Source: Google deal will make YouTube, others usable in Cuba

HAVANA – A source familiar with a deal being announced between Cuba and Google says it will make Google websites like YouTube run up to 10 times faster on the island.

Google is installing multiple servers in Cuba that will host much of the company’s most popular content, the person said on condition of anonymity because the deal had not yet been made public. The agreement was being announced by Google chairman Eric Schmidt Monday morning in Havana.

Storing Google data in Cuba eliminates the long distances that signals must travel from the island through Venezuela to the nearest Google server. The U.S. has no direct data link to the island, contributing to painfully slow internet speeds that make sites like YouTube virtually impossible to use for many.