The arrival of the submarine fiber optic cable that will multiply international communications of the island was announced during the inauguration of Informatics 2011.

During the ceremony of inauguration of Informatics 2011 XIV Convention and Tradeshow attended by representatives from 35 countries, the secretary general of the International telecommunications Union, Mr.  Hamadoun Toure, expressed his good wishes for the development of Cuba.

When addressing the two thousand attendees to the meeting, which will end on Friday, Mr. Toure showed his satisfaction for the coming arrival to Cuba of the fiber optic submarine cable, which will allow to multiply its connectivity to the Internet and to international communications.

The executive let the audience in on new developments that he’ll broach more extensively during his lecture on Tuesday, in which he will speak about the possibilities of wideband in the fulfillment of the objectives of development for the millennium.   

The deputy minister of Science, Technology and Intermediate  Industries of Venezuela, Mr. Manuel Fernández explained, during the opening ceremony, that  the arrival of the cable to Cuba between Tuesday and Wednesday is the engine of integration and cooperation initiatives developed between the two friendly nations. 

“This cable is an embrace between nations that have been sisters for a long time”, he said.

This connection’s purpose is not only to break the blockade that prevented Havana to have access to new technologies of information and communications (CIT) but also to reach to other Caribbean islands, explained the Venezuelan Deputy Minister.

Fernández highlighted that the Simón Bolívar satellite, inaugurated two years ago, allowed to connect more than 2,700 satellite dishes in some areas of the South American country that had been excluded from ICT and, in short, they will be delivering about 600,000 computers to elementary school students because “if you want to prepare for the future, you have to start right now.”  

The Minister of Informatics and Communications of Cuba, Mr. Medardo Díaz, called to fight for a fair and equitable commercial system, instead of excluding policies, one that benefits everyone, especially developing countries.

The digital gap is still a reality that has to be overcome. In spite of the increase in the number of Internet users in the world to 140 million last year, 60 percent of them are based in industrialized countries.