The Isle of Youth has been virtually cut off for a day, after damage to the two main roads connecting the special municipality to the national telecommunications network caused the interruption of mobile services, confirmed the Cuban Telecommunications monopoly SA (ETECSA).
In a statement released on Tuesday, the state monopoly reported that mobile services were interrupted throughout the territory and that fixed-line telephony was partially affected, with the possibility of making only local calls.
ETECSA explained that its specialists, along with Geocuba workers, are working to restore connections. The company noted that the work is being carried out under complex conditions because the connections are maritime, but did not specify what caused the damage or provide a timeframe for service restoration.
Although ETECSA assured that it enabled alternative channels to maintain communication with local authorities, the population continues to be affected this Wednesday.
Independent journalist Camila Acosta, who has family in the special municipality, reported on Facebook that the outage persists and that on the island, “neither mobile nor landline telephone service is working. Nor is there internet.”
The situation means that the inhabitants of an entire island territory have been under severe restrictions for at least a day in communicating with the rest of the country and accessing the internet.
The outage highlights the vulnerability of Cuba’s telecommunications infrastructure. According to ETECSA, the two main connection routes between the Isle of Youth and the national network were damaged simultaneously, and both are maritime links.
ETECSA has not yet provided an estimated date for a definitive solution, nor has it explained whether there is an alternative system capable of guaranteeing connectivity for the population while the main connections are being repaired.
The problem also affects a region already facing serious difficulties with its basic services. The telecommunications outage comes amid an energy crisis that has caused prolonged blackouts across the country and is also directly impacting the operation of telephone and internet networks. @ADNCuba
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