For two months now, Cubadebate users have been referring to problems with connectivity in their comments. Among the most common signs are low speeds while browsing mobile data and the interruption of voice and data services at certain times of the day. What's going on?
More traffic, more investment?
If we had to characterize navigation in Cuba today, we could compare it to a funnel or a highway whose lanes are saturated with traffic, Tania Velázquez Rodríguez, executive president of ETECSA said.
In 2022, the number of users connected to the Internet via cell phones grew by more than one million, reaching 6.7 million customers enabled to navigate.
"The route with the greatest demand was 4G, with more than a million new users," she specified.
This increase is reflected in the volume of traffic, which increased 63% in the same period, going from 189,000 terabytes in 2021 to 309,000 in 2022.
“Growth not only demands investments in the access network, but also forces us to do work in other layers of the network that allow the smooth transit of that mass of data that customers demand. Likewise, we must take into account the international exit,” Velázquez Rodríguez said.
According to official figures, at the end of 2022 there were 274,000 connected homes, with a growth of 22,000 services compared to the previous year.
As it can be seen, the growth rates both via mobile and in homes tend to rise. Did the infrastructure have the same expansion?
The executive president of ETECSA affirmed that one of the main problems that the client currently perceives is the congestion of the service at the access level, which is reflected in the radio bases.
“During 2022, 500,000 new lines were registered and more than a million new users demanded the Internet. This generates a high degree of competition in the access network, as it cannot grow with a sufficient level of base stations due to economic difficulties in acquiring new technologies and equipment”, she explained.
It is estimated that between eight and ten at night, peak service hour, more than two million concurrent users (users who use system resources at the same time) use the network. It is the time when users report the greatest difficulties to navigate.
Velázquez Rodríguez also recognized that there are bottlenecks in the international outlet, which must be solved by enabling new capacities through the new international submarine cable.
“The capacities that we had in ALBA-1 are saturated, so in those times of high concurrency the demand is not satisfied. The new cable will offer important capabilities for navigation. In the same way, we must increase the capabilities of the software that enables this output so that everything flows correctly”, she held.
“We hope to start the Arimao submarine cable in April,” she added.Demand, international recharges, income and investment.
As many users point out, since last year, it has been seen that the connection slows down or there is no service at times of greatest demand. Why does this happen?
Official data shows that in 2021, the average demand per user was 5.65 gigabytes, and it climbed to 7.23 in 2022.
Some may question whether this fact has to do with international recharges.
Regarding the possible relationship between the international promotion to increase the balance fivefold and, consequently, the increase in traffic, Tania Velázquez Rodríguez said that, although it has a direct effect on the demands on the network, it is necessary to obtain the fresh currencies that allow the reprovisioning aimed at expanding the infrastructure.
“It is an incentive to stimulate recharges from abroad, since the departure of the combined packages there has been a shift towards the consumption of national packages with payments in CUP and income from abroad has decreased.
"We are very satisfied to have offers in CUP that please the majority of our customers, but it is also important to offer alternatives to capture the currencies that allow us to sustain the service and do it with quality," she declared.
How to unwind the skein?
To reverse the saturation in the network, actions have been undertaken in the operational area that allow better conditions for navigation, making better use of the installed infrastructure.“In those radio bases with this possibility, frequencies such as 2,100 MHz are being enabled in Havana and Matanzas. The process will be extended to the rest of the country, taking into account the technical conditions. This provides additional capacity for people to connect. Let us remember that today 4G navigation is enabled in the 1,800 MHz band”, the executive president of ETECSA explained.
Directors of the telecommunications company explained that this frequency band had been reserved for the deployment of wireless internet in homes; however, given the capacity deficit, it was decided to use it to increase the quality of the service that is provided today on a massive scale.
They recalled that in the country there is an important group of devices that, if they do not find the free 1800 band, have the ability to navigate through another enabled band.
Progress is also being made in the authorization of the 700 MHz band in provinces where the process of partial transition to digital television is taking place, such as Pinar del Río and Artemisa.
Likewise, work is being done to enable the 900 MHz band for 4G navigation, which will significantly influence the quality of the service, because – explained the ETECSA specialists – it is a power that penetrates a lot inside homes.
“This will be implemented in places where there is a 3G network, taking advantage of this frequency for 4G. It benefits, above all, areas where there are many buildings or high population density”, specified the executive president of the company.
She announced that in the coming weeks the first results of these works should begin to be perceived.
In the case of the Nauta Hogar service, although there are some difficulties, these are associated with problems in other layers of the network that will also be solved.
"The criticality is in browsing through mobile data and the high concurrence from the rapid growth in the last period," Velázquez Rodríguez stressed.
Recent studies revealed that the greatest consumption of data in Cuba is due to the use of social networks, streaming services and video games.
How have the blackouts affected?
Another of the factors that influenced the service during 2022 was the instability in the electricity supply. Its quality deteriorates appreciably and in many cases cancels it due to lack of energy backup.
When answering this question from Cubadebate, Tania Velázquez Rodríguez pointed out that, although all base stations come with batteries, only 25% of the little more than 5,000 installed in the country today have energy backup.
“We are facing an exceptional situation. Although the nodes have batteries, they are not designed for such intensive use.
We have had cases in which the current has gone and the radio base is turned off”.
She explained that, given this situation, steps have been taken to acquire these energy storage devices, but their high cost (30,000 dollars per unit) has prevented having all the necessary ones”.
Despite all the problems –the executive president of ETECSA stressed – “for our company it is satisfactory to show growth in traffic and in the number of subscribers, although we recognize that there are dissatisfactions regarding quality”.
Looking ahead to 2023, what's new?
He reported that in 2023 the expansion of fixed telephony would be discreet, with only 16,000 new lines.
“We know that this service is still in high demand in Cuba. In the future, we aspire to further expand the cellular network, as is the case in the world, due to its rapid deployment and wide capacity to assimilate customers”.
Regarding the Arimao international fiber optic cable project, which will make it possible to increase and diversify Cuba's international connectivity, ETECSA specialists affirmed that it has greater capacity than the current ALBA-1 international link, which will have a very favorable impact on the country.
In the area of wireless internet for homes, the pertinent tests will continue to be carried out for its subsequent deployment.
"To advance in this sense, the wireless modality is committed, but part of the resources allocated to the start of this modality were dedicated to sustaining the service in the mobile network, which has experienced notable traffic in the last year," the president of the company executive said.
Regarding the sale of equipment in national currency, she explained that it will be carried out when economic conditions allow it.
At another time, she said that the telecommunications company defined among its work objectives the promotion of electronic commerce as part of the policy of computerization of society and digital transformation.
In this way, the Transfermóvil platform stands out, with just over 3,850,000 users at the end of 2022. It is expected to reach four million in the first quarter of 2023. "They have grown in access and services with possibilities for electronic commerce" Velázquez Rodríguez commented.
Likewise, the electronic channel Bolsa MiTransfer (a virtual money account associated with a mobile number) was enabled, as a prelude to the launch of the mobile wallet in the short term.
"Here you can enable from virtual accounts to the payment of the entire electronic commerce ecosystem that wants to be incorporated into that system, which goes beyond telecommunications services," the executive president of ETECSA assumed.