After the session between Sutel and the operators interested in participating in the public auction of the 5G network, the businessmen ask the authorities to draw up a roadmap and a schedule that includes the recovery and availability of the required frequencies.
Claro, the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE), Telefónica, Call May Way, Huawei Technologies Costa Rica, Next Curve, Telecable, Viasat and Cabletica, were some of the 12 operators that attended the hearing called by the Superintendence of Telecommunications (Sutel), in which the willingness of the companies to participate in the public auction of the frequencies of the radioelectric spectrum in question was known.
The company Telefonica went from monopolizing 22.3% of the total mobile telephone subscriptions in the country in 2015, to concentrating 29.9% at the end of last year.
According to a report prepared by the Superintendence of Telecommunications (Sutel), which was released on November 17th, in the last few years Telefonica has gained ground in the mobile telephone market, and in the cases of Claro and the Costa Rican Institute of Electricity (ICE), they have decreased their share.
If the bill that has already been approved in a first debate in Congress successful, the Panamanian mobile telephone market will have only three participants, instead of four, as at present.
The aim of the bill is "... to consolidate the market so that the necessary investments in infrastructure can be achieved and thus technologically renew coverage of these services in Panama."
Operators are questioning the slow pace of the Superintendency in analyzing the market to determine the existence of effective competition and eliminate caps on rates.
The study being carried out by the Telecommunications Authority to analyze the details of the market and define whether there is effective competition should be ready by the end of the year, but operators say the lack of speed with which the process is being carried, will prevent this deadline from being met. This will delay the eventual liberalization of tariffs in telephony and internet services.
A ruling by the Administrative Court has annulled the General Rules for Municipal Licenses for Telecommunications and is demanding the preparation of a new one in less than three months.
The ruling by the tribunal in a lawsuit filed by Claro in January 2014, indicates that the Municipality of Alajuela must pay damages to the company, after it argued that it was unable to build telecommunications infrastructure in the region of Alajuela because of the regulations by which the municipality was governed.
Six years after the market opened, authorities are assessing whether competition is effective in order to eliminate caps and free up rates for mobile telephony and the internet.
The methodology for determining whether or not there is effective or genuine competition in the telecommunications market has already been approved and the Telecommunications Regulator expects to have the results no later than the end of the year.
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 has invested $15 million in a latest generation fiber optic network which will interconnect overland with Central Mexico.
Movistar, the mobile phone brand of Telefónica, has invested $15 million in a fiber optic network that will cover 3,158 kilometers and will connect to Central America and Mexico by land.
Juan Castroverde manager of Movistar Panama said that "through the Central Telefónica network, companies will have greater capacity, quality, security and reliability of their data. The network will have an initial capacity of 10 Gigabits per second for data transmission, in addition to providing a variety of routes and connection points."
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.
After the opening up of the telecommunications market, the number of postpaid cellular lines are down from 1.6 million in 2010 to 1.1 million as at the end of 2012.
Prepaid connections currently represent 80% of the lines that exist in the country, while two years ago the figure was barely 49%, according to a study by the Telecommunications Superintendency (Sutel).
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).
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.
After the appearance of number portability in Panama, Claro is the company that has attracted the most users, with 94,773, while only 12,396 have switched to another company.
Following this company is Movistar who "... has gained 26,517 users, Más Móvil with 26,540 and in last place Digicel, which has attracted only 17,258 users, according to a study by the polling company Ipsos" published Panamaamerica.com.pa.
In late 2011 when outside operators came into the country, the Costa Rican Electricity Institute had 90% of the mobile market but a year later this dropped to 79%.
The information comes from the Telecommunications Statistical Report prepared by the Superintendency of Telecommunications (Sutel). The report indicates that the fastest growing company in the same period was Claro, which went from having 3% to 9% of the market in twelve months.