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Costa Rica Legislature Approves Telecommunications Law

The Costa Rican legislature yesterday approved its "general telecommunications law" in the first round of debates with a vote of 36 to 19. The second reading that is required to make the bill into law is expected in the coming weeks.

Opposition to the free trade agreement are expected to send the bill to the Constitutional Court to be reviewed, before it can go to second and final reading. The process could take up to a month.

The Costa Rica law is part of the "complimentary laws" legislators are required to pass before enacting the Tratado de Libre Comercio (TLC) - free trade agreement with the United States. The deadline is scheduled for March 1, 2008, unless the U.S. and Central American governments approve an extension to Costa Rica.

The TLC was decided by referendum last October 7, when the "Si" (yes) vote won by a small margin and is scheduled to go into effect on March 1.

Costa Rican president, Oscar Arias Sanchez, is expected to ask the US, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic for an extension of the deadline, as legislators in Costa Rica are slow in passing the 13 complimentary laws.

In president Arias words, Costa Rica is the first to decide the fate of the trade deal by public vote and will be the first ever to ask for an extension.

The approval of the telecoms law will allow Costa Rica to establish telecoms regulation, create a national regulator, strengthen the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) to sector competition and it may also enable it to implement a national telecommunications fund.

Costa Rica is one of the last Central American countries to enact the trade deal, as all the other countries in the Central America-Dominican Republic free trade agreement (CAFTA-DR) have already put in place their respective trade agreements.

Privatization and liberalization processes began more than 10 years ago in Latin America so it is a late start for Costa Rica.

Prepaid cellular services are still not offered and there is still a shortage of GSM cellular lines in Costa Rica. However, all that will change once the telecommunications sector is open to competition. No doubt other companies will eagerly enter the Costa Rican business market with aggressive strategies.

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