The Cuban government has allowed public Wi-Fi at a cultural center in Havana, the first known free access to the internet where infrastructure or cost leaves most of its citizens offline.
The Wi-Fi connection was sanctioned by the state-run company Etecsa, prompting dozens of people to flock to the center run by Cuban artist Alexis Leiva Machado, or better known as Kcho, the Associated Press reported.
The connection was reported as being slower than what most countries experience, but it has given online access to people who are often priced out, or don't have the infrastructure to connect.
People in the center were seen accessing sites such as Facebook, and using the connection to call relatives in the U.S.
The password to access the Wi-Fi is posted on an exterior wall of the center, prompting passersby to also connect with the internet.
When the U.S. and Cuban governments announced they would resume diplomatic relations, officials also suggested the island nation would be upgrading its communications network.
Home connections are rare in the country, and internet cafes are too costly for many residents, although in February, the government announced it would reduce hourly rates.
With limited ways of connecting, Cubans have found ways of getting access to electronic information.
Businesses offer "Paquete Semanales," or weekly packets, where someone downloads information like news, movies and software. Someone then physically walks to subscribers who download the information from external drives.
The use of Wi-Fi connections has not been permitted by Cuba, but many state offices, hotels and embassies "forget" to secure their connections as way to anonymously facilitate connectivity, the AP reported.
A spokeswoman for Kcho told the AP that the free Wi-Fi began being offered two months ago.
"It began as an experiment that this could be a place from which art emits energy for rejuvenation and consolidation, not just only from our socialist project, but also the neighborhood and the Cuban people," Leysi Rubio said.
According to Freedom House, a human right's group, Cuba's internet penetration among the population was about 15% in 2012.