Direct telephone connections between the United States and Cuba have been established, Cuba's national telecom provider said on Wednesday. The connection is the first commercial accord realized since the December rapprochement between the two longtime adversaries.

The U.S.-based IDT Corp reached an agreement with Cuba's Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba S.A. (ETECSA) to provide direct international long distance telephony.

This marks the first finalized agreement between companies from the two countries since the joint December 17 announcement by U.S. President Barack Obama and his Cuban counterpart Raul Castro that they would restore diplomatic relations.

ETECSA said in a statement, "The re-establishment of direct communications between the US and Cuba will contribute a lot to greater quality of communications between the people of both nations."

Phone communication between the two countrie was still possible, even after the United States imposed an economic embargo on Cuba in the 1960s but with calls had to pass through third countries, which caused high prices.