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%.
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.
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:
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.
The state run telecommunications company has announced it will be investing $100 million in internet infrastructure to offer broadband and fiber optics services.
The general manager of the Honduran Telecommunications Company (Hondutel), Jesus Mejia, said in remarks published by Latribuna.hn that they will be investing approximately $100 million, about 2,200 million lempiras to increase supply in two market segments.
The government's proposal sets 40 goals which should be completed by 2021, focused on broadcasting, e-government, spectrum, the broadband digital divide and infrastructure.
From a statement issued by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Telecommunications (MICITT):
San Jose, 02 September, 2015. The Ministry of Science, Technology and Telecommunications (MICITT), specifically the Vice Ministry of Telecommunications as a specialized technical body, presents the proposal of the Second National Development Plan for Telecommunications (PNDT) 2015-2021.
A proposal has been made to draft a new telecommunications bill from scratch, completely leaving out the concepts of state control that the current proposal contains.
In the view of the private sector, the way the "Law on broadband" bill is drafted is not clear and leaves open the possibility for the State to exercise excessive control over internet access in the country.
The country's loss of competitiveness because of the deterioration of basic infrastructure development, is replicated in the case of the internet where average speeds are only 2.8 Mbps, far from the world average and below that of most countries in the region.
Costa Rica stands out in Central America for the quality and volume of goods and services related to technology which it produces and exports.
The telecoms company plans to invest $50 million in equipment to expand 4G network coverage in remote areas of the capital.
Digicel El Salvador announced plans for 2015 to invest about $50 million, ie $10 million more than the invested made to upgrade technologies in 2014. Besides this project, the company will be updating the central management system for telephone calls, following the entry into force of number portability in the country.
The Superintendency of Telecommunications in Costa Rica is putting out to tender the service to provide access to Fixed Voice and Broadband Internet Services in the south of the country.
SUTEL-BNCR Competition No. 010-2014
Contract to provide access to Fixed Voice and Broadband Internet Services to all communities in the districts of Biolley, Brunka, Buenos Aires, Chánguena, Colinas, Pilas, Potrero Grande and Volcan, in the canton of Buenos Aires, Puntarenas province and the provision of these services to Public Service Delivery Centers located in these communities, with support from the National Telecommunications Fund.
With resources from the National Telecommunications Fund the infrastructure required to provide services in the north of the country will be built.
The municipalities of San Carlos, Los Chiles, Guatuso and Upala have signed an agreement to expedite the process needed to be completed by the telecommunications companies Claro and Movistar in order to install base stations and to provide Internet service in the area.
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 National Telecommunications Fund plans to develop seven projects in the areas of education, social welfare, health and homes, which will feature, for the first time, internet and telephone services.
According to the Telecommunications Superintendency (Sutel), there are a total of 477 schools, 78 colleges, 155 Ebais (health centres), 25 Cecis and 70 CEN- CINAI which will be connected with a speed of 4 megabytes.
The telecommunications industry is one of the most successful in El Salvador; its market is one of the most unregulated of Central America.
An article in Ecommerce Journal analyzed the Salvadoran Telecomm market and its opportunities. It noted that once the market was privatized and opened to competition in 1998, foreign and local operators proceeded to invest millions in infrastructure development.