President Obama says Google has a deal to deliver broadband to Cuba. Many Americans can only look on with envy
Apparently, citizens of a long-time pariah state and communist dictatorship — a country where only five percent of the homes are connected to the Web — will have a better chance of signing up for Google’s internet service than do many Americans.
President Barack Obama is visiting Cuba this week, the first US president to do since Calvin Coolidge, and was interviewed there by ABC News. Obama was asked about how some believe that the US trade embargo on Cuba hurts American business interests.
The president said his administration is working on that and by way of example he said: “Google has a deal to start setting up more wifi access and broadband access on the island.”
It’s unclear whether Google plans to offer Google Fiber in Cuba. If it does, the irony will be that Cubans will get access to the company’s speediest broadband service while many Americans can only look on with envy. Dozens of regions around the US, including San Francisco, want access to Google Fiber but varying issues stand in their way.
One reason is that Google Fiber is literally locked out of some areas. A batch of news stories were published in the past two weeks that detail how Comcast and AT&T are limiting Gooble Fiber’s expansion by preventing it from accessing utility poles.
If the Cubans do get Fiber, expect much gnashing of teeth at home.
