Nancy Pelosi, former House Minority Leader and now Democratic Leader, led the bipartisan delegation to India. (Photo : Getty Images)
T-Mobile has announced that it has entered into inter-connect and roaming deal with the Cuban telecom firm Empresa De Telecommunicaciones De Cuba, S.A. (ETECSA). The collaboration aims to provide T-molibe's American customers visiting Cuba more affordable voice calls to reach their friends and family on the island nation.
Once the agreement comes into effect in July, customers of T-mobile can also carry their phones to Cuba and still have access to voice calls, text messages and data roaming. According to the Bellevue wireless carrier, the latest deal between T-Mobile and ETECSA will make calling Cuba from the United States 65 percent cheaper.
Similarly, calls made to landlines as well as wireless phones in Cuba from the U.S. will cost just 60 cents per minute for customers with the monthly Stateside International Talk subscription, which costs an extra $15 per month.
The burgeoning U.S.-Cuba relationship has offered an opportunity for mobile service carriers in the U.S. and we are making use of this opportunity, according to a press release issued by T-Mobile president and CEO John Legere. Compared to other wireless providers in the U.S., T-mobile has more subscribers of Cuban origin and, hence, we are helping them to connect with their with families and friends in Cuba, the release added.
In 2014, the White House revealed for the first time that U.S. networks would be granted permission to operate in Cuba. In September last, Verizon became the first U.S. carrier to offer roaming services to its customers visiting Cuba. While Sprint was soon to follow, it is expected that other leading wireless providers like AT&T may also announce its plants in this regard soon, Venture Beat reported.
A trade embargo between the neighboring countries executed five decades back stunted the economic growth of Cuba severely. Consequently, the communications infrastructure in the Communist nation failed to keep pace with the advancements made in wireless and Internet. However, things are changing rapidly in Cuba following the normalization in its relation with the United States since 2009.
Meanwhile, a group of U.S. companies from different fields of the tech spectrum have also started opening business in Cuba. While Netflix launched its services in Cuba last year, Airbnb followed suit in March.
Recently, payment platform Stripe also expanded its Atlas product to Cuba, offering Cuban startups access to a U.S. bank as well as Stripe accounts, in addition to assisting them to be incorporated as a lawful business entities in the United States.
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