No subject

According to the story, researchers and business people, who had noticed th=
e
demand for cell phones among people, organized an experiment. They called
for an activity at the famous polyhedron of Caracas. At the entrance to the
facility there was a bag-checking system where the cell phones of the
participants were collected =C2=93for security reasons,=C2=94 given the =C2=
=93stature of
the authorities participating in the event.=C2=94 The phones were returned =
to
their owners at the end of the activity.

It was found, however, that the great majority of the devices gathered that
night were toys =C2=96 toys! Others were phones without lines. Thousand of =
people
carried fake or disconnected phones just to show off the status and power
they lacked. They turned them on in buses and on the street, dialed the
numbers and acted like they were talking.

Cuba is also full of these types of actors. They can be seen among those wh=
o
demand and complain the most; and even among young people and teens who
think that turning on a cell phone, acting as if they are waiting for a
call, surfing the menu, or checking a list of names on a cell phone is
something prestigious and playful. Pretending; what a sad state of affairs,
what ostentation.

Published complaints and comments, which only echoed those who obtained a
line illegally =C2=97through relatives living abroad or by buying a roaming
service from a foreign company=C2=97, in a =C2=93non-conventional=C2=94 man=
ner, deserve
another analysis. According to the news hawkers, this was the only way to
have access to cell phone service in Cuba.

Certainly, the thousands of workers and Cuban officials =C2=97by the way, n=
ot
only the most important people and sometimes not even them=C2=97 who were
beneficiaries of the cell phone service for work reasons or the activity in
which they were engaged (either manual or intellectual) don't count.=20
Nor those who were provided with cell phones because they lived in the=20
most remote places on the island and could, thanks to the mobile service,
communicate with the rest of the island for the first time.

By referring to figures on the coverage of mobile telephones around the
world (Wireless World Forum), reality is shown as being different. The old,
small and smug Europe appears as the leader, with its exultant levels of
life unapproachable for the rest of the planet, unaware of the reality that
surrounds it. Not even the Americans, as free as they say they are, can
exhibit such an encouraging performance. They only have medium coverage,
despite being the largest economy on the planet. This says a great deal
about the lines that will exist in that country when coverage extends over
its entire territory, and the wallets of all Americans who will have to pay
those bills from Bell, ATT and other phone companies.

The emerging markets, those that pride themselves by encouraging us to join
the parade, appear more like Cuba. However, figures can always be
manipulated. As long as they have populations that are much larger than
ours, the millions of devices and services sold are magnified, though this
says nothing about their geographic reach and much less about the percentag=
e
of all of the countries represented. In the end, they all remain silent.
There is no discussion of freedoms or the common benefit produced, only how
the communications transnationals can make more money.

No one speaks of how, in any part of the world, to pay for a telephone it i=
s
necessary to work and earn an honest wage, and not to live off of wheeling
and dealing, or an uncle's remittances or a foreign benefactor. Almost none
of those mathematicians, so skillful at comparing Cubans=C2=92 wages =C2=97=
but never
their real income=C2=97 mentions the fact that the prices charged by ETECSA=
 [the
Cuban phone company] are among the lowest in the world. This is even true
when many, including this journalist, are not in a position to have one;
though a cell phone is neither their priority nor something to get worked u=
p
or bent out of shape about. Nor does anyone say a word about how, for
connection reasons, the Caribbean =C2=97where Cuba is located=C2=97 is, alo=
ng with the
Pacific islands, the area with the world=C2=92s most expensive rates for ph=
one
services.

I=C2=92m glad about the news concerning cell phones. I=C2=92m glad for thos=
e whose
problems will be solved with it, just as much as I will chuckle at the
less-than-brilliant few who will continue showing them off as attributes of
their false power. I will also think about how some presumptuous leaders of
the =C2=93cellular=C2=94 era pollute their populations electromagnetically,=
 erecting
antennas indiscriminately to satisfy the greed of the companies. I won=C2=
=92t
stop to wonder how =C2=97with so much development (free of =C2=93trade bloc=
kades=C2=94) and
so much commercial abundance=C2=97 the hawkers of news will sell the good n=
ews
that the percentage of homes in Spain without telephones will no longer be
twice that of the European Union, as it is today, and that a third of those
from Galicia, and La Mancha who today lack that service will be able to mak=
e
havoc and line up for a telephone call.

=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
     WALTER LIPPMANN
     Los Angeles, California
     Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
     "Cuba - Un Para=C3=ADso bajo el bloqueo"
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D