Google signs a key partnership to bring faster internet to Cuba (GOOG, GOOGL)

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Google's Head of Strategy and Operations in Cuba, Brett Perlmutter, and Vice President of Investment of Etecsa, Luis Adolfo Reyes, sign documents in Havana, Cuba March 28, 2019. REUTERS/Alexandre MeneghiniReuters

  • Google plans to bring fast internet to Cuba. 
  • On Thursday, Google signed a deal with Cuban telecoms giant ETECSA with the intention of improving internet connectivity for the island nation, which has been notoriously sluggish and unreliable. 
  • The partnership aims to create a cost-free and direct connection between Google and Cuban networks, allowing for quicker access to Google services like search and YouTube. 
  • There’s currently no timeframe for when this might be delivered. 

Google may soon bring faster internet to Cuba.

On Thursday, Google and Cuban telecoms giant ETECSA signed a deal with the hopes of improving the country’s internet connectivity, which has been notoriously sluggish and unreliable. 

The partnership aims to create a cost-free and direct connection between Cuban networks and Google’s own, allowing for quicker access to services like YouTube and Google Search. 

“The implementation of this internet traffic exchange service is part of the strategy of ETECSA for the development and computerization of the country,” Google and ETECSA said in a joint statement at a news conference in Havana on Thursday, according to a Reuters report.

No times frames were given for when these connections — known in the industry as "peering" — would be implemented. Instead, the agreement between the two companies created a working group of engineers to scope out the project for specifics, according to Reuters. 

Cuban trade relations with the United States have tightened under President Trump, although a policy created under the Obama Administration allows for US companies to provide the island country with certain telecommunications services. Apparently, helping to improve Cuba’s spotty internet services falls within that policy.

News of Google’s deal with Cuba comes just one day after its CEO Sundar Pichai met with President Trump in Washington to discuss the company’s intentions around re-entering China — a country that, like Cuba, hasn’t always had the warmest relationship with the United States. 

Read more: Trump says Google CEO Sundar Pichai told him he is ‘totally committed to the U.S. military’

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Source: Business Insider – nbastone@businessinsider.com (Nick Bastone)

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