Many Cubans will soon be able to use cell phones for the first time. President Raul Castro's government says that the cell phone service, which in the past was reserved for only a selected few, will be extended to the ordinary citizens.

The announcement of the lifting of major restrictions on mobile phone use for common Cubans has been met with great joy.

Jorge Chavez, a resident of Havana, says Cuba is trying to keep pace with the world.

"Cuba is progressing with the world and the progress had to reach us common people too."

Some Cubans previously ineligible for cell phones have already obtained them by having foreigners sign contracts in their names, but mobile phones are not nearly as common in Cuba as elsewhere in Latin America or the world.

The telecommunications monopoly Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba SA, or ETECSA, says it will allow the general public to sign prepaid contracts in Cuban Convertible Pesos, which are geared towards tourists and foreigners and worth 24 times the regular pesos Cuban state employees are paid in.

Juan Valdes, another Havana resident, expresses his excitement.

"I think it's truly a good thing and very necessary. The mobile phone in our society will now become something of the first order. I really think it's a good thing."

ETECSA has promised further detailed instructions on how the new plan will be implemented.