A change in the law requires more than 500 companies to cease using radio frequencies that had been granted to them on a temporary basis before 2008.
The companies grouped in the Chamber of Info-communication claimed that the frequencies granted temporarily under the law prior to 2008, are eligible for authorization for permanent operation, but that "...
Lack of coordination among the agencies involved in the start-up of digital tv has caused its introduction to be delayed until at least July.
"The schedule was to start digital signals in January, but we could not do it because we didn't have the legal discretion of the Procuraduría, who sets out the field and defines the legal model to be used. The entity in this case, said that it will grant experimental use permits (probationary periods) to companies ," said Rowland Espinosa, Deputy Minister of Telecommunications.
The multitude of paperwork and the Fondo Nacional de Telecomunicaciones are the obstacles preventing major progress in implementing fast internet services in Costa Rica.
"There is a significant increase (according to preliminary reports) in the number of broadband internet connections. This is despite the fact that there have been delays in major projects for the country and which could make us progress faster," said Rowland Espinoza, Deputy Minister of Telecommunications.
The Costa Rica state telecom company is moving away from the purpose that justifies its existence and is impeding the exercise of the popular will in terms of the cellular market opening up.
The Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE), after using every piece of legal chicanery imaginable to prevent the implementation of number portability, is now simply saying "I WONT SIGN", citing technical insolvency as its reason for not integrating the system that allows users to migrate from one cellular communication provider to another, while keeping their phone number.
51% of the country’s internet users are willing to change providers if they receive tempting alternative offers.
As for mobile telephony, 36% of the clients say they don’t mind changing providers.
An article in Elfinancierocr.com discusses the findings of a survey conducted among Costa Ricans by the University of Costa Rica. It provides insights as to how will internet and mobile phone users behave when the telecom market opens to new competitors.
The Costa Rican Superintendent of Telecommunications has not yet approved the entry of any new operators.
With little time to adjust to its responsibilities, the Superintendent of Telecommunications (SUTEL) has already stumbled at the doorstep over its own obstacles, as well as some placed by the government, according to the opinion of industry experts.
Starting April, private companies will be free to sell internet access for the first time in the country.
Interested companies will get approval from the Superintendence of Telecommunications (Sutel), the new organ of the Aresep charged with regulating the market, provided that they do not need the concession of a new radio frequency to provide the service and that they are in fulfillment of the telecommunications development plan that the Government is preparing.
español
4578
