Venezuela-Cuba cable to be laid in early 2011
By IAN JAMES
Work to lay an undersea fiber optic cable that will dramatically improve telecommunications in Cuba should begin by February, Cuba's ambassador to Venezuela said Friday.
Ambassador Rogelio Polanco said the line should start working in mid-2011 -- about two years after initial projections.
Venezuela's government has an agreement with Paris-based Alcatel-Lucent SA to produce and install the fiber optic line, a project first announced in 2007.
Cuba is the only nation in the Western Hemisphere that is not linked to the outside world by fiber optics. Instead, it relies on slow, expensive satellite links because the U.S. government's embargo has prevented most trade between the island and the United States and has made companies in other countries shy away from doing business with Cuba.More:
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