By the Cuba Journal staff
A new Fort Lauderdale Company is launching a service called SMS Cuba, which will allow Cubans to send text-messages at a much cheaper rate than ever before, according to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
Behind this endeavor is telecom entrepreneur Frank S. Caruso, who began working on the concept after a trip to Havana in February.
After the visit, Caruso, who has been monitoring the telecommunications situation in Cuba since the conclusion of the Cold War, said, “Now’s the time to do this, if I am ever going to do this.”
The messaging service is based out of Cloud South – a data center Caruso runs in West Palm Beach – and is the first service that allows users to send and receive messages between the United States and Cuba.
Caruso’s current system entails routing the text messages through third countries, but he hopes for the eventual possibility of direct communication.
For US users, subscription to the service costs $2.95 per month for 30 text messages to one Cuban contact, or $9.95 per month for unlimited texts to five Cuban numbers.
After subscribing, there is no more charge to US users besides any they would already pay to text other American numbers.
Cuban users must still pay for each individual message they send, as per the rate established by Cuba’s telecommunications company.
This price – about 60 cents per text – is an unsustainable investment for many in Cuba, where the average wage is $20 per month.
