Operator, operator ...

So, how much will it cost for Cubans to join the mobile phone revolution?

According to this article in the Spanish daily El Pais, Cubans wanting their own mobile phones will need to pay all the costs in hard currency, rather than the nearly worthless ordinary pesos used by the Castro regime to pay all wages.

The cost of getting connected in US dollars is a nifty $120, plus the cost of the actual phone. And unlike phone users in other countries, who can join plans and save money on calls, Cubans will only be able to use pre-paid phone cards, which work out at around 50 cents a minute.

Given that the average monthly wage is the equivalent of about US$17.00, the newspaper estimates that a Cuban worker would be able to spend his or her entire pay packet in just 38 minutes of mobile phone talk.

Thanks, Raul.