ETECSA

What ETECSA does

ETECSA (Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba S.A.) is the state-owned telecommunications monopoly of Cuba, founded in July 1994 and operating as the sole licensed provider of fixed telephony, mobile, data, and internet services nationwide. The company is organized into 17 territorial divisions covering all 15 Cuban provinces plus the special municipality of Isla de la Juventud, with a workforce of 18,000+ employees and a distribution footprint of more than 400 commercial offices, 430+ assistance centers, and a network of 28,000+ telecommunications agents. Because Cuba's telecommunications law bars private-sector competition, ETECSA serves the entire national population of approximately 11 million across consumer, enterprise, and institutional segments including state-owned enterprises, government ministries, and foreign embassies and missions.

The company's product portfolio combines core connectivity services — Cubacel for mobile, Nauta for internet access, and Propia for prepaid recharge — with a growing digital ecosystem anchored by Transfermóvil, a mobile payment platform with 5.78M registered users processing approximately 4 million operations per day. Adjacent digital products include MiTransfer (1M users), Votomóvil, and Enlace, a videoconferencing service launched in April 2026. Underlying infrastructure combines fixed and mobile networks with 3G coverage at 85% and ongoing 4G expansion supported by 31 new radiobases. ETECSA maintains 34+ international roaming partnerships and runs a portfolio of 34+ R&D projects spanning AI, IoT, blockchain, and cloud computing. The company was recognized as a High Technology Enterprise at the end of 2025 and placed in the global top 5 at the CMSI 2026 awards.

Revenue is generated through mobile and fixed subscription fees, usage-based internet charges, equipment sales, enterprise connectivity solutions, advertising, and transaction-based fees from the Transfermóvil payments platform. As a wholly state-owned entity, ETECSA does not raise external capital and does not publicly disclose financial results; its investment program is funded through state budget allocations and retained operations. The company pursues international vendor partnerships — notably with Huawei on 5G technology vision and through technical panels with Nokia and Ericsson — to advance its network modernization roadmap.

Name

ETECSA

Legal name

Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba S.A.

Website

https://etecsa.cu

Company type

Private

Founded year

1994

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

ETECSA is Cuba's state-owned telecommunications monopoly, providing fixed, mobile, internet, and digital payment services to the nation's ~11 million population across 17 territorial divisions through 400+ offices, 28,000+ agents, and 18,000+ employees.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Havana

HQ country

Cuba

HQ region

Latin America

Offices18 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Mobile Services: Subscription and prepaid mobile voice, SMS, and data services under Cubacel brand. Includes international roaming, voice plans, and data packages.
2. Internet Access: Wired and wireless internet services including nauta Hogar home internet, public WiFi access, VSAT navigation, and ADSL. Usage-based billing for temporary accounts.
3. Fixed Telephony: Traditional fixed telephone services for residential and business customers with supplementary services.
4. Equipment Sales: Sale of mobile phones (Samsung), accessories, and smart devices through commercial offices and Minipuntos.
5. Prepaid Cards: Nauta cards for internet access, Propia prepaid phone cards for making calls from public telephones.
6. International Roaming: Roaming services for international visitors including CubacelTur tourist packages with data, minutes, and SMS.
7. Business Solutions: Enterprise services including dedicated access, data centers (hosting, virtual servers, dedicated servers), connectivity solutions, consultancy, and videoconferencing.
8. Digital Payment Services: Transfermóvil and MiTransfer mobile payment processing generating transaction fees.
9. Advertising: Yellow Pages (Páginas Amarillas) advertising services for businesses.
10. International Recharge: Facilitates international top-up through partners like Ding, DTone, and Boss Revolution.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels8 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

ETECSA is Cuba's unique state-owned telecommunications operator, providing nationwide fixed telephony, mobile voice/SMS/data under the Cubacel brand, wired and wireless internet access under the Nauta brand (including residential nauta Hogar), prepaid phone cards (Propia), and the Transfermóvil mobile payment platform. It also sells mobile devices and accessories through commercial offices and Minipuntos, and offers enterprise solutions such as data centers, dedicated access, VSAT/ADSL connectivity, consultancy, advertising via Páginas Amarillas, and Enlace videoconferencing.

Product overview

ETECSA is a unified telecommunications platform offering a comprehensive portfolio of mobile and fixed telephony, internet access, and digital services. The core products include Cubacel (mobile services), Nauta (internet access including nauta Hogar residential service), Propia (prepaid cards), Transfermóvil (mobile payments with MiTransfer wallet), and fixed telephony. Supporting infrastructure comprises Telepunto and Minipunto retail locations, Enlace videoconferencing, and data center services (web hosting, virtual servers, dedicated servers). The ecosystem also includes digital applications (APK nauta, Servicios en Línea), business connectivity solutions (VSAT, ADSL, dedicated access), and device sales (mobile phones, smartwatches).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Cubacel Mobile phone services brand offering voice, SMS, and mobile data internet for residential and business subscribers. Launched in 2000, it is ETECSA's primary consumer mobile brand, supported by 2G, 3G, and 4G infrastructure.
• Nauta Wired public Internet access service and related connectivity solutions, including the nauta Hogar residential home internet offering. Launched in 2015. Includes public WiFi and temporary account access via prepaid cards.
• nauta Hogar Residential home internet service providing wired public Internet access to households through the Nauta platform.
• Propia Prepaid phone card service with a personal code enabling local, national, and international calls from public and residential telephones.
• Telefonía Fija Fixed telephone services for residential, business, and public telephone customers, with supplementary services and dedicated enterprise offerings.
• Transfermóvil Mobile payment application enabling online payments and money transfers, with 5.78 million users processing approximately 4 million daily operations and averaging 48 transactions per minute.
• MiTransfer Mobile wallet within Transfermóvil enabling payments and transfers without a bank account, reaching 1 million users and supporting e-commerce access for unbanked Cubans.
• Enlace (Videoconferencia) Videoconferencing service powered by Trueconf technology enabling virtual meetings, online classes, telemedicine, presentations, and corporate events with features including instant messaging, file sharing, recording and simultaneous translation.
• CubacelTur Temporary mobile line service for tourists and visitors to Cuba, providing data, minutes, and SMS packages. Service lifecycle: 330 active plus 180 inactive days, offered at airports and online with USD pricing.
• Hospedaje Web (Web Hosting) Web hosting services for personal and business websites, part of the enterprise data center portfolio.
• Alquiler de Servidor Virtual Virtual server rental services for businesses requiring cloud infrastructure, part of ETECSA's data center and hosting portfolio.
• Alquiler de Servidor Dedicado Dedicated physical server rental for enterprise customers requiring exclusive compute resources.
• Centro de Datos Virtual Virtual data center services providing comprehensive enterprise infrastructure needs including hosting, virtual servers, dedicated servers, and email domain hosting.
• Acceso Dedicado Dedicated internet access services for businesses requiring guaranteed bandwidth and reliability on the corporate side of the portfolio.
• Navegación mediante VSAT Satellite-based internet navigation services for businesses and remote areas without terrestrial connectivity.
• Acceso ADSL Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line internet access for business and residential customers in the enterprise connectivity portfolio.
• Páginas Amarillas Yellow Pages telephone directory providing commercial information classified by product and service categories for businesses and entrepreneurs.
• Contacto Call center information, assistance, and commercial management services accessed through multiple phone lines (112, 113, 114, 118, 140, 164).
• Telepunto Telecommunications multiservice center providing full-range ETECSA products and services, with at least one in each provincial main town.
• Minipunto Small points-of-sale spread throughout all localities for basic services including prepaid card sales, mobile top-up, and rapid invoice charging.
• Certificados Digitales Digital certificates for secure communications and business transactions, available to enterprise customers.
• Samsung A226BR/DSN Samsung mobile phone with Android 12S, 6.56-inch LCD FHD display, 128GB storage, 4GB RAM, 5000mAh battery, 48MP camera. Sold through Commercial Offices and Minipuntos at 388.00 MLC.
• Steren BT 200 Smartwatch Smartwatch with heart rate sensor, blood pressure, sleep tracking, calories, blood oxygen, weather, music control, sports modes, stopwatch, and alarms; IP67 water resistance. Sold at 45.00 MLC.

Quantifiable outcome

• Transfermóvil processes approximately 4 million operations daily with average of 48 transactions per minute
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature7 records

Partnerships

22 partnerships are on record, tiered core, minor and strategic.

• DingcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorInternational mobile recharge distributor enabling users abroad to add credit to Cuban mobile lines. Available at www.ding.com for Caribbean/Cuba reloads.
• DTonecoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorInternational recharge platform (cuba.dtone.com) enabling international top-up services for Cuban mobile numbers.
• Boss RevolutioncoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorInternational recharge and payment service distributor for Cuban mobile lines at www.bossrevolution.com.
• CubamaxminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorInternational distributor for Cuban mobile recharge services.
• JallshopminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorInternational recharge distributor for Cuban mobile services.
• Somos PlusminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorInternational distributor for Cuban mobile recharge services.
• Recargas a CubaminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorInternational recharge platform for Cuban mobile numbers.
• CSQ WorldminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorInternational mobile recharge service for Cuban numbers at www.csqworld.com.
• Global DSDcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorInternational digital solutions distributor for Cuban mobile services including CubacelTur packages.
• eTopupOnlineminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorInternational online top-up service for Cuban mobile lines.
• ComremitminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorInternational remittance and recharge service for Cuban mobile numbers.
• TrueconfcoreTechnology or IntegrationTechnology provider for Enlace videoconference service. Trueconf technology enables virtual meetings, online classes, telemedicine, presentations and corporate events with features including instant messaging, file sharing, and simultaneous translation.
• HuaweistrategicTechnology or IntegrationStrategic technology partner providing consulting and technology vision. Huawei expert Peng Bo delivered keynote lecture 'Shedding light on the Future' presenting technological vision until 2030 covering 5G, X2B, Home+, green ICT.
• Nokia (Spain)strategicTechnology or Integration5G technology partner participating in Fifth Generation Mobile Networks Panel at International Telecommunications Symposium.
• Ericsson (Colombia)strategicTechnology or Integration5G technology partner participating in Fifth Generation Mobile Networks Panel at International Telecommunications Symposium.
• Protei (Russia)strategicTechnology or IntegrationTechnology partner participating in Fifth Generation Mobile Networks Panel at International Telecommunications Symposium.
• ANSOC (Asociación Nacional de ciegos y débiles visuales)strategicStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for training commercial executives in sign language (Lengua de Señas) to improve customer service for hearing-impaired clients.
• Universidad de Oriente (UO)strategicStrategic or Co-development PartnerUniversity partnership for student mobile line access through Plan Sectorial and digital inclusion initiatives.
• Universidad de Ciencias Médicas (UCM)strategicStrategic or Co-development PartnerMedical university partnership for student mobile access and digital inclusion programs.
• DesoftcoreTechnology or IntegrationIT company developing and maintaining ETECSA's website and digital platforms. Developed Fevexpo virtual events platform.
• Inter-American Association of Telecommunications Companies (ASIET)strategicStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional association with Secretary General Maryleana Méndez participating in Informática 2022 convention. Promotes Latin American telecom development and digital transformation.
• International Roaming PartnerscoreTechnology or Integration34+ international roaming agreements with operators worldwide including Bell, Telus, Rogers (Canada); Bouygues, SFR, Orange (France); TIM, Iliad, Wind (Italy); BT, O2 (UK); MegaFon, MTS (Russia), enabling bilateral GSM, GPRS, 3G, and LTE services.

Scale indicators14 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• CANTV: CANTV is Venezuela's state-owned incumbent telecom with a similar monopoly position, providing fixed, mobile, internet, and data services across the country. Both are national-scale state operators in politically constrained Latin American economies, with comparable workforce size and product portfolios.
• Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) - Kolbi: ICE/Kolbi is Costa Rica's state-owned telecom operator offering mobile, fixed, internet, and enterprise services as the dominant national provider. Comparable to ETECSA as a comprehensive state-owned operator serving a small Latin American population with a similar service mix.
• Corporación Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (CNT) Ecuador: CNT is Ecuador's state-owned telecom offering fixed, mobile, internet, and TV services nationwide. Both operators share the state-owned monopoly model, comprehensive service portfolio, and dependence on national economic conditions in a Latin American context.
• Entel Bolivia: Entel is Bolivia's state-owned telecom operator providing mobile, fixed, and internet services as the dominant national player. The closest comparable to ETECSA in terms of state-mandated national coverage and full-stack service delivery in a politically aligned Latin American economy.
• Digicel: Digicel is a Caribbean-focused mobile operator serving markets with similar demographics and economic conditions to Cuba. Comparable in mobile-first service mix, prepaid-heavy customer base, and dependence on tourism-driven roaming revenue across small island economies.
• Altice Dominicana (CODETEL): Altice Dominicana is the dominant fixed, mobile, and broadband operator in the Dominican Republic. Comparable to ETECSA in serving a Caribbean Hispanophone market with full-service telecom offerings including enterprise solutions and roaming relationships.

Broad incumbents

• América Móvil (Claro): América Móvil operates Claro across most Latin American countries with mobile, fixed, and enterprise services. A broad incumbent serving similar customer profiles to ETECSA in adjacent markets, with vastly greater scale and 5G capabilities.
• Telefónica (Movistar) Latin America: Telefónica/Movistar operates across multiple Latin American countries offering mobile, fixed, and digital services. A broad incumbent comparable in product breadth to ETECSA, but operating at vastly greater scale and with newer technology deployments.
• Liberty Latin America: Liberty Latin America operates cable, fixed, and mobile services across the Caribbean and Latin America. Overlaps with ETECSA in Caribbean geographic exposure, tourism-related revenue mix, and enterprise/customer service focus.

Regional players

• Telecel Paraguay: Telecel (Tigo Paraguay) is a leading mobile operator in Paraguay with a comparable customer base size and prepaid-heavy mix. Regional peer with similar emerging-market dynamics, though operating in a different geography than ETECSA.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ETECSA_Cuba
• YouTubeyoutube.com/c/EtecsaCuba
• Facebookfacebook.com/747121515353787
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/etecsa-cuba
• Instagraminstagram.com/etecsa_cuba_oficial

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about ETECSA