HAVANA — Google and the Cuban government signed a deal Monday allowing the Internet giant to provide faster access to its data by installing servers on the island that will store much of the company's most popular content.

Storing Google data in Cuba eliminates the long distances that signals must travel from the island through Venezuela to the nearest Google server. More than 50 years after cutting economic ties with Cuba, the U.S. has no direct data link to the island.

The deal removes one of the many obstacles to Internet in Cuba, which has limited access.