ICE To Reduce ADSL Cost in Half, Waiting Approval on GPRS
The internet in Costa Rica is becoming more and more affordable with the passing of time. The Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE), the state monopoly on telecommunications, has announced that it will cut in half the cost of it's ADSL internet connection.

ICE has applied for a reduction in the rates, which has yet to be approved by the Autoridad Reguladora de los Servicios Públicos (Aresep), that will cut the cost of a 256Kpbs connection from us$46.30 to us$23.70 (¢23.242 to ¢11.897 colones) includes all taxes.

In addition, ICE will supply the router for the cost of us$1 per month rather than have to be purchased by the customer, which ranged from us$71. to us$240. ¢36.000 to ¢120.000 colones.

What the rate reduction means is that more Costa Rican households can now connect to the internet.

ADSL, unlike cable modem, works through a fixed telephone line. The digital line carries voice and data (internet) and slipts when both are in use at the same time without affecting the telephone conversation nor the internet connection.

What the price reduction means is that those currently connected at 128Kpbs (79% of all users of ADSL) can double their internet connection speed and pay us$4 less. The cost of installing the connection will remain the same at ¢22.000 colones.

ICE says it has currently 50.000 customers signed up for the advanced internet, a number that translates to only 3% of the population, which ICE considers low.

Still awaiting Aresep approval is the GPRS connection rates. GPRS allows a connection to the internet over a cellular telephone that is browser enabled. ICE has been running a "pilot" project that allowed cellular customer to connect to the internet free of charge for almost two years.

Once the approval is obtained, any browser enable cellular phone connected to the GSM network can access the internet for only us$8 to us$11 (rate has yet to be set) per month. The connection will allow the use to browse the web, send and receive emails, including the transfer of multimedia files, like video and music.

In the meantime, ICE has stopped giving the GPRS connection to current GSM cellular customers until the rate is approved. Those currently with a GPRS connection active can continue to use the service free of charge but will be required to re-register once the rate is approved if they want to continue with the service.