This may sound a bit odd, but Cubans under a certain Mr. Castro never really had the luxury of owning cell phones. Those like the internet were simply banned. Oh and did I mention buying computers was not an easy task as well?

Coming back to cell phones, these certainly existed but for government officials only. Anyone else who managed to get one and was found using it was punishable under law. Fortunately, Castros successor isnt the brute that he was and has managed to change a few laws. Allowing cell phone sales is one.

The service will come as a joint venture with Cuban telecommunications monopoly ETECSA and Telecom Italia. Cubans will be able to buy pre-paid cell phones and also able to make international calls on them. There is a catch, you need to pay in CUCs not pesos (the local Cuban currency) and the CUCs just happen to be about 24 times more valuable than the Peso.

The convertible peso (sometimes given as CUC$) (informally called a chavito), is one of two official currencies in Cuba, the other being the peso. It has been in limited use since 1994, when it was treated as equivalent to the U.S. dollar. On November 8, 2004, the U.S. dollar ceased to be accepted in Cuban retail outlets leaving the convertible peso as the only currency in circulation in many Cuban businesses. Officially only exchangeable within the country, its value is currently pegged to $1.08 USD.

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