On Friday, Raul Castro announced that, for the first time, Cubans are now legally permitted to own and use cell phones.

"The decision, announced in an understated manner on Page 2 of the Communist Party daily Granma, adds to an array of developments that indicate that Castro, 76, is beginning to reshape day-to-day life in the Western Hemisphere's last communist outpost after decades of working in the shadow of his older brother, Fidel," writes the Washington Post's Manuel Roig-Franzia.

"The small wireless market in Cuba is a monopoly controlled by Empresa de telecomunicaciones de Cuba S.A., or ETECSA," writes CNET News' Marguerite Reardon. "The company has said it will soon offer prepaid contracts to the general public now that the ban has been lifted."

"Although the news is promising for Cuba, which currently has the lowest rate of cellular use in Latin America, it likely won't be priced for the average citizen," notes Switched's Dan Reilly. "The plans can only be bought in Cuban Convertible Pesos, worth 24 times the regular Cuban peso used in normal paychecks."

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