Costa Rica regulator may soon let telecoms have free reign on pricing, quality

May 20^th, 2015 (InsideCostaRica.com) Costa Rica telecoms regulator SUTEL could remove regulations that set the maximum price per minute for cellular and landline phone service as well as maximum rates for mobile Internet service, as well as lift regulations that define quality standards in the near future.

The regulator said it would perform an analysis that would be ready later this year in order to determine if market conditions are appropriate for the lifting of regulations, six years after the country opened the telecom market by ending the monopoly of state-owned ICE.

The decision to lift the regulations would be made if the analysis determines there is “effective and genuine” competition in the marketplace, according to La Nacion.

The regulator currently sets a maximum rate of ¢40 per minute for prepaid voice and ¢30 per minute for postpaid voice.  Mobile Internet plans are currently capped at ¢24,000 per month for postpaid service.

According to the regulator’s latest report, ICE’s Kolbi unit owned 65% of the mobile market as of September 2013; Movistar, 16%; and Claro, 16%.