adminagency announced yesterday.
Havana has been unable to join other undersea fiber-optic cable networks due to the US embargo.
But state telecom company Etecsa said the new Internet link would not mean the island was lifting its restrictions on Internet access.
“Since last January 10, we began to perform quality testing of Internet traffic on the system. They are conducted using real traffic to and from Cuba,” Etecsa said in a statement published in the state-run Granma newspaper.
The 1,600-kilometre (994-mile) cable, which was estimated to cost $70 million was actually completed in February 2011, and officials never explained why it remained unused.
In its statement, Etecsa said the cable has been “operational since August 2012,” initially tested with international telephone traffic.
But it warned that the “conclusion of the testing process . . . will not automatically mean an increase in access” for Cubans to the Internet.
“It will be necessary to make investments in the domestic telecommunications infrastructure and increase foreign exchange resources to pay for Internet traffic in order to achieve the gradual growth of a service we provide mostly for free today,” Etecsa said.
The US embargo bans Cuban access to underwater Internet cables, one of which runs from Miami to Cancun, Mexico, a mere 32 kilometers (20 miles) from Havana. Because of this, Cuba had connected to the Internet via slower satellites.
The government has blamed the limited bandwidth for restrictions on Internet access, saying it forces them to “prioritise” it for “social use” purposes, with universities, companies and research centers prioritised. — Xinhua.
Online Reporter