FCC Chief Joins US Delegation to Cuba To Discuss Upgrading Telecom Links, Systems

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler joined a U.S. delegation to Cuba last week that had talks with government officials and others about improving bilateral communications links and domestic Cuban systems. "The Cubans we met were proud people who recognize the benefits new telecommunications networks can bring to education, health care and economic growth," Wheeler said in a blog post Wednesday, saying the delegation was led by Ambassador Danny Sepulveda of the State Department and included technology community representatives. "Our message was simple: we want to help (already, for instance, two companies have roaming agreements with the state-owned telecom provider). We spoke about a new undersea cable connecting our countries, commercial relations for equipment and service providers, as well as an ongoing regulatory dialog." Wheeler said the Cubans talked about upgrading to DSL and 3G wireless and "we urged them to leapfrog such linear transitions and expand to state-of-the-art services." The U.S. delegation pledged to support Cuba's efforts, and members of the island's "small but growing entrepreneurial community [are] hungry for network connectivity," he said. "It is unclear, however, just how anxious the Cuban government is to open up expanded network capabilities." The FCC recently removed Cuba from an exclusion list for international Communications Act Section 214 authorizations, easing the way for U.S. telecom carriers to provide facilities-based voice and data services to Cuba (see 1601150076). "We are also working on removing certain non-discrimination requirements on the U.S.-Cuba route, which would give U.S. carriers more flexibility to negotiate rates with the state-owned telecommunications operator and to respond to market forces," said Wheeler, who said he enjoyed his visit. Separately, the Department of Commerce said its Bureau of Industry and Security "will generally approve license applications for exports and re-exports of telecommunications items that would improve communications to, from, and among the Cuban people," under U.S. trade amendments for Cuba announced Tuesday in a release.