During the first three months of 2019, Central American countries imported cell phones for $329 million, 27% more than what was reported in the same period of 2018.
Figures from the Trade Intelligence Unit of CentralAmericaData: [GRAPHIC caption="Click to interact with the graphic"]
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.
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.
The Superintendency of Telecommunications in Costa Rica has presented its second statistical report for the period 2010-2013.
From the report by SUTEL:
General Development of Sector
Five years after the adoption of the General Telecommunications Law, No. 8642, evaluation of sector performance shows positive results in revenue, investment, employment, population coverage and diversification of telecommunications services.
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. That portion of the market was taken over by the foreign competitors Claro and Movistar.
According to figures from the Telecommunications regulator mentioned in an article on Nacion.com , "up to September 2013 the ICE had 4,278,183 active lines, which represents an increase of 0.7 % compared to the 4,248,684 lines it had in the last quarter of 2012."
After the opening up of the telecommunications market, the number of postpaid cellular lines are down from 1.6 million in 2010 to 1.1 million as at the end of 2012.
Prepaid connections currently represent 80% of the lines that exist in the country, while two years ago the figure was barely 49%, according to a study by the Telecommunications Superintendency (Sutel).
In Costa Rica, 71% of users connect to the internet via their cell phone, while 68% do so using a computer at home.
Elfinancierocr.com reports that "that means that about 920,000 people say that they connect to the internet using a mobile device," according to a study prepared by Unimer RED 506, which noted that access through this medium grew by 56% compared to 2011 and 30% compared to 2012.
After one year of competition in mobile communications, the changes that have taken place reveal a market that is different from how many expected.
The market transformation has been swift and contained surprising nuances. Cellular penetration swiftly exceeded 100%, while the use of mobile Internet exceeded forecasts.
Pablo Fonseca's article in Nacion.com reports that "Although more changes will come in the short and medium term, it is good to take stock. Many people were clear that the Costa Rican market was no ordinary market and had certain characteristics that needed to be taken into account when dealing with it, such as a thirst for technology, the level of information being handled, the requirements to be able to receive what is being offered and the level of spending willing to be made for a handset “
The massive and growing use of mobile devices is hitting businesses hard, generating great opportunity and great risks.
A report from RSA (The Security of Business Innovation Council), once again brings to the forefront the growth of mobile phone use in businesses for both internal management and to communicate with customers and consumers. Each day more and more marketing and sales operations, support, and production management, involves mobile business applications.
Since the formal break up of the monopoly held by the state communications firm, ICE, the number of allocated cell lines has grown from 3.9 to 5.3 million.
Elfinancierocr.com reports that this information was obtained "by an appeal to the Constitutional Court, which forced the Sutel to provide the number of lines that the ICE had up to November 2011, which was considered a strategic issue by the state company and the regulator. "
Adapting to a competitive market is being costly for the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad, which in 2011 accumulated losses of $40 million and a negative return of 2, 1%.
Already in 2011 the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) has had to "seek waivers or amendments with eight of its creditors", according to an article in Elfinancierocr.com, because it failed to maintain the necessary financial indicators to fill the banks with confidence.
Privatization of telecommunications is beginning to bear fruit, and Costa Ricans are joining the culture of the acquiring information through mobile devices.
A survey conducted by the company Demoscopía for the Vice Minister for Telecommunications revealed that 33% of the people who own a cell phone connect to the internet through their device.
The survey was conducted between October and December 2010, before market entry of the new operators Movistar and Claro.
While announcing that the service coverage will be limited due to problems with local municipalities regarding the installation of antennas, the Spanish company opened pre-registration for clients.
The announcement was made by the Director for Costa Rica, Jorge Abadia, adding "We wont have the 100% coverage that we would like from the first day but we will achieve it."
Cellular stores have had reduced sales since the process of opening the telecommunications market started.
Retail businesses selling cell phones have experienced significant declines since the start of the privatisation process in the telecommunications sector.
The most commercial aggressiveness has been seen by the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) who are offering packages where the phone is free, and added to this is the entry of new competitors such as Claro and Movistar, which has affected traders dedicated to only selling the phones.
The Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) will buy 400.000 GSM phone lines from Ericsson Costa Rica.
Jaime Palermo, commercial director of the Institute, explained they have many 3G lines available for purchase, but clients prefer the GSM service, especially through pre-paid cards.
An article in Nacion.com noted that users prefer GSM, “because GSM devices are cheaper than their 3G counterparts”.
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