article: On arrival, they find their iPads and smartphones suddenly only serve for taking photos which, to their dismay, can't be immediately posted to their Instagram or Facebook accounts. Whether Snapchat-obsessed millennials or email-addicted workaholics, they stare at their phones in disbelief, waiting in vain for the familiar "4G" symbol to appear, as the realisation dawns that an enforced digital detox is upon them. Conversely, plenty of travellers to Cuba relish the chance to disconnect from the office emails and the constant barrage of WhatsApp alerts and tweets. Yet what for the tourist is either a temporary inconvenience or a welcome offline breather is a very different reality for ordinary Cubans. For years, it felt to many on the island like the internet was something happening elsewhere, to other people. Recently though, it is easier, and cheaper, to get online in Cuba than it used to be. There are now more than 240 public access wi-fi spots dotted around the country and the price for an hour of internet access, while still expensive by international standards, has dropped by more than half, to $1.50 (£1.20) for an hour. It is now a common sight to see people sitting with their laptops or phones in parks and public plazas connecting with their families abroad via video-chat technology. In the latest development, the state telecommunications company, Etecsa, has installed internet connections in around 2,000 homes in the capital's colonial district, Old Havana, as part of a two-month pilot scheme. Among the lucky few is Jose Antonio Ruiz. His modest apartment in one of the neighbourhood's newer buildings is part of the government's domestic online experiment. As a private business owner who rents rooms to tourists, Mr Ruiz has found the new "luxury" helped him in two main ways. First, he says, he can advertise his apartment more easily on popular accommodation websites like Airbnb, and answer his clients' emails much more promptly than before. Secondly, he can offer his guests a unique service giving him a competitive advantage over other guesthouses. "The guests are really pleased when you tell them we have internet," Jose Antonio explains. "They relax as they know they can check their flights from here, read their emails or contact their families." During the pilot, the connection is free but once it's over the government is expected to publish prices, so users can choose whether to keep the service or live without it. It hasn't yet been confirmed but it is believed it will cost around $15 (£12) for 30 hours at the slowest speed of 128 kilobits per second, and up to $110 (£90) for the fastest - two megabits per second. With the average wage in Cuba about $25 (£20) a month, those prices would be prohibitively expensive for many Cubans. Jose Antonio's connection is not fast enough to stream video, for example. Still, it is an improvement on the dial-up connections that some state employees have at home and he says he'd pay to keep it as it's enough for what he needs. One day, though, those needs could
summary: No matter how much you warn visitors to Cuba that they'll be offline during their stay, they often won't believe it until they actually arrive in Havana.