Connection - Havana’s Wifi Hotspots - Photos by Ste Murray
Internet connectivity in Cuba is limited, controlled and expensive. Despite this, Cubans gather in vast numbers at the hotspots dotted around the country. The sheer volume of people trying to catch some connection is most evident in Havana’s public squares. Here, people video-call relatives, share photos of their loved ones, write emails, and catch up on the latest sports news.
The appeal of the screen is quantifiable in these crowded places, everyone together, but focused on their individual tasks at hand. It's not too dissimilar to a more developed country’s network, except here people are gathered in specific communal places for a limited time (using prepaid cards), as opposed to accessing the internet at any time with readily available mobile data.
As the light in the sky fades, the lights from the devices grow. The public spaces are lit by streetlights and phone screens, like fireflies scattered about the area. These are people trying to connect and communicate.
