The first of those is how Americans will be able to use their cellphones in Cuba, and Verizon has become the first carrier to have an answer for that. Standard global message rates apply.
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AT&T (T – Analyst Report) and T-Mobile (TMUS – Analyst Report), two of Verizon’s primary competitors, now do not have any form of roaming agreements with Cuban telecommunication companies.
Javier Farfan, vice president of cultural and segment marketing for Verizon, said in a press release, “Our customers are citizens of the world, and we want them to enjoy seamlessly a great Verizon experience wherever they travel”.
It’s been about one month since the United States officially reopened its embassy in Cuba.
The announcement by Verizon about offering cellphone roaming in Cuba was made on Thursday, September 17; the day when Cuba said the credentials of its first ambassador to the US States since 1961 had been presented at the White House.
The Obama administration is working with Havana to strike a deal that would allow commercial airlines to establish service between the USA and Cuba by December of this year, as previously reported by The Christian Science Monitor.
Many in Cuba blame the 54-year long American embargo for the nation’s relatively slow modernization, but now that the winds have finally shifted, times are changing in the country, and hopefully fast. The state telecom firm has not been offering data service.
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Of course, there is another catch for Verizon customers, because Cuba’s cellular networks are GSM 900-only, and the vast majority of Verizon phones only have CDMA backup for LTE.
