Castro opens new era by lifting mobile phones ban

Cubans are to be allowed mobile phones in the latest step by the new President, Raul Castro, to improve access to consumer goods. Cuba has the lowest rate of mobile use in Latin America, and the service had been restricted to foreigners or government officials and employees.

The Cuban telecommunications monopoly Etecsa, a joint venture with Telecom Italia, said it would start sales within days in hard currency.

Many Cubans have for long wanted access to mobiles and hoped it would be among the first steps taken by Mr Castro, who succeeded his ailing brother Fidel as Cuba's first new leader in almost half a century on 24 February. The President has begun lifting some of the many restrictions on the daily life of Cubans as he tries to meet popular demands for better living standards in the socialist state.

Some Cubans already have mobile phones registered in the name of foreigners or their workplaces. They will now be able to put the contracts in their own names, Etecsa said. Next month, Cubans will be able to buy computers and DVD players, if they have the hard currency to pay for them. Two years ago, banned DVD players were being confiscated by airport customs officials on arrival in Cuba.

President Castro, 76, has also launched a restructuring of agriculture to reduce bureaucratic bottlenecks and increase food production. A major public complaint his government will have to deal with is that wages paid in Cuban pesos are too low, and consumer goods have to be paid for in convertible pesos, or CUCs, worth 24 times more than pesos.

About 60 per cent of Cubans have access to hard currency from cash sent by relatives living abroad, mainly in the United States, or through factory and farm bonuses and tips from foreign tourists.

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