The Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad's share in the mobile phone market fell to 65%.
At the end of 2012 Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) owned a 79% stake in the mobile market, and this was reduced to 65% in September 2013. That portion of the market was taken over by the foreign competitors Claro and Movistar.
According to figures from the Telecommunications regulator mentioned in an article on Nacion.com , "up to September 2013 the ICE had 4,278,183 active lines, which represents an increase of 0.7 % compared to the 4,248,684 lines it had in the last quarter of 2012."
Movistar's appeal accusing the ICE of concentration of 2.6 Ghz spectrum and impeding it from using the 4G network until the law suit was resolved, has been rejected.
The Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad may continue marketing cellular services for its 4G network after the Administrative Court rejected an appeal by its competitor Movistar.
Costa Rica is the regional leader in 4G data consumption through mobile devices and 4G networks.
America Movil (Claro) and Telefonica (Movistar) agree that Costa Rica is the country with the highest data traffic in Central America, this is because it is the only country that does not charge for downloading data, but rather by the speed offered by providers.
The Supreme Administrative Court has rejected a suit by Movistar to prevent the state telephone company using 2.6 GHz band to operate its 4G LTE network.
Telefónica, which operates under the Movistar brand, went to court in early October to seek a review of the band spectrum and specifically, "to defend an equitable distribution of the spectrum," said Matias Señorán, spokesman for the company in Costa Rica.
With its entry into force in late November, both the regulator as well as telephone companies predict fierce competition because of attempts to retain and attract customers.
"This law promotes stronger dynamism in the market and gives the user the power to negotiate what suits them. It requires companies to provide more service. It is a climate of true market competition," said Eduardo Castellon spokesman for the Superintendencia de Telecomunicaciones (Sutel).
Telefónica has filed a lawsuit so that the state telecom company refrains from using the 2.6 GHz band to operate its 4G LTE network.
The lawsuit by the company that operates under the Movistar brand was filed against the state and the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE). The measure also aims to ensure that ICE refrains from promoting or informing on its intention to provide fourth generation cellular services until the court issues a ruling.
In Costa Rica, 71% of users connect to the internet via their cell phone, while 68% do so using a computer at home.
Elfinancierocr.com reports that "that means that about 920,000 people say that they connect to the internet using a mobile device," according to a study prepared by Unimer RED 506, which noted that access through this medium grew by 56% compared to 2011 and 30% compared to 2012.