President Barack Obama made history Sunday when he became the first sitting U.S. president since 1928 to visit Cuba. Now, meeting with Cuban President Raúl Castro on Monday at the Palace of the Revolution, he's poised to make history once more, announcing that Google will begin wiring Cuba for internet access.
Speaking with media in an interview that aired after his arrival in Havana, Obama stated that expanding Internet access for Cubans is key to changing the country.
"One of the things that we'll be announcing here is that Google has a deal to start setting up more Wi-Fi access and broadband access on the island," he said. "Change is going to happen here, and I think Raúl Castro understands that."
There is no clear indication as to what Google plans to launch, but the news marks the results of warmer relations between the U.S. and Cuba which had been announced more than a year ago. One of the results of friendlier relations between the two nations was the possibility for U.S.-based companies to do business in the country - which Google now appears to be taking advantage of.
"Google has been in talks with Cuba about a range of ways that it can operate on the island and contribute to Cuba's efforts to upgrade its connectivity," a senior administration official said on Monday. "Those discussions have made good progress but aren't yet complete."
It should be noted, however, that Google is merely expanding internet access in Cuba, not introducing it. Internet access is already present in the country, though only a few have access to it and service would be described as spotty at best. Cuba is making expansions of its own, but with newly introduced public Wi-Fi hotspots that were too expensive for most citizens, and the state-owned ISP announcing home broadband connections that are likely to be deemed too expensive once it rolls out, the efforts have been wanting.
Even beyond pricing, Google has one thing it has to worry about: internet censorship. With its infrastructure expertise, there is no doubt that Google is capable of bringing a cheaper way for Cubans to get online, but there is likely nothing it can do about the country's content restrictions.
