Cubans hope US ties bring better Internet access

The topics of improving telecommunications on Cuba and connecting more Cubans to the Internet -- major tenets of the United States' diplomatic strategy -- were discussed during high-level talks between the US and Cuban government in Havana.

Josefina Vidal, the Cuban diplomat who has been Assistant Secretary of State Roberta Jacobson's counterpart in talks, said the Cuban government is willing to meet with US firms to discuss improving their telecommunications network. How soon and how far-reaching changes will be to Cuban's telecom network remains to be seen. Just 5% of Cuba's 11 million residents have access to the Internet -- one of the lowest rates in the hemisphere. Cuba's state telecom company, ETECSA, maintains a monopoly on Internet service.