The lack of proper infrastructure and the lack of allocation of radio spectrum are some of the reasons why it is difficult for telecommunications companies to improve Internet connection or lower prices for services.
Internet operators in Costa Rica face adversities to improve service and provide better prices to consumers, including the deficit of appropriate infrastructure.
The percentage of the population with Internet access in Central America increased 17% between 2016 and 2018, increasing from 44% to 61%.
Data from the report "Internet in Central America 2018", compiled by the Commercial Trade Area of CentralAmericaData:
Currently, Costa Rica is the Central American country with the highest proportion of households with Internet access, with 77% of the total, followed by Panama with 67% and Honduras with 31%.
Competitiveness in the production of goods and services is directly dependent on the adoption of digital technologies, meaning that having connectivity is vital.
The World Bank is analyzing the impact of the internet and mobile telephony in economic development and the "digital dividend" generated by improving economies in general and the business sector in particular, and its productivity through digital technologies.
Imbalances in the penetration of ICT services have created a significant gap allowing to continue to increase investment and the volume of resources allocated to broadband and the sector in general.
From the Executive Summary of a report by the CAF entitled "Expansion of Regional Infrastructure for Internet Interconnection Traffic in Latin America":
In Panama it is up to 5.12 Mbps, in Nicaragua 3.53, in Honduras 3.43, Guatemala 3.32, in El Salvador 3.10, and in Costa Rica up to 2.81 Mbps.
The data has been provided by Speedtest.net, which based on download speed controls made by million of users, maintains a ranking of 188 countries according to the average download speeds in Mbps over the past 30 days where the average distance between the client and the server is less than 300 miles.
Devices connected to the internet will revolutionize consumption not only in terms of the way things are bought but also in the interaction between consumers and retailers.
From an article by the Costa Rican Foreign Trade Promotion Office (PROCOMER):
Mobile devices continue to change buying habits and defining the profile of the online shopper was the topic of discussion at Mobile Commerce Congress, the first conference dedicated exclusively to mobile commerce as a new sales tool for retailers, conducted in Spain.
Communications currently being the engine of development, Latin America is moving at low speeds in a vehicle that is too costly.
An article in Elfinancierocr.com quotes the President of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Luis Alberto Moreno, who highlights what all Latin Americans are suffering from: a brutal disadvantage in the availability of broadband connectivity, compared with developed countries.
Along with the Central American Electrical transmission lines also being installed are thirty-six fiber optic cables, adding internet connectivity via underground lines.
The new network will allow prices to drop because of increased competition, said Orlando Martinez, director of the company that owns the network (EPR).
"How much does a megabit cost in your home today? About $15? Well, in the future with that $15 you could have 20 Mbps", he said.