Cuba looks to expand Internet access

Cuba wants to expand access to the Internet but has been held back by economic problems and bandwidth limitations, Cuban communications minister Ramiro Valdes said on Tuesday. Valdes, speaking at a computer exposition in Havana, said the situation was expected to improve when socialist ally Venezuela completes a 930-mile-long fiber optics line to the communist-run island next year. Internet use in Cuba is limited mostly to government officials and academics, and comes to the island through a slow, costly satellite connection. According to the United Nations' International Telecommunications Union, only 2.1 percent of the population has access to the Internet.