|
FROM
CUBA
Caller
ID comes to Havana, at US prices
HAVANA, Septiembre 29 (www.cubanet.org) - The
Cuban telephone company has started offering caller
ID service to subscribers in parts of Havana;
the cost, 1.95 dollars a month, seems reasonable
until one realizes it amounts to about one-fifth
of the average Cuban's monthly salary. And the
service is only obtainable for those willing to
pay in dollars.
The service, only available in certain areas
and even in those, in very limited numbers, has
proven popular with consumers seeking to avoid
prank calls and just plain rude callers, although
no telemarketers yet.
Antonio Castillo Ravelo, 58, a school watchman,
said: "I've had to change my telephone number
seven times already to prevent people from bothering
me day and night. At the same time, I've had to
reduce the number of friends who know the number,
in trying to find out who is making the unwanted
calls. So I got the caller ID service. What I
don't understand is why we have to pay in hard
currency. That takes up a fourth of my monthly
salary; I'm paying 10 pesos for phone service
and 50 pesos for an extra."
An employee of a hotel in the dollar economy
said: "It's abusive, to have to pay in dollars,
but what am I going to do. I've had to ask them
to change my number five times. Now at least I'll
have a defense against unwanted calls, and the
dollars I'll get out of tips."
|
