Google just became the first foreign internet company to function in Cuba.
The search giant partnered with Cuba's national telecommunications agency to bring the nation Google Global Cache, allowing for faster and higher quality access to the services and content Google provides. That means, for example, better access to YouTube videos, as two Google executives wrote back in December.
"This means that Cubans who already have access to the internet and want to use our services will see an improvement in terms of the quality of the same and a reduction in latency for the contents in cache," the executives wrote.
This will provide Cubans faster access to Google-related websites, though it's only a baby step in the direction of greater internet access and speed for the country as a whole. Only around one in 20 homes have an internet connection, and using wifi in the country is often prohibitively expensive, not to mention excruciatingly slow by the standards you're likely used to if you're reading this article.
Google did reportedly offer to profoundly expand Cuba's internet access through wifi and mobile access, but Cuban officials have decided against it for the time being, despite having among the slowest average internet connections on the planet.
