Cuba, where internet access is largely limited to government employees and pricey pay-by-hour public access, plans to start offering wireless service for the first time this month, officials say.

Wireless internet connections for laptops, smartphones or tablets will get a limited rollout through state-run telecommunications firm Etecsa in Cuba's second-largest city, Santiago de Cuba.

"Santiago (de Cuba) has been picked by Etecsa to test wi-fi service late this month," read a statement on Saturday on the website of the Union of Cuban Journalists, a government association.

Cuba, the only communist-run country in the Americas, allows some locals such as journalists, doctors and athletes to have internet access at home.

But anyone who wants their own router for a wi-fi signal needs permission from the Communications Ministry first.

Tech-savvy young Cubans often piggy-back on the signals of hotels and government offices.

The journalists' site said wi-fi access will cost $US4.50 ($A4.87) an hour. That is the same rate, unaffordable to many, as that offered at public internet cafes.

Most Cubans make under $US20 a month.

Last year, 3.4 per cent of homes in Cuba had internet access - one of the world's lowest rates, according to international technology authorities.