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 market was declared dead several years ago, but the government of Costa Rica has been keeping it alive artificially at the expense of taxpayers purses.
Editorial
Radiographic Costarricense (RACSA), is a subsidiary of the state-owned Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE), the major player in the telecommunications industry in Costa Rica, even after the market opened in 2010.
While operators claim for effective competition on the market, the Telecommunications Authority has become a thorn in the side of the telcoms companies.
In the steps undertaken by Holst Van Patten S. A. for the acquisition of satellite internet services, the Telecommunications Superintendency (Sutel) asked the company to request an authorization for a merger and then retracted it clarifying that it would not go ahead.
The industry is calling for effective competition to be allowed with the market setting rates and not the Telecommunications Regulator.
Operators of telephony and internet services are asking for the establishment of maximum rates by the Superintendencia de Telecomunicaciones (Sutel) to be eliminated, applying what is contemplated in the Telecommunications Act, which allows the possibility of not intervening in the setting of rates.
Regulation of mobile telephony tariffs is preventing the development of efficient services and competition between operators.
Removing the tariff regulations on cellular services and improving the availability and access to broadband should be a priority for the new government, say experts in the field.
"Fabio Masís, executive director of the Chamber of Information and Technology Association says it is necessary to issue a declaration of effective mobile phone service competition so that operators can really compete for prices," reported Crhoy.com.
Five years after the fall of the monopoly, there are more companies, more users and a greater array of services on offer, with growth of 45% in the sector's contribution to GDP.
According to data reported by telecommunications companies to the Superintendency of Telecommunications (Sutel), the sector's contribution to the economy has grown by 45% over the past five years.
The implementation of a LTE network by the state telecom company in Costa Rica will stimulate the market, benefiting consumers.
In one month, the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad will launch a pilot scheme for a fourth generation cellular network using LTE technology, initially reserved for affluent areas and those with heavy internet use on mobile phones.