As tension between the U.S. and Cuba calm, Cuba will be getting an integral part of American culture - Netflix.
Netflix announced on Monday that it would be extending its video streaming service to Cuba, only a few weeks after U.S. and Cuban officials met in an effort to reopen ties between the two countries.
"We are delighted to finally be able to offer Netflix to the people of Cuba, connecting them with stories they will love from all over the world," said Netflix co-founder and CEO Reed Hastings in a statement. "Cuba has great filmmakers and a robust arts culture and one day we hope to be able to bring their work to our global audience of over 57 million members."
While it is certainly a step forward, most Cubans will not be able to enjoy marathons of TV shows just yet. Only five percent of Cubans currently have unfiltered Internet access, mostly because of the fact that Internet is so expensive to those who want it there. Not only that, but even those who have Internet access will likely not want to fork out the extra cash for Netflix.
The average monthly income in Cuba is currently a little over $20 USD, with a Netflix account costing $7.99 per month. Obviously, asking someone to pay over 40 percent of their monthly income for a service that they don't really need is ridiculous. Plus, that 40 percent is on top of what they already pay for Internet access.
To make matters worse, even those who have Internet do not have fast Internet. The average Internet speed in Cuba is currently 1.38 Mbps, which certainly isn't enough to stream high quality video.
Still, the move is a good one for Netflix. Not only is it great for publicity, but it also means that the service will be available to people as more get connected to the Internet. Internet access will be a big part of the improving relations between the U.S. and Cuba, and as such the service that is there first will have a head start on getting more subscribers. It is likely that the change will be slow, however it will happen.
"We understand there are short-term limitations but hope that over time Cubans will be able to enjoy Netflix access," said a company representative in an interview. "We've said we plan to be global by end of 2016, and Cuba was the only country in the Western Hemisphere where we couldn't operate legally."
