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RACSA
claims it's doing very well!
That's the headline this week. RACSA (Radiograifca
Costarisence S.A.), the state owned monopoly internet
service provider in Costa Rica, gave itself a 9 out of
10 on it's performance. Geez.
I suppose if they had given themselves a score of 10, no
one, absolutely no one, would believe it. But, since
it's a 9, well, maybe...
This would have been a great opportunity to get all of
my frustrations about RACSA, about their service, their
lousy customer service and everything in between, but I
chose not to do so, for those who are not familiar
with RACSA or how things work in Costa Rica I
could take up this whole page and several more complain
about about RACSA, then realized that RACSA's is worst
enemy is RACSA itself. Let
me explain...
RACSA began in 1921 due to the futurist vision of Costa
Rican engineers Jose Joaquin Carranza and Ricardo
Pacheco. The company began offering telegraph and radio
telephony.
In 1945 telex was introduced and the service was
expanded to provide international telephone service.
Then in 1964 ICE bought 50% of RACSA and in 1975 took it
over completely. Then in 1992, by legislative decree it
was given a 25 year term to be RACSA.
So, you see, they RACSA and by law they are allowed to
provide telecommunication services for many more years
to come, good or bad service. However,
I have to note, that
RACSA IS NOT the only internet provider
in Costa Rica. ICE, it's parent company offers business
customers high speed internet connection and is working
on offering DSL service this year. And if you had deep
pocket books, you can install your own satellite
link.
So, what does RACSA really do? By law, the are the only
authorized provider of dial up and cable modem
internet service. That means that even your local
television cable company who offers internet connection
has to connect to RACSA to give you service.
A recent visit to pay my monthly RACSA bill for internet
service reveals exactly what RACSA does: they have a
whole lot of fax machines, telephone booths, cashiers to
take your money and several booths to answer your
questions, all in their large downtown offices.
Complaint department? there is none.
They scored a 9 and therefore don't need one!
If you want to connect to the internet in Costa Rica,
RACSA following are services and charges:
| Cyberpak
25 |
$25
for 25 hours then $0.90 per hour thereafter |
| Cyberpak
20 |
$20
for 20 hours then $1.25 per hour thereafter |
| Cyberpak
15 |
$15
for 15 hours then $1.50 per hour thereafter |
| Cyberpak
9.90 |
$9.90
for 10 hours then $1.50 per hour thereafter |
| TARIFA
PLANA |
$35
for 90 hours then $1.00 per hour thereafter |
| INTERNET
H@GAR |
$15
for unlimited use* |
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NOTE: in
addition to the above rates, you will be billed for the
telephone use. ICE charges are based on 'clicks' which
is separate from the RACSA cost and appears on the
monthly telephone bill.
*Internet
H@gar is available only to residential customers for use
on their residential telephone. You cannot use this
connection on any other telephone line except the one it
is registered to.
INTERNET
EXPRESS - prepaid internet cards.
They work just like the telephone calling
cards
and cost $10 for 10 hours and $20 for hours of
service. |
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900ENLINEA
- for those who don't want to bother with a card or
setting a regular account, can use the 900 service
feature of their telephone (the 900 service must be
installed on the telephone line) and costs about 8
colones per minute or 480 colones per hour, plus your
telephone usage.
CABLE MODEM - this service is offered through the
local cable television companies. In most metropolitan
areas you can connect on a two-way service with speeds
from 128/32 for only $40 per month - $20 paid to the
cable company and $20 paid to RACSA.
A variety of options are available on cable modem: high
speed connection, private IP addressing, in some areas
fiber optic cabling, and more to come.
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