A lot of people think that now there will be wholesale changes now that ICE will face competition.  I am not so sure… at least in the short term.  Let’s examine what has been happening. If this topic interests you, read on!

First,  ICE states that it will close or at least restructure Radiográfica Costarricense  (RACSA), its 245 employees, and move all those  Internet customers from Racsa, its wholly owned subsidiary, to its own network, affecting maybe  80.000 users.  RACSA customers would therefore be serviced by ICE and the rates would be unified.  Sound easy?  Nothing is so easy in Costa Rica.  Two issues here… and this gets a little screwy, so take notes!  Remember that RACSA, while owned by ICE, runs its own show.  RACSA customer service and in fact their overall service has been improving over the past several years  to the point where I now tell people they are quite good! RACSA also sells only Internet services (high speed and modem) but not communications.

ICE, however, is renowned for just terrible customer service and doing everything even remotely possible to inconvenience the customer base.  This is something that should not surprise anyone as most monopolies never have to compete and therefore do not have to deal with the concept of making the customer happy.   Further, the technicians at RACSA are clearly more knowledgeable, or perhaps they are more accessible.  Hard to tell… but either way, they solve issues whereas ICE techs often blame the problem on you or deny there is a problem.

OK… so with the existing structure, RACSA can re-sell Internet  service (i.e. wholesale it) and they do.  Two of their customers are Cabletica and Amnet both distributors of cable TV services. Both of those companies sell cable TV with optional Internet (cable modem Internet).  You can buy cable TV with no Internet connectivity, but you can not buy Internet service from them without buying the cable TV service as well.

Now when ICE restructures RACSA, Amnet and CableTica customers will be moved to ICE.  ICE though, does not sell cable services so far as I know… so that means if I am getting this correctly,  AMNET and CableTica customers will have to all have new DSL installs, new equipment, etc.  UGH! This will effectively put Amnet and CableTica out of the Internet business.  Why do we (or at least I) care?  Because CableTica has  hands down the best customer services of all the companies in my opinion. Those businesses using cable modem service from either company may therefore have some serious issues ahead of them. But…. now we have this:

THIS week,  Amnet has announced they will cut the umbilical with RACSA and sell Internet services directly.  How?  They must, of course, buy services and connectivity directly from ICE and must also arrange to connect to the two underwater international cables in Parrita and Limon that connect to the Internet backbone.

Sounds simple… huh? Oh, did I forget to mention that Amnet also announced that they will compete with ICE for the cell phone business in Costa Rica?  Amnet was purchased last year by cellular service provider Millicom International Cellular, S.A. .  Gee!  I wonder if ICE is happy about that! I betcha not!

Nothing so far from CableTica.

So why am I writing all this? Well for those of you old enough to remember, once upon a time in the giant country to the North, there was a pretty GOOD communications monopoly called American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T). Their service was just about as good as you an get anywhere.

Well one day, the mean old US government said, “NO MORE MONOPOLIES”  and broke apart AT&T.  The problem was that AT&T owned all the land, all the infrastructure, all the wiring, all the central offices… well you get the point. Startup company MCI just did not open the doors.  AT&T made life VERY difficult with major issues as regarded setting wholesale rates to providing access to all the above infrastructure. On the surface, they seemed cheerful enough about having the competition… but that was on the surface.  It took years and a zillion law suits and more zillions or dollars before MCI truly entered the US communications market.

ICE has kind made it clear they have no plans to go peacefully into the night…. so I asked myself, “I wonder who in Costa Rica  owns all the land, all the infrastructure, all the wiring, all the central offices, routers, contracts with backbone providers….”.  Things that make you go… hmmmm.

I have no idea how communiations and Internet services in Costa Rica will be affected.  Maybe everyone will just get along and overall, services and customer support will reign supreme with many happy and properous companies each providing these better services at lower prices.  Or not….?  Comment welcome~!

Turnout was about 60% of eligible voters.

Is this good for Costa Rica? Probably, but certainly not perfect. It has always been my opinion that Costa Rica had to vote yes for the country to continue to prosper. To say no would place her in a difficult, perhaps untenable position indeed as Costa Rica must be able to compete against other`Latin American Countries.

So now the process will begin with various parts of the TLC being phased in over`the next dozen years. For sure this will not go smoothly as many will continue to fight the process to the detriment of Costa Rica and her people.

But this is an enlightened government and the leadership is strong.

Costa Rican will benefit because of the competition. The big business monopolies of ICE, CAJA and the INS will no longer be able to asset themelves to the detriment of the people.

Viva Costa Rica!

Many locations are important population centers like parts of Curridabat, Tibás, Heredia and Cartago. S anto Domingo de Heredia had just FIVE connections remaining.

Outside the Central Valley, there are the same issues in Ciudad Quesada (San Carlos), Liberia, Nicoya, Santa Cruz and Jacó. In several areas, NO connections remain, and people are now faced with a waiting list similar to the ever-popular bi-annual cell phone fiasco. ICE in Tibás states there are no services because the central station is saturated and because there are modems no available. HUH? There simply are no more connections in those central offices AND even if there were, there are no routers!

So now ICE has to go to the Contraloría (the bean counters for the Republic) and ask for money to expand the system that should have been expanded 4-5 years ago but was not because they did not ask for the money nor make a case for expanding these services that are strategically critical to Costa Rica and its development.

Seems like every day or so, we have ICE telling us “NO TLC” (free trade agreement) and ICE employees marching in parades to demonstrate that “Costa Rica don’t need no Stinking TLC”. The parade was probably lead by the guy who heads strategic planning.

So tell me if I am wrong here. If YOU were a monopoly charged with providing electricty and communications services to this country, and you did not want foreign competition to come in and clean your clock, would it not make sense to provide the best available services to those voters who will soon decide the fate of the TLC?

But no… I guess not!

Instead we have graft, lousy or non-existent cell phone service and no cell phone lines, rolling electrical blackouts affecting the entire country, and (now) no capacity to expand those Internet service that affect world wide communications and the growth and development of this nation!

I have stayed out of this TLC thing as 1. I do not fully understand all of its implications for Costa Rica and 2. I frankly think ALL foreigners, legal or not, are guests and truly have no right to stick their noses in these issues unless they are actually citizens and must (by law).

That said, I sure am wondering when the Costa Rican people will tire of taking it in the shorts from ICE, CAJA and the rest of the monopolies that exist here.

However, if you live in any of the many hundreds of other cities outside the central valley or the tourist spots, your only option is a telephone modem, or perhaps a (quite poorly working) connection using a GSM cell phone. Either way, you are getting not only a very slow connection speed but often unreliable service as well.

Over the past few years, there have been companies promoting satellite Internet service in Costa Rica. On the surface, this seems like a great idea for those needing a decent connection speed but who prefer to live outside the main population areas.

As I have written in The REAL Costa Rica, these installation are totally illegal in Costa Rica.

If this topic is of interest to you, read on…

These satellite setups must not only receive Internet signals (download) the must also transmit information back to the satellite (upload) to work properly. That is where lies the problem.

Costa Rica is a sovereign nation, and as with every country I know of, you must be licensed to send out radio signals. In Costa Rica, the only companies who can legally do this are ICE and RACSA. ICE does not offer any service though RACSA does offer a truly horrible satellite setup that receives by dish, but actually transmits (uploads) by TELEPHONE connection.

Any other satellite setup that sends a signal (transmits) is illegal.

So how do these companies get away with this? Probably the same reason you can run a red light here. Little or no enforcement. So if you decide to spend the thousands of dollars to buy one of these systems, you should be aware that, although you may not get caught, you are absolutely breaking the law.

So do they work?

The answer is not clear. I have met only 3-4 people who paid the big bucks, and I have not met one yet who was even remotely happy. One of these is a real estate agency (and a client of mine) with offices around Dominical. After more than a year of trying to get the system working, they wrote it off. Really had no other option.

The others were just people who moved here and needed a high speed connection. All expressed unhappiness with their purchase. Now I am sure the must be somebody here who does not feel ripped off, so if you are a happy customer, by all means add your comment at the bottom.

Here though is a letter I received yesterday from a gentleman who is not at all happy, and I publish it here because he expresses almost verbatim what others have told me.

Many who live in areas without land based phones or accessibility to Internet connections other than cyber cafes might consider contacting one of the Internet satellite installers advertised in the English speaking papers.

If you do, it is a case of buyer beware. There seems to be a major problem with unethical and fraudulent schemes directed towards foreign and English speaking people. Because it is a small country that has limited means of combating these schemes the perpetrators feel they can operate with impunity.

I contacted one of these companies that the ad and website indicated was a local company operating in Costa Rica. I called the local number and was referred to a number in the US. I was sent a contract which I signed and my credit card was charged $2599 for the equipment and $500 for the installation and $99 a month for the service.

The first indication something was wrong was when the modem I contracted for was switched to an older model. The installation was to include grounding but I was told I would have to contract that out.

The service lasted 31 days when the modem stopped working. I contacted technical support and after several days were told I would have to buy a new modem for $1900 and an undisclosed amount for a service call. This would mean it would cost me $5600 for a total of 31 days service. The cost of the outmoded modem was 4 or 5`time’s industry standards so it became clear I had been had.

Through investigation I learned the modem manufacturer warranted the modem. The so-called local company was one of 4 or 5 companies that is interconnected and was a front for one of these companies. There is misrepresentation in all their websites. The pattern of withholding service and demanding additional money is well documented as March 3, 2006 they notified around 3000 of their subscribers that unless they came up with additional money their service would be cut off in 5 days.

In checking with the National Register it was determined none of these companies are licensed to do business in Costa Rica. Also contacted was Miguel Montero of Racsa, the agency that controls all satellite internet installations, not only are they not licensed but such installations are illegal.

It is a sad state of affairs when these companies are allowed to operate. t was one of the reasons we came to Costa Rica. To avoid the pattern of getting money anyway you can. Bill Strong.

A couple of comments. There are NOT 3,000 installations in Costa Rica. I doubt there are more than 50. The writer is speaking of all customers of this company world wide.

I also have not verified the “interconnecting companies” thing.

However, it is clear that if you do decide to break the law and use one of these systems, this is a clear case of “do your due diligence” also known as caveat emptor.

As mentioned above, I encourage anyone who has and is happily using a satellite system to comment below. I promise not to report you to the satellite police!