Important Things to Know In Havana - Real Havana: Explore Cuba Like a Local and Save Money - page 154

How to Use a Phone in Havana
Making Local Calls
The cheapest way to make local calls is to simply use a local land-line phone. Most
casas particulares have land-line phones which the guests can use free of charge.
Phones located in hotel rooms can sometimes be used for local calls, but often this
service is disabled. Usually the receptionist at the front desk will permit you to
make local calls for free from the phones in the lobby.
You can also purchase a cheap Tarjeta Propia calling card. This card will allow you
to use any public phone to make local calls. It is one of the most popular forms of
communication on the island since public phones are often only set up to use
phone cards, rather than coins. You can visit any ETECSA sales outlet to buy a
Propia card for only 5 to 10 pesos (MN). It will entitle you to hundreds of minutes of
use.
Dialing Instructions for land-line and public phones
In order to use the Propia card at a public phone, simply dial 166 to enter the dir-
ectory, then dial the card number followed by the pin code.
- If you are calling a local land-line number then you must dial 07 , followed by the
seven digit local number.
- If you are calling a cell phone number then you must dial 05 , followed by the sev-
en digit cell phone number.
Dialing instructions using a Cuban based cell phone:
- If you are calling a local land-line number then you can simply dial the seven digit
local number, without any prefixes.
- If you are calling a cell phone number then you must dial 5 first, followed by the
seven digit cell phone number.
Making International Calls
In most cases, in order to reach a foreign number when dialing from Cuba you will
have to dial the international call prefix number before the phone number. In Cuba,
this number is 119. Although this method of calling is not exactly intuitive, it is
rather easy, once you get the hang of it. Dialing 119 before the call signals that the
call is international. You then dial your country code followed by the area code and
phone number that you desire.
I have included a short list of examples of the most common destinations and the
procedure for dialing their numbers.
Calling from Cuba to Canada or the United States: dial 119 then 1 then the area
code followed by the phone number.
Calling from Cuba to Mexico: dial 119 , then 52 , then the area code followed by the
phone number.