The Superintendence of Telecommunications, as Sectorial Competition Authority, approved the purchase by Cabletica of 100% of the operations of Telefonica de Costa Rica, which offers telephony and mobile Internet services nationwide.
After Telefónica was acquired by Millicom, the company plans to invest $1.25 billion in the next five years to expand the network and its services to companies in the country.
On May 16, Millicom reported that it closed the acquisition of Telefonía Celular de Nicaragua, S.A., the number one mobile operator in the country, in addition to TIGO Nicaragua's existing cable operation.
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%.
Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad is evaluating the Salvadoran market to determine if there is an opportunity to establish itself as a new broadband operator.
The state telecommunications company already has a presence in Nicaragua, where in conjunction with the state company Enatrel, it operates the company Telecomunica, which provides internet and television services.
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 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.
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.
A report by Akamai highlights an 8.4% drop in the average connection speed in Costa Rica in the second quarter compared to the same period last year.
Between late 2014 and June this year, Costa Rica fell 20 positions in the ranking of broadband Internet, surpassing only Paraguay, Bolivia and Venezuela. Panama recorded a slight growth of 1% in the period in question, while Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Honduras, did not even figure in the report.
Using a World Bank loan coverage and internet telephony will be expanded in the North Caribbean Coast, the South Caribbean Coast, the Autonomous Region, and Rio San Juan and Managua.
From a statement issued by the World Bank:
MANAGUA, August 17, 2016 – The World Bank (WB) and the Government of Nicaragua signed today an agreement to implement a project aimed at increasing broadband access and make further progress in the development of Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs), especially in the Caribbean region of Nicaragua.
Improving infrastructure and increasing competition from internet providers not only helps increase coverage and improve the service but also reduces its cost.
The fact that Nicaragua is the most expensive Central American country in terms of connecting to the internet means there is a need not only to improve basic infrastructure, but also to increase competition, thereby improving prices and services provided.