Business News
Telecom Market Adds More Internet Cafes thru Costa Rica's Central Valley
By Explore Costa Rica.com staff
Nov 6, 2009, 06:43

Telecom Market Adds More Internet Cafés thru Costa Rica's Central Valley

Costa Rican telecommunications officials have authorized Internet access for 125 cafes this week, most of which are in the Central Valley region, the Superintendent of Telecommunications (SUTEL) said.

Numbers of newly authorized Internet cafés
San Jose: 56
Alajuela: 19
Heredia: 15
Cartago: 14
Guanacaste: 10
Puntarenas: 6
Limon: 5
Source: SUTEL

The Costa Rica businesses, including 104 in San Jose and the Central Valley, will be allowed to provide Internet access and voice over Internet protocol (VoIP).

According to SUTEL, 77 internet cafes and stores had been authorized previously and another 400 are in the authorization phase.

The influx of Internet cafes is evidence of the increased interest in companies grabbing a piece of the action. Costa Rica's telecom market was opened for competition in the beginning of 2009. The telecom market was controlled by the monopoly of the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) until Costa Rica joined the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA) on Jan. 1 of this year.

Of the 125 internet cafes, 88 will offer Internet access and 37 others will offer both Internet access and VoIP. VoIP allows telephone calls to be made via the internet, at a fraction of the price.

Meanwhile, seven Costa Rican companies participated in a trade mission known as “Costa Rica IT & Telecoms Network” on Thursday in New York. The mission, organized by the Foreign Trade Promotion Office, took place to develop potential commercial relationships with U.S.-based companies interested in participating in the Costa Rica telecom market.

“The opening of the telecommunications market in our country, without question, offers a range of opportunities to companies in the information and communications industry,” said Foreign Trade Minister Marco Vinicio Ruiz. “For that reason, activities of this nature promote opportunities for New York companies to make contacts and participate in our telecommunications market.”