Since rules came into effect on number portability, Costa Rica's state telephone company has lost 559 thousand lines, which have swelled the client lists of the two foreign competitors that operate in the mobile telephony market.
The possibility of keeping the same cell phone number and changing operator has existed since November 2013, and since then, Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) has lost almost 560 thousand lines, which passed into the hands of Telefónica, which operates the brand Movistar, and Claro, a brand of the Mexican company América Móvil.
In the early years of the real market opening for cell lines, the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad lost 518,000 customers to the hands of private companies.
Since number portability became effective on November 30, 2013, there have been 782,000 changeovers, according to figures from the Sutel requested by Nacion.com.That figure represents 10% of the 7.5 million mobile phone lines registered in December 2015.
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. If it is determined that competitive conditions exist, there could be an elimination of the requirements such as capped tariffs for services and other service fees, which are currently limited to the operators.
The fractioning of municipal powers and excessive bureaucracy continue to complicate the expansion of the network of cell towers, preventing better coverage for digital communications.
The lack of definition of legal and technical criteria by the government is not only preventing the orderly expansion of cellular coverage in the country, but is also limiting controls and requirements on telecommunications companies, which amongst the legal tangle of particular requirements by municipalities, different entities try to expand their services in the country.
The Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad's share in the mobile phone market fell to 65%.
At the end of 2012 Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) owned a 79% stake in the mobile market, and this was reduced to 65% in September 2013.
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