The country is also losing competitiveness because of its internet services, with average speeds reported of just 6.9 Mbps on the 4G network, far away from the world average and below the rest of Central America.
A report by the international company OpenSignal reports that Costa Rica's 4G network has the worst average global speed, just above India, where the average speed of the 4G network is 6.13 Mbps.
Just as having good physical roads is vital for production and commerce, the "information highway" must work perfectly if you want to take advantage of the benefits of remote working.
Costa Rica, which has serious problems in its road infrastructure, also has problems with the "information highway", according to the opinion of executives at companies that do teleworking.
A growing trend in online shopping is forcing malls to rethink their business models and renew their strategies for attracting customers.
While Internet shopping trends in Central American countries are still a long way behind more developed markets such as the United States, businesses are already starting to feel the effects of increased consumer interest in online shopping.
The parcel forwarding companies JetBox, Box Correos and Aeropost reported increases of between 12% and 35% in the number of packages shipped in the last three years.
The boom in Internet shopping has led leading delivery companies to open new delivery points and invest in technology in order to improve the service for end-users.
As of December 2016, 7.8 million mobile telephone lines and 1.9 million mobile internet subscribers were recorded, demonstrating growth of 1.5% and 17% compared to the previous quarter.
From the report "Performance of the Telecommunications Sector December 2016" by Conatel:
FIXED TELEPHONE SECTOR: At the end of this quarter, fixed telephone lines resulted in a total of 442,929 subscribers. The number of landline users decreased by 4.22% over the previous quarter, with both Hondutel and sub-operators experiencing losses in the number of subscribers.
It is estimated that the country has a delay of between 7 and 10 years in terms of access and use of mobile banking and electronic transactions compared to the United States and some South American countries.
The low level of bankization, low investment in technology and communication development, and difficulties in accessing the internet are some of the reasons why the country lags behind in relation to other nations in the use of applications and systems for making transactions online.
In Costa Rica a tender is being launched for the implementation of 100 MB of wireless internet access in parks, plazas, train stations and other public spaces.
$45 million will be invested in the project, and the aim is to connect 985 wireless access points in 360 districts of the country's 82 cantons, including 62 public libraries, 28 train stations and 7 civic centers for peace.The delivery of offers is scheduled for November 2017.Seedetails of the tender.
A plan is being worked on in Costa Rica to implement a broadband internet network for 2,500 educational centers in different areas of the country.
The proposal which is being worked on by the government and Fonatel is in the planning stage, and aims to develop a broadband internet network with different speeds and capacities, which would be defined according to the number of users in each educational center.
The Akamai report for the fourth quarter of 2016, notes that compared to the previous quarter, there was an increase of 10% on the average internet connection speed in Panama and a reduction of 1.2% in Costa Rica.
Although average internetaccess speed (IPv4) remains very low compared to otherLatin Americancountriesand other regions, the "Akamai State of the Internet IVQ 2016" report, states that both countries saw increases compared to the same quarter of 2015. Costa Rica registered an interannual increase of 15%, while in Panama the interannual increase was 47%.
The state run electricity company ICE and Claro have obtained contracts to build infrastructure to provide internet and mobile telephony services in 620 communities in the province of Limon.
From a statement issued by the Sutel:
January 5, 2017.The National Telecommunications Fund (FONATEL) through Banco Nacional, as administrator of the Trust, signed contracts with Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) and Claro to bring internet telephony to 620 vulnerable communities in the districts of Siquirres, Pococi, Guácimo, Matina, Limón and Talamanca.
A tender is being launched in Costa Rica for seven generic blocks (2 x 5 MHz) in the bands of 1800 MHz and 1900/2100 MHz of the radio spectrum for mobile telephony and Internet.
Government Purchase No. 354-2015 Costa Rica-TEL-MICITT:
"The Superintendency of Telecommunications (Sutel), is putting out to tender by means of a Public Act seven generic blocks (2 x 5 MHz) in the bands of 1800 MHz and 1900/2100 MHz for mobile telephony and internet services.
The Council of the SUTEL has declared to be under effective competition the following markets: International Telephony, Fixed Internet, International Roaming and Telecommunications Transit.
The Superintendency of Telecommunications postponed until the first quarter of 2017 the decision on a possible declaration of effective competition in mobile postpaid services.
The Superintendency of Telecommunications in Costa Rica is inviting bids for 7 projects to provide telephony and internet services to 52 districts in the Central Pacific and Chorotega Region.
From a statement issued by the Superintendency of Telecommunications in Costa Rica:
SUTEL opens competition to bring telephony and internet services to the Central Pacific and Guanacaste.
Cable Onda S.A., Cable & Wireless Panama and Liberty Technologies won the 4 year contracts to implement the service of nationwide public internet access in Panama.
Thetenderaims to provide WiFi Internet Access Points in three regions and a system for administration of the network. The winning companies were Cable Onda, S.A., Cable & Wireless Panama, S.A. and Liberty Technologies Corp., for a total amount of $21.6 million for the next four years, distributed as follows:
If the Sutel's proposal is approved, on December Costa Rica will eliminate the tariff regulation for the international telephone, internet and postpaid cellular telephony markets.
From a statement issued by the Superintendency of Telecommunications (Sutel):
The Superintendency of Telecommunications (Sutel), has started a process of public consultation of the technical analysis of the telecommunications markets.