2nd LD Writethru: Cuba, U.S. telecom firms conclude talks to sign accord for direct connection

Cuba's state-owned Telecommunications Company SC (Etecsa) announced Friday that it had completed talks with the U.S. IDT Domestic Telecom, INC. IDT) over the signing of a Service Agreement for the Operation of International Telecommunications, which will allow direct interconnection between the United States and Cuba.

No details of the talks between Etecsa and IDT, or the content of the agreement to be signed, are available. There is a statement posted at Etecsa's website featuring the talks between the two companies.

"The restoration of direct communications between the U.S. and Cuba will allow greater facilities and quality in the communications between the people of both nations," said the Cuban company in the statement, indicating that now relevant approvals are expected from the U.S. authorities to implement the agreement.

Etecsa, owned by the Cuban government, is the only company allowed so far in the country to provide public and private telephone service, and Internet connectivity.

Since 1996, the Caribbean island has been connected to the Internet mainly through satellites due to the restrictions of U.S embargo, which prohibits the country from connecting to the undersea cables nearby.

Cuba was connected to an optical fiber cable laid from Venezuela, its main political and economical ally in 2011, but the authorities claim that providing every household with Internet access demands too much investment to accomplish.

As part of the process for restoring the bilateral relations between Cuba and the United States, announced by Cuban leader successor Raul Castro and U.S. President Barack Obama in December, Washington approved in January the plan to provide the island with some telecommunications services as part of its new policy towards Havana.

Cuba has also expressed its willingness to welcome American companies in order to "explore possibilities for mutually beneficial business." Endite