Cuba Libre – or not, as National Train Operator Mulls Charging Passengers for WiFi

WiFi on trains in Cuba has moved a step closer to reality. According to national paper of record, Granna, a lengthy trial of internet on board services has now been completed. State-owned telco, Soluciones Integrales de Telecomunicaciones S.A. (Solintel), which organised the project, says that all that is needed now is a business model and a way to finance the full roll-out.

Solintel’s president, Robelis Lambert Matos, explained that the project represents an “added value for the railroad, which will allow a new level of comfort.” Matos did not specify which of the routes operated by the Cuban Railway Union would benefit, nor if it would come at an extra cost for travellers. However, it seems certain that the service would be popular – currently only 7.2% of households in Cuba have access to the Internet.

The Island’s state media has remained tight-lipped on the projected cost of adding WiFi to the trains, with so-called “silence zones” posing a major problem.

Despite recent injections of aid from Russia and China, the island’s rail system, which stretches 4,556km, is still in need of major modernisation. A 2019 deal made with Russian Railways to pour some US$2.34 billion into upgrading the rolling stock and tracks was later cancelled after the Cuban government apparently reneged on some repayments.

So far, money and equipment, mainly from China, has made little impact on the creaking train network. Local sources say that trains are restricted to travelling at a maximum speed of 70km an hour. This means that a trip from Havana to Guantanamo — on a good day — can take up to 21 hours – plenty of time to access the WiFi.

Solintel says that passengers will soon be able to send and receive e-mail messages with attachments as well as gain access to corporate intranets, browse the web and chat online. The company has also made some guarded promises to work on removing not-spots along the line, which may sound familiar to European travellers…

No launch date has yet been set for an Island-wide WiFi on Trains roll-out.

5G and trackside rail communications as well as LEO satellite delivered broadband to trains will be the focus of this year’s Traincomms Conference in London (www.Traincomms.com ).

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