities or for people with less access to technology, telecommunications agents continue to provide a valuable service. The director explained that “we have used telecommunications agents, who are a distribution network that extends to the community,” facilitating access in areas with less connectivity.
Finally, ETECSA’s traditional commercial offices throughout the country remain available for this process. “Our commercial offices have also been able to carry out national top-ups,” she emphasized, thus ensuring that all Cuban users have multiple options for adding balance to their mobile lines.
ETECSA maintains the option of transferring balance between users, a feature available since the beginning of mobile service in Cuba. The commercial vice president explained that this mechanism allows “money that isn’t used for anything other than telecommunications services to also be transferred” to any active customer, representing approximately 8 million potential users.
This feature has proven its practical utility, as the executive emphasized: “A high percentage of people transfer their balance when I’m not going to use it, so I make it easier for the community to benefit as well, whether it’s my family or my friends.” The process preserves user security, as only the account holder can authorize the transaction using the *234# code, ensuring that “that money belongs to them” and is protected as if it were “their wallet.”
The executive emphasized that this option reflects the company’s philosophy of maintaining services that promote mutual aid among Cubans, allowing unused balances to benefit other members of the community. This system, which operates as a direct transfer between user accounts, remains a safe and accessible alternative for credit redistribution among the population.
At another point in her speech, she offered details about how balance transfers between users work: “Because it’s also an option that’s been around since we launched the mobile service, transfers. That money that isn’t used for anything else, other than telecommunications services, can also be transferred, and I can transfer it to any of our current customers, which are approximately 8 million customers. I can transfer that balance.”
Regarding system security, she emphasized: “I want to ensure that no one can use it and transfer that money to another client. Therefore, transfers are one of the ways that balance moves, and I can get more balance than I have.” She explained the protection mechanism: “There has always been an option (asterisk 2 3 4 number). From that option, you transfer to another client, and you do it because that money belongs to you. No one else can do it because it’s in an account that’s like your money, your wallet, and your purse.”
Regarding operating limits, she explained that it’s possible to make three transfers per day, and there’s no limit on the amount. The amount is actually substantial, a significant base of money — more than hundreds of thousands — that could be transferred in each transfer. Therefore, a significant amount of money can be transferred between several clients in a single day, thus making it easier for the rest to use the services and make purchases. That hasn’t changed at all.
Regarding top-up options, she explained: “What top-up options are available? The top-ups I can use are the ones that have always been available, meaning I can make two top-ups per day using each of the apps we have; they won’t change their concept. I have domestic top-ups that I use through those apps, and I have international top-ups that the company has had for more than 15 years and that are a source of external financing that has allowed us to develop the company and make these large investments.”
Regarding the implementation of the 360-peso limit, the vice president acknowledged that this measure has generated concern among the population: “This is a change that has the population a bit uneasy. Natural questions arise: Why 360 pesos? How can I have more balance? What options do I have?”
She explained that this decision responds to strategic needs: “As we’ve mentioned, we need financing to continue developing the country’s telecommunications system.” The executive based the figure on technical studies: “The 360 pesos were established after an exhaustive analysis of the consumption patterns of our millions of users. The data shows that more than 50% of the population spends approximately that amount, which also aligns with the new offers we are implementing.”
Hidalgo Rodríguez emphasized that this limit applies specifically to domestic top-ups made through local apps, while other alternatives remain available for users with different needs.
Hidalgo Rodríguez explained that data usage on any network represents a substantial leap. “When we launched the internet and LTE, we tried to ensure the population understood the need to migrate to LTE for better quality. Today, it’s a real benefit. Furthermore, we’ve assessed a significant backlog of people who can’t use data purchased in 4G technology packages.”
She stated Cuba has 50% population coverage of the 4G network. “It’s necessary to continue evacuating that traffic and benefiting customers who currently can’t use the service they purchased.”
Hidalgo Rodríguez noted mobile phones remain a limitation, as some devices don’t support Cuban frequency bands. “Now those purchasing other phones can use data, since Cuba’s 3G band is more common regionally. This represents a substantial advantage in our technological leap. Additionally, accumulated balance at lower prices allows more data acquisition.”
She cited key benefits: With less money and accumulated capacity, more data can be obtained.
ETECSA’s commercial vice president addressed communication concerns: “What does 1 GB mean for messaging?” She noted users migrate to WhatsApp for efficient data consumption. “With 1 GB—virtually no user exhausts this—you can send 1 million text messages. Telegram is equally efficient for photos. Thus, 1 GB maintains adequate communication.”
She added: “We offer unlimited SMS and voice at affordable, fixed prices, complemented by more data. This protects the communication chain for all.”
Major limitations only affect intensive consumption (video, gaming or high-connectivity services).
Regarding educational and work needs, she explained national browsing includes 300 MB. “Platforms like ToDUS offer free messaging without data. Nauta email provides 50 MB per inbox for 3 million users at lower cost: 4.8 GB for 200 pesos monthly. Other educational platforms are free, data-exempt and useful for university materials.”
ETECSA’s CEO Tania Velázquez clarified: “Balance transfers are exclusive to telecommunications. Bank transfers or payments aren’t limited.”
She confirmed services aren’t dollarized. “Rates remain in Cuban pesos under official resolutions. International top-ups existed 15 years for Cubans abroad supporting families.”
The measure balances needs and possibilities to maintain operational telecommunications, she stated.
Velázquez said new measures weren’t impromptu: “Confidentiality protected computer systems and avoided network congestion.”
ETECSA is open to student dialogue and connectivity protection, coordinating with institutions.
“The company reiterates commitment to overcoming challenges,” she said, prioritizing sustainable connectivity for Cubans, especially those with fewer resources. “Without sustainability, we cannot develop needed telecommunications.”
“Fundamental premises remain: offering services in local currency, maintaining free digital learning access, and ensuring connectivity for socially important sectors to support Cuba’s digital transformation,” she concluded.
The 360 CUP plan covers about 50% of users, she reiterated, adding: “Promoting new income sources is vital to develop and sustain Cuba’s telecommunications network.”
Translated by Walter Lippmann with additional OT editing
