Cuban students seek concessions as frustration grows over internet rate hikes

Cuban students clamored for further concessions to roll back a rate hike on internet data, saying a decision on Monday to offer them discounted access did not go far enough.

Students of at least one department at the University of Havana, the country’s largest, called on their peers to skip classes in protest of the price hikes, which have been rebuked across the Caribbean island nation.

Reuters spoke with several students outside the university on Wednesday who confirmed the calls for a class boycott in some departments.

They said the situation remained tense on campus, and the issues unresolved, despite concessions on Monday from state-run telecommunications firm Etecsa that offered deeper data plan discounts for university students.

Haydee Fernandez, a 28-year-old student, said the price increases were unreasonable.

“I can’t study if I don’t have up-to-date (online) information,” she said. “If it’s necessary to stop classes, they should be stopped until there’s a logical response to these needs.”

Four students said attendance appeared largely normal on Wednesday but that many students continued to threaten walkouts.