05 December 2022 | For: granma newspaper
Development of the infrastructure, deployment of digital television, services of the Cuban Telecommunications Company S.A (Etecsa), expansion of Internet access and distribution of the press, were some of the concerns of the forum members in digital exchange with the Commission of Attention to the Services of the National Assembly of Popular Power on the accountability of the Ministry of Communications (Mincom) to be held this month of December.
By way of summary, the Granma newspaper offers a selection of the answers offered by those present at the Cuban Parliament headquarters −headed by Mayra Arevich Marin, minister of the sector− that cover short and medium-term solutions, as well as strategies promoted for the improvement of services.
TECHNOLOGICAL INFRASTRUCTURE, VITAL FOR DEVELOPMENT
The development of the technological infrastructure, in a general sense, is of vital importance to advance in the digital transformation of the country, Mincom executives pointed out. In this sense, both the operator and the content providers develop strategies to offer new products and services, a process where the sources of financing to achieve this today must be found in collaboration projects and income derived from exports and "there it is." our main challenge.
As part of the process, the options for connectivity and accessibility to technologies have increased in recent years and work is underway to continue taking advantage of capacities already installed in the country based on efficiency and optimization of resources, based on networks of existing telecommunications.
The fundamental cause of the limitations, they highlighted, is associated with the difficulties with financing in MLC, since in order to offer more and new services, as well as to make them more affordable, it is necessary to invest and for this the acquisition of technologies that only are earned in foreign currency. «The intensified measures of the blockade impose a strong challenge in this regard. However, we continue to look for alternatives thanks to which significant progress has been made in recent years, although still insufficient.
DIGITAL TELEVISION, BY CABLE AND NATIONAL NAVIGATION
It is important for you to know that the transition from analog television to digital television only includes stopping the transmission of the Educational and Educational 2 channels in analog technology; while Cubavisión, Telerebelde and Multivisión will continue to be broadcast with an analog signal.
They stressed that the signals from educational channels will continue to be received in all schools because it has been ensured that they have the appropriate receivers. The development of Digital TV will also allow, once the partial transition is carried out, the opportunity to have the 700 MHZ band available, which will provide greater coverage for the 4G service.
On the other hand, the conditions are created for the infrastructure to be able to deploy cable TV, this is an innovation project that carries infrastructure and content development and when it is available it will be informed in a timely manner. In the case of national navigation, the specialists agreed on the need to give greater visibility and communication about access to national digital sites, and in this sense there are more than 40 Cuban platforms or websites linked to training content that their access is cost free.
Expanding this concept to all .cu websites would depend on the conditions of the telecommunications infrastructure, which still continue with the investments required to achieve greater robustness. Likewise, in the plans offered by ETECSA −including the basic one, which is the lowest cost− there is a national navigation quota that allows unlimited use of national communication applications such as Todus, additionally, access to the training platforms of our universities is free of charge and the deployment of Wi-Fi connectivity on university campuses has increased to favor the access of students and professors to educational content.
ABOUT ETECSA SERVICES
- Work is being done on the final phase of the Mobile Wallet project, which will be available at the beginning of 2023. In its implementation, it will allow a group of facilities, expanding access to electronic payments with a new banking option that can be used by all users who use Transfermóvil today.
- Regarding the possibility of increasing minutes to the TFA service, work is being done to technically enable this option in 2023 so that users can recharge the service by applying rates designated for it.
- The implementation schedule for the deployment of Nauta Hogar over 4G has been delayed due to financial limitations as a result of the intensified blockade measures. However, solutions to this challenge continue to be sought and found. The unlimited internet offers in MLC have the objective of seeking income for the country, necessary for the sustainability of the network and also for its growth.
OTHER ISSUES OF INTEREST
As part of the forum, the specialists specified that work is being done with the Party, the Government and the institutions for the distribution of the press and that all measures are taken, not only in Havana but at the national level, to set up the press as institutional transport be moved so that it reaches everyone. Organizational measures are developed, in which we still have reservations, that once the press reaches the municipalities, the objective of reaching the population in the popular councils can be met. In the same way, they work to computerize the procedures, including the use of the digital seal in each of the procedures that are carried out, a job that requires a lot of coordination between all the organizations that intervene in these processes.
In the case of the Joven Club, an entity that has a core participation in the implementation of the company's computerization policy, the strength of having 644 facilities distributed throughout the country is taken advantage of. There is a program to strengthen our institution that is carried out by the country's leadership and in particular by the Mincom, based on the rescue and improvement of our facilities, as well as the gradual incorporation of technological equipment to the extent possible, given the high degree of deterioration of technology, impacted mainly by financial limitations and access to technologies that are imposed on the country.