The company is looking to introduce its brand via offering satellite TV and later cell phone services.
Ricardo Taylor, general manager for Claro in Costa Rica, told La Nación that the company had already asked the government for a frequency through which to transmit the satellite signal it uses to provide customers with its service.
"América Móvil wants to begin to position its Claro brand, present in 18 North and South American countries, in order to sell products such as cell phones, internet and television, often as part of a single package," the director was reported as saying in Sdpnoticias.com.
The state monoply squeezes what it can out of the opening of the Costa Rican telecommunications market.
An article on El Financiero's web portal states that buying a cell phone plan from Costa Rica's state-owned electricity and telecommunications provider (ICE), "costs up to $500 more than buying one separately".
"Whether you buy a phone in a Costa Rican shop, online or from a shop in the US, it will cost more to purchase it as part of a plan with ICE," the article states.
The upcoming publication of the conditions for the opening up of telecommunications leads operators to request clearer rules.
Telecommunication companies have asked Costa Rica's Telecommunications Regulator (SUTEL) to provide greater clarity in several areas including procedures for installing Radio Bases, interfacing with networks belonging to the state-owned electricity and telecommunications provider (ICE), and microwave communication.
The Costa Rican Electricity Institute will extend the coverage of its GSM network with 215 new radio bases.
Facing increased demand for GSM phone lines, the institute will buy new ones and make them available to consumers in July.
The decision to invest in GSM would be in response to little consumer interest for 3G devices and technology.
Eduardo Doryan, executive president of the Institute, told Nacion.com that “ICE also wants to improve the 3G platform, to position it among consumers with higher purchasing power”.
A committee called “Comisión de Apertura y Evaluación” (Opening and Evaluation Commission) will evaluate the technical and economic considerations of the proposals.
Designated by the Telecommunications Superintendence (Sutel), the committee must also write an adjudication report for the Superintendence’s council.
Sutel will “send a recommendation to the Executive, and President Laura Chinchilla will be the final responsible for choosing which three companies will operate in the country”, reported Elfinancierocr.com.
Costa Rica will take between 6 and 9 months to award mobile telephony licenses.
Sutel, the Telecommunications Superintendence, explained that it could take even more time, as they didn’t consider how long it may take for the Comptroller to validate the contracts or if a telecom operator goes to the courts.
Last week, Sutel published preliminary bidding rules for this process, but representatives from the Superintendence remarked that these don’t include reference prices or plans for developing the networks.
The first quarter century of our lives is a clear frontier in how we behave, and must be taken into consideration when designing advertising campaigns.
A study by Retrevo, which attempted to establish if Social Networks can become addictive, also confirmed large differences between people under and over 25 on how they relate with general media and social media.
The Telecomm Superintendence published draft bidding rules for Using and Exploiting the Radio Frequency Spectrum and Providing Mobile Telecommunication Services.
After several delays, the Public Services Authority of Costa Rica (Aresep), published in its web site a draft of the bidding rules for opening the telecomm market.
Interested companies may forward their comments and observations to the Telecommunications Superintendence (Sutel), on a public audience that will take place on May 21, 14:00, at Hotel Real Intercontinental.
Be ready to comply with a long list of changing requisites, and make room in your agenda to dedicate time to the process.
Johanna Bozo Paz Castillo, a Venezuelan journalist who resides in Costa Rica, provided a neutral approach on the ordeal that becomes getting a mobile phone line in the country.
The long awaited telecommunications aperture, established in the Free Trade Agreement between the U.S and Central America (DR-CAFTA), is still long overdue. In practical terms, the country is still months away (possibly over a year), from actual free competition between telecom operators in Costa Rica.
CableTica, a local cable company, will install a fiber optics network to provide services to mobile telephony operators and internet television.
Parent company Televisora de Costa Rica S.A. reported they signed a contract with Ericsson to build and operate the network over the next 5 years.
“With the network, CableTica will be able to transport any type of data –including television and Internet – and will lay the groundwork for future IPTV services”, reported Elfinancierocr.com.
In 2015 Central America will sell $2 billion in paid television and broadband services, both wireless and cable.
A report from consulting company Signals Telecom foresees a battle in broadband services, as the average speeds offered in Central America are below South American and Caribbean averages.
They also expect competition to cause improvements in 3G coverage, and the introduction of more added value services.
This week, the telecommunications superintendence (SUTEL) will publish preliminary bidding rules for opening the telephony market.
George Miley, president of the board at Sutel, explained that this document will be available at the website of the Public Services Authority (ARESEP) for an entire month.
Miley stated that “we won’t include strategic details such as a minimum bidding price, … the idea is that interested companies make additions and suggestions to the rules”.
Costa Rica committed to open its telecom market before February 5 when it signed DR-CAFTA.
A report by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, which analyzed telecommunications compliance, requested Costa Rica to urgently complete the opening process.
George Miley, president of the Costa Rican Telecommunications Superintendence, explained that the bidding rules were ready in December, but in order to continue the process, the Environment Ministry must still deliver the microwave frequencies. Such frequencies are used to send cellular signals between towers and linking them to the systems of each of the telecomm providers.
The process to publish the bidding rules for auctioning several frequencies of the radio spectrum to mobile phone operators is on hold since February.
Sutel, the country’s telecommunication superintendence, explained they are waiting for the government to send the National Frequency Distribution Plan (which modifies the definition of microwave frequencies).
The Telecommunications Superintendence was authorized by the Comptroller of the Republic to resume the process for auctioning mobile telephony frequencies.
This process was halted in January, as some legislators questioned the transparency of the bidding rules.
Congressmen argued if it was adequate to have law firm BLP involved in defining the bidding rules, as this firm represents some of the companies interested in the process.