Verizon to offer roaming wireless service in Cuba from next week

“Our customers are citizens of the world, and we want them to seamlessly enjoy a great Verizon experience wherever they travel”, said, Javier Farfan, vice president of cultural and segment marketing for Verizon. In April, Boost Mobile announced an addition to their prepaid offers that lets those in the U.S. easily, but not cheaply, call their friends or relatives in Cuba.

Verizon Communications Inc. announced on September .

Verizon (NYSE:VZ) will begin offering roaming wireless service in Cuba next week, becoming the first USA company to do so. The price for connectivity is fairly high, though, coming in at $2.99 per minute for talk and $2.05 per megabyte of data.

Telecommunications technology and services were some of the first exemptions applied to a United States economic embargo after the two nations agreed on plans to reopen diplomatic relations last December.

The announcement by the No. 1 US wireless carrier follows the restoration of diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States in July after 54 years.

Verizon’s new scheme, on the other hand, encourages its subscribers in the U.S. to go and explore Cuba for themselves.

Roughly about 2 million people out of the communist-run island’s population of 11 million already have cell phones.

Currently, visiting Americans must purchase plans through state-owned Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba to have cellular service on the island, or have a cellphone account in a third country.

Cuba is just the latest dot to be added to Verizon’s growing list of roaming territories, now spanning more than 225 countries.