Saturday 20 December
2008, San José, Costa
Rica
SUTEL Board
Members Appointed
Zapote Fair Is A Go!
Legislators Ask
Banks To Use Funds Wisely
Rodriguez
Loses His Freedom Again
Spain donates €35,000
Euro to prevent spread
of disease in Costa Rica
4.000 Cowboys To
Invade San José Next Friday
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SUTEL Board Members
Appointed
The legislative
assembly, in a late
Friday afternoon vote,
ratified the naming of
the 2 Superintendencia
de Telecomunicaciones (SUTEL)
board members,
eliminating all
obstacles for the
government to ratify the
Tratado Libre de
Comercio (TLC) - free
trade agreement with the
United States and
Central America - by the
December 31 deadline.
The SUTEL is made up of
four members, two of
which had been ratified
the week before last.
Yesterday, by a vote of
30 in favour, the
appointment of Walter
Herrera Cantillo and
Maryleana Méndez Jiménez
was ratified.
Herrera is the current
director of
telecommunications of
the Autoridades
Reguladora de los
Servicios Públicos (ARESEP)
- the state agency
regulating public prices
and services - and
Méndez is director of
projects for British
Telecom Alliance.
With the nominations
ratified, the government
can now complete its
duty to deposit the free
trade agreement with the
Organization of American
States (OAS), ratifying
Costa Rica's entry into
the trade pact with the
United States,
Nicaragua, Honduras,
Guatemala, El Salvador
and the Dominican
Republic.
Costa Rica was the only
holdout in the trade
deal, as all the other
member countries have
ratified and put in
place their respective
agreements last year.
Unhappy with the
appointments is Pedro
Pablo Quirós, president
of the Instituto
Costarricense de
Electricidad (ICE), who
has openly criticized
the work of ARESEP head
Fernando Herrero, who
was in charge of
nominating the SUTEL
members.
Quirós has openly
suggested that the work
of the "regulador"
should be decentralized
from that of the Poder
Ejecutivo (government).
ICE, the state agency
that has held a monopoly
for decades, will be
competing with private
operators for
telecommunications in
Costa Rica once the
SUTEL begins operations
in the coming months.
The SUTEL is an
independent body under
the guidance of the
ARESEP to regulate
telecommunications in
the country. |
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