Cuba will continue to limit Internet access even after a fiber optic cable linking the island with Venezuela comes online in 2010, a top official said.

The new cable is 1,550 kilometers (960 miles) long and will dramatically increase the island's level of connectivity, according to officials.

"We believe that the most responsible policy is to privilege collective access" to the Internet, said Boris Moreno, deputy minister of computer science and communication.

Nevertheless, there is a desire for "larger number of citizens to have Internet access," technical and economic conditions allowing, Moreno told the daily Juventud Rebelde.

But he warned that the new fiber optic cable "will not necessarily decrease the price the country pays for connection to international networks."