Sprint has become the first U.S. wireless carrier to sign a direct roaming agreement with Cuba’s official wireless carrier. Verizon also recently announced wireless roaming in Cuba through a deal with Vodafone, but Sprint’s agreement is the first such direct agreement.
The roaming agreements makes will allow Sprint and Verizon customers who will be in Cuba to make smoothly make calls or use data, at less cost. Other U.S. carriers are expected to follow suit.
Sprint signed the deal this week with the Telecommunications Company of Cuba (ETECSA). The offer details availability will be announced soon. Verizon is charging $2.99 a minute for voice and $2.05 per megabyte for data over a 2G network in Cuba.
Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure–who was born in Bolivia–speaks Spanish and has been working to increase Sprint’s ties with many Latin American carriers. Claure made the announcement at a signing ceremony in Havana as part of the U.S.-Cuba Business Council (USCBC) delegation to Cuba.
Earlier this year, Sprint launched Sprint Global Roaming and in August launched Sprint Open World, a plan for connectivity in Canada, Mexico and most other countries across Latin America.
Wireless roaming in Cuba part of growing commerical ties
Wireless roaming in Cuba is the first in a series of growing business relations between the U.S. and Cuba. This past July 20 the U.S. restored diplomatic relations with the communist country, re-establishing ties that had been severed since 1961.
The USCBC, an advocacy organization housed at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, is a formal commitment by the American business community to build a strong and strategic commercial relationship between Cuba and the United States.
Cuba watchers estimate that more than three million people from around the world are expected to visit Cuba this year. Within ten years, that number is projected to grow to more than five million.
