Cubans may now have up to three mobile lines

The Cuban government has announced that it will allow citizens to subscribe to up to three mobile telephony lines in a move aimed at relaxing the conditions for using telecoms services, writes official state newspaper Granma. In March 2008 the government of Raul Castro authorised the use of mobile telephony by ordinary Cubans, with state-owned monopoly fixed line and wireless operator Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba (ETECSA) permitting members of the general public to sign up to a single pre-paid line only. With the publication in the Official Gazette of Resolution 593/2014 of the Ministry of Communications (MIC), which will come into effect in 90 days, Cubans will be able to own three mobile lines from ETECSA. Last week the monopoly operator increased the recharge validity period for pre-paid mobile lines to 330 days, while in March ETECSA began offering e-mail access on mobile phones.