Cuba tries Internet links via phone cable (2)

The government blames the United States for the lack of access, saying the U.S.-led economic embargo prohibits Cuba from connecting to international fiber optic networks near its coasts, forcing Havana to seek Internet connection via satellite, which is both slower and more expensive.

Last week, international monitoring company Renesys detected an increase in data transmission from Cuba and attributed it to the activation of the tested network.

Renesys said, however, that transmission levels had not reached levels that indicate the cable was handling all the traffic, and concluded outgoing data was still travelling via satellite.

The network, telecommunications system ALBA-1, which has been carrying telephone signals since August 2012, is expected to speed up data transfer by 3,000 times.