HAVANA: A senior Cuban official denied on Wednesday that public access to the Internet was being limited in Cuba for political reasons, insisting it was due to "technological and financial" considerations.
Cuba announced this week it is opening another 118 locations where people can surf the Web or check email for a fee, but for most Cubans there will be no access from their homes.
"At this moment, it's not possible to immediately generalize access to the Internet," Cuban deputy communications minister Wilfredo Gonzalez told the state newspaper Granma.
Cuba has one of the lowest levels of Internet access in Latin America, which dissidents attribute to the communist government's desire to control access to information. All Cuban media outlets are state-controlled.
Gonzalez, however, blamed the cost involved in making online access widely available.
"There are no other limitations that are not technological and financial," he said.
A resolution Tuesday announcing the new locations said the general public will be charged $4.50 an hour for Internet access, or $1.50 to check email putting it out of reach for many in a country where the average monthly pay is $20.
Gonzalez acknowledged that the fees are high, but said they will drop as the government recoups its investment.
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