1 | 01.01.2021 – 20:05 (GMT-4)
Young Computing and Electronics Club (JCCE) will begin charging for access to Wi-Fi networks created by SNet, the popular and successful private wireless network that was dismantled by the Cuban government in 2019 to ensure state control over computer services. from the country.
According to an official statement reproduced by the CubaDebate portal, “in light of the process of ordering the economy and considering the acceptance of the service, the fee will enter into force on February 1, 2021. Users will be able to pay the monthly fee of 20 CUP, or if they wish, they can pay in advance for up to one year of service ”.
“In the first three months of February-May, users can pay for the service in two ways: directly at the facilities, with the instructor in front of the services or by recharging your Joven Club account through Transfermóvil. From June, payment will be made only through the electronic payment gateways in the country “, the communiqué states.
Information about CubaDebate indicates that there are 28,000 users, which would represent a monthly collection of 560,000 Cuban pesos. However, it is a fact that Tinored, the official SNet replacement platform, has taken over all the infrastructure, model and part of the users from the previous private network.
The services of this JCCE network include network video games, a state version of the weekly package called My Backpack, a social network called Tendedera, the Cuban Ecured Encyclopedia, and national email and messaging services, among others.
In mid-2019, Resolutions 98 and 99 of the Ministry of Communications (MINCOM) entered into force, which established that Cubans can manage private networks and register as self-employed through a license, but with various conditions.
Requirements included the need to control content for the interests of the Cuban government and to set a limit for wireless networks not exceeding 100 million. Networks and cables that necessarily crossed the streets to extend the service were also banned.
The passage of cables on the streets was the one that caused the dismantling and cancellation of the popular SNet, which had about 40 thousand users in various municipalities in Havana.
Cuban youth who have spent years maintaining and expanding the private network staged several protests at the MINCOM headquarters in Havana, but were eventually silenced and forced to fragment.
Prior to this ban, the JCCE of the Cuban state did not have a Wi-Fi wireless network service as an alternative to the lack of the Internet, but rather adopted the logic and experience of SNet to, after a free year, start charging for services that have usurped.
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