CUBA NEWS
October 1, 2003

FROM CUBA Caller ID comes to Havana, at US prices 2x5t23

HAVANA, Septiembre 29 (cubanet.sergipeconectado.com) - The Cuban telephone company has started offering caller ID service to subscribers in parts of Havana; the cost, 1.95 dollars a month, seems reasonable until one realizes it amounts to about one-fifth of the average Cuban's monthly salary. And the service is only obtainable for those willing to pay in dollars.

The service, only available in certain areas and even in those, in very limited numbers, has proven popular with consumers seeking to avoid prank calls and just plain rude callers, although no telemarketers yet.

Antonio Castillo Ravelo, 58, a school watchman, said: "I've had to change my telephone number seven times already to prevent people from bothering me day and night. At the same time, I've had to reduce the number of friends who know the number, in trying to find out who is making the unwanted calls. So I got the caller ID service. What I don't understand is why we have to pay in hard currency. That takes up a fourth of my monthly salary; I'm paying 10 pesos for phone service and 50 pesos for an extra."

An employee of a hotel in the dollar economy said: "It's abusive, to have to pay in dollars, but what am I going to do. I've had to ask them to change my number five times. Now at least I'll have a defense against unwanted calls, and the dollars I'll get out of tips."


Versin original en espaol

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