After the session between Sutel and the operators interested in participating in the public auction of the 5G network, the businessmen ask the authorities to draw up a roadmap and a schedule that includes the recovery and availability of the required frequencies.
Claro, the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE), Telefónica, Call May Way, Huawei Technologies Costa Rica, Next Curve, Telecable, Viasat and Cabletica, were some of the 12 operators that attended the hearing called by the Superintendence of Telecommunications (Sutel), in which the willingness of the companies to participate in the public auction of the frequencies of the radioelectric spectrum in question was known.
The Superintendence of Telecommunications authorized the economic concentration requested for Millicom to acquire the shares of Telefonica de Costa Rica TC S.A.
After recording a slowdown in the revenue of companies in the sector in 2018, it is expected that this year in Costa Rica will begin a cycle of better sales and increased investment because of an increase in consumption of services.
During the last year, the revenues of the 152 operators and providers of telecommunications services in the country totaled about $1.422 million, an amount that is similar to that of 2017, since it is only 0.3% higher.
The telecommunications regulator has not found that the services provided by private operators for regional roaming at no additional cost are anti-competitive.
The complaint filed by the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad purported to show that its competitors in the mobile phone market Claro and Telefonica were implementing anti-competitive practices when setting prices for their services in the country.
The Ministry of Telecommunications has announced that a tender for allocating frequencies will take place in early 2015 and plans to add a new operator to the process.
Officials added that the tender documents will be ready at the end of the semester and discussed the possibility of adding one more operator to the competition. This option has not been well received by the telecommunications companies currently taking part in the tender for whom "...
Movistar has invested $15 million in a latest generation fiber optic network which will interconnect overland with Central Mexico.
Movistar, the mobile phone brand of Telefónica, has invested $15 million in a fiber optic network that will cover 3,158 kilometers and will connect to Central America and Mexico by land.
Juan Castroverde manager of Movistar Panama said that "through the Central Telefónica network, companies will have greater capacity, quality, security and reliability of their data. The network will have an initial capacity of 10 Gigabits per second for data transmission, in addition to providing a variety of routes and connection points."
Movistar's appeal accusing the ICE of concentration of 2.6 Ghz spectrum and impeding it from using the 4G network until the law suit was resolved, has been rejected.
The Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad may continue marketing cellular services for its 4G network after the Administrative Court rejected an appeal by its competitor Movistar.
Costa Rica is the regional leader in 4G data consumption through mobile devices and 4G networks.
America Movil (Claro) and Telefonica (Movistar) agree that Costa Rica is the country with the highest data traffic in Central America, this is because it is the only country that does not charge for downloading data, but rather by the speed offered by providers.
The Supreme Administrative Court has rejected a suit by Movistar to prevent the state telephone company using 2.6 GHz band to operate its 4G LTE network.
Telefónica, which operates under the Movistar brand, went to court in early October to seek a review of the band spectrum and specifically, "to defend an equitable distribution of the spectrum," said Matias Señorán, spokesman for the company in Costa Rica.
Telefónica has filed a lawsuit so that the state telecom company refrains from using the 2.6 GHz band to operate its 4G LTE network.
The lawsuit by the company that operates under the Movistar brand was filed against the state and the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE). The measure also aims to ensure that ICE refrains from promoting or informing on its intention to provide fourth generation cellular services until the court issues a ruling.
The Government is considering a possible tender for a new radio frequency block that would provide fourth-generation mobile services.
Alejandro Cruz, Minister of Science, Technology and Telecommunications (Micitt), asked the Sutel to define the future of the 70 MHz block not auctioned in 2011, when Telefonica and Claro were awarded frequencies. These companies have shown interest in having more spectrum to expand the supply of fast mobile Internet services.
Between the Spanish company and other players in the market there are 30 objections to the agreement between the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad and America Movil's Claro.
Among the questionable items under review by the Telecommunications Authority is the possibility that confidentiality agreements could be made and alleged monopolistic practices.
The Costa Rican regulator has prevented telephone companies Telefónica and ICE from agreeing on tariffs for end users within a contract for interconnecting their networks.
The company Claro filed a complaint to the Superindendency of Telecommunications (Sutel), which stated that the access and interconnection agreement signed between the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) and Telefónica, contained clauses where both companies agreed not to charge prices below the cost of services provided, considering the interconnection charges as a cost common to both.
At the start of privatisation of the cellular market in Costa Rica, the Mexican company Claro is questioning agreements between the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) and the Spanish run Telefónica.
The complaint filed by Claro to the Superintendency of Telecommunications (Sutel) indicates that in the access and interconnection agreement signed between the ICE and Telefonica, there are clauses where both companies are committed to not charging prices below the cost of services rendered, considering interconnection charges as a common expense to both parties.
Claro has filed an appeal with the Costa Rican Superintendency of Telecomunitions denouncing the agreement.
The complaint filed by Claro asks the regulator to eliminate several articles of the agreement, which has already been signed, on the grounds that they contain monopolistic practices "in violation of the competitive regime."
An article in Nacion.com reports, "Regard this issue, Telefónica said that the agreement was negotiated within the appropriate legal framework, which it respected totally. He added that the terms are equal to those already signed by other companies and which have not been challenged. "