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What has the technique come to: how Cubans rejoiced at the country's first Wi-Fi spots

What has the technique come to: how Cubans rejoiced at the country's first Wi-Fi spots

Categories: North America | Photo project | Technology |

In Cuba, the Internet is not so smooth. For decades, this island state has occupied the last places in the ranking of the prevalence of access to the World Wide Web. For example, in 2014, only about 30% of the population had Internet access. But in 2015, the Cuban authorities announced the appearance of the first 35 public Wi-Fi spots in the country.

(12 photos in total)

What has the technique come to: how Cubans rejoiced at the country's first Wi-Fi spots

Source: vice.com

What has the technique come to: how Cubans rejoiced at the country's first Wi-Fi spots

It's still not quite easy: you need to pay about $2 for an access code and hope that the network will not be overloaded. But for many Cubans, this is the first opportunity to get online.

What has the technique come to: how Cubans rejoiced at the country's first Wi-Fi spots

Photographer Maureen Muse visited five wireless public access points in Havana and captured what was happening around them in her pictures.

What has the technique come to: how Cubans rejoiced at the country's first Wi-Fi spots

Her photos included tourists posting photos on Instagram, as well as students working on their laptops, doctors checking e-mail, and numerous other users rejoicing at the Internet access that has finally appeared.

What has the technique come to: how Cubans rejoiced at the country's first Wi-Fi spots

People crowded around the access points for hours, and Maureen saw how the life stories of ordinary Cubans unfolded there: teenagers cheerfully watched viral videos together, families called relatives from other countries on Skype.

What has the technique come to: how Cubans rejoiced at the country's first Wi-Fi spots

What has the technique come to: how Cubans rejoiced at the country's first Wi-Fi spots

What has the technique come to: how Cubans rejoiced at the country's first Wi-Fi spots

What has the technique come to: how Cubans rejoiced at the country's first Wi-Fi spots

What has the technique come to: how Cubans rejoiced at the country's first Wi-Fi spots

What has the technique come to: how Cubans rejoiced at the country's first Wi-Fi spots

What has the technique come to: how Cubans rejoiced at the country's first Wi-Fi spots

What has the technique come to: how Cubans rejoiced at the country's first Wi-Fi spots

Keywords: Wi-Fi | Havana | Gadgets | Internet | Cuba | People | Joy | Photographer