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From: grabhorn%gandalf.nosc.mil@nosc.mil (Steven W. Grabhorn)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: You Can't Call Anywhere From USA
Message-ID: <16683@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 4 Feb 91 06:28:47 GMT
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 92, Message 12 of 12


	The January 7th, '91 issue of {Telephony} contains a two page
article on the Cuban phone system. The article states:

	AT&T, the sole company authorized to handle telephone traffic
between the United States and Cuba, says a miniscule 79 lines connect
south- ern Florida ... to the Caribbean nation of 10.6 million
inhabitants. The reason is plain and simple: Washington's 1962 trade
embargo against Fidel Castro.

	"Approximately 40 million attempts are made to reach the AT&T
operator to place calls to Cuba, of which we complete about 400,000,"
says AT&T's managing director for the Caribbean.
	...

	Despite the absence of diplomatic ties, AT&T will soon
complete an $8-million cable running from West Palm Beach, Fla., to
Cojimar, a town east of Havana. The cable, expected to begin operation
by March, will replace a 1949 cable that has long since decayed, as
well as an obsolete 1957 radio link between Havana and the Florida
Keys.

	"Once we get the cable in service, quality should improve, but
there won't be a substantial change in the number of lines," Cavanagh
told Telephony, adding that the U.S. and Cuba also have signed a new
agreement governing telephone traffic between the two countries. The
treaty, subject to U.S. Treasury approval, was signed June 28 and
replaces a previous agreement that had been in effect for 40 years.


Steve Grabhorn, Code 645, Naval Ocean Systems Center, San Diego, CA, 92152
Phone:619-553-3454 Internet:grabhorn@nosc.mil UUCP:..!sdcsvax!nosc!grabhorn