US and Cuba reopen direct phone line

(Baonghean.vn) - On Wednesday, March 11, Cuba's Etecsa company announced the reopening of a direct telephone line between the US and Cuba after 16 years of disconnection.

The direct telephone line between the US and Cuba was completely severed in 1999. Photo: AP/Ramon Espinosa

According to the announcement, Cuba's Etecsa and the US company Domestic Telecom reached an agreement in February on the use of communications facilities. Initially, the businesses will cooperate in the field of telephone services.

When diplomatic relations between the two countries were severed in the 1960s, the direct telephone line between the two countries was frequently interrupted and was completely severed in 1999. From then on, when people between the two countries wanted to call each other, they were forced to call through a third country at very expensive rates.

With the above agreement, Etecsa hopes that reopening the direct telephone line can help people use telecommunications services with better quality and at much lower prices than before.

It is known that this is part of the normalization process between the US and Cuba. Accordingly, the US government announced that it will loosen exports to Cuba in the fields of telecommunications, Internet, software, consumer devices and infrastructure.

Chu Thanh

According to Le Monde 11/3