A Cuban receives a promotion from ETECSA and responds with a strong critique

A Cuban questioned this Monday the constant international promotions of ETECSA and the lack of similar offers in Cuban pesos for those who rely on their income within the island. "Characters should be saved, and 'international' should be removed because there are no national ones," joked Roxanne Castellanos Cabrera in a post on Facebook, which generated some comments against the state monopoly on telecommunications. The reaction arose after receiving a text message from ETECSA announcing a new "international promotion," valid from September 7 to 13, which offers 25 GB and unlimited data between midnight and 7:00 a.m. for 35 days. Facebook Capture/Roxanne Castellanos Cabrera That offer is complemented by another one announced by the company with "unlimited data 24 hours" for ten days, available from September 4 to September 30. In both cases, these are promotions linked to payments made from abroad. Castellanos also questioned what happens to the foreign currencies that the company is accumulating through this model. "In the end, all the millions of dollars they raise are unaccounted for, despite all the 'I swear on the kangaroo's pouch' statements they made at the time," he wrote. Her critique also addressed one of the issues that currently affects users the most: paying for data packages that are often difficult to use due to power outages and connectivity problems. "Now they pile up because there is no connection all day, except for a few hours of electricity. [...] And the height of the abuse is that at the end of the month you have to buy again without having used the megabytes due to the terrible service," he reported. "It is truly abusive and disrespectful," she added. Other Cubans shared similar experiences. One user lamented that the best options depend on foreign currency: "It has to be in dollars, and not everyone can access that." For their part, another user claimed that they have had their landline interrupted for 21 months without getting a solution. "It's a complete lack of respect and a blatant robbery. A tremendous scam. A whole day without internet connection," expressed a Cuban woman, who also questioned ETECSA's operation without competitors in the Cuban market. Criticism has its backdrop in the measures adopted by the company since May 2025, when ETECSA limited national top-ups to 360 CUP every 30 days and began selling additional packages paid for in dollars. Since then, international promotions have become a key means of accessing larger amounts of data, putting users without family or resources abroad at a disadvantage. This is compounded by the deterioration of service during blackouts. In March 2026, for example, internet traffic in Cuba dropped by 65% during a blackout lasting nearly 29 hours. More than a year after the controversial rate change, ETECSA has raised millions of dollars through its new services, while criticisms regarding the quality of the connection and infrastructure continue. In August, the comedian Ulises Toirac also publicly demanded that ETECSA invest in improving its services, amidst repeated complaints from users. Among the comments on Castellanos' post, a Cuban summarized the discontent with another question: "Do they know the meaning of 'DIGNIFY' for the citizens? I don't think so."