Google inks deal with Cuba to speed up Internet service

Google announced that it signed a new deal with Cuba's state-run telecommunications company to speed up Internet service for Cubans using YouTube and other Google products. The move, however, will affect only a small percentage of Cubans since the vast majority of communist country's 11 million residents do not have access to the Internet.

Google has been making small inroads into Cuba over the past two years as the United States works to re-establish diplomatic relations with its Cold War foe. On Dec 12, Google CEO Eric Schmidt signed the latest deal in Havana with Mayra Arevich Marin, president of State Enterprise of Telecommunications of Cuba, the government-run communications company known as ETECSA that handles all Internet and phone services in Cuba. The deal will provide Google's "Global Cache" service to the island, which reduces the amount of time it takes high-bandwidth content to load by storing data on servers on the island.Google previously made available some of its other products on the island nation, including its Google Chrome Web browser and Google Play music service.