The Washington Post reported that the ban will be lifted on Tuesday.

Besides lifting the cell phone restrictions, Castro has also ended the bans on personal purchases of some electronics, including computers, video players, televisions and electric bicycles and car alarms, the Post said.

"This could have a massive impact," Manuel Cuesta, a Cuban dissident, said of the cell phone ban's lifting in a telephone interview from Havana. "It opens the possibility for more contact with foreigners, for more text messaging, for a culture of mass communication. You can almost publish a newspaper with messages sent over cell phones."

Cuesta said the move does not affect government limits on free speech and foreign travel and prohibitions on the ownership and sale of private property.

"This is not going to affect in any way the total control that the government has," Cuesta told the newspaper. "This is a small step toward liberalization."