Feds Lift Restrictions on U.S. Telecoms in Cuba

The Federal Communications Commission removed Cuba from its exclusions list Friday, making it easier for U.S. telecommunications companies to offer services there. Cuba was the last country to be removed from the list.

Before Friday, service providers had to attain separate approval from the FCC before offering services in the Caribbean country. Cuba’s population of about 11 million has just one modern, fixed Internet connection to the world, the Wall Street Journal reports, meaning it is ripe for fresh infrastructure investment.

The agency said in a release that lifting the exclusion will “promote competition on the U.S.-Cuba route” and lessen financial and administrative burdens.

U.S. investment in Cuba has rocketed, after the two countries normalized diplomatic relations in 2015 after a decades-long detente.