Bienvenidos a Cuba!
T-Mobile customers on Monday became the latest batch of U.S. wireless subscribers to gain access to roaming service in Cuba when the Un-carrier announced a new interconnect and roaming agreement with Cuba’s telecommunications company, the Empresa De Telecomunicaciones De Cuba, S.A. (ETECSA).
The deal will provide stateside T-Mobile customers with more affordable voice calling to the island nation. It will also enable voice, text and data roaming for customers traveling to Cuba starting this summer.
Under the terms of the agreement, T-Mobile customers will be able to call landlines and wireless phones in Cuba from the U.S. for 60 cents per minute with a monthly “Stateside International Talk” feature – which runs $15 per month.
According to T-Mobile, the move came in response to overwhelming demand on social media for the addition of Cuba to the Un-carrier’s international roaming options. T-Mobile said more than a third of Cuban-born wireless customers use Un-carrier service.
“We have more customers of Cuban descent than any other wireless provider – so connecting them with family and friends in Cuba is a message we heard loud and clear,” T-Mobile CEO John Legere said in a statement.
T-Mobile’s agreement follows similar deals between ETECSA and other U.S. wireless carriers.
In September, Verizon became the first major U.S. carrier to offer wireless roaming in the country before following up with a direct interconnection deal with ETESCA for wireline calls in March. In November, Sprint signed a direct roaming agreement for wireless calls and direct long-distance interconnection agreement for wireline telecommunications with ETESCA.
AT&T has reportedly also been eyeing a deal with ETESCA.
Prepaid carriers Cricket (AT&T), Boost (Sprint) and MetroPCS (T-Mobile) also offer plans that allow calls to Cuba.
