Broadband Internet Use
Increasing, Racsa Says
According to the
marketing department of
the Radiográfica
Costarricenses S. A. (Racsa)
broadband internet
connection is overtaking
narrowband and by the
end of the year it more
connection with an
estimated 92.000
wideband and 68.000
narrowband connections.
Racsa says that last
year the figures closed
at 50.217 for broadband
and 76.509 for
narrowband connections.
With the increase in
demand, Racsa will see
in for the first time in
2008 more clients
connected by broadband
than narrowband.
Narrowband refers to a
situation where the
bandwidth of the message
does not significantly
exceed the channel's
coherence bandwidth, in
simpler terms, an
internet connection over
a telephone line, in the
case of Racsa a dial-up
connection. The maximum
connection speed is 56
Kbps.
Broadband, however,
refers to a signaling
method that includes or
handles a relatively
wide range of
frequencies. Racsa
offers broadband
connections by way of
cable modem in agreement
with local cable
companies, WiFi and
Wimax. Broadband
connection speeds
offered by Racsa reach
up ti 4 Mbps.
Racsa says that
currently more than 60%
of its broadband
customers are connected
at speeds of 1 Mpbs and
higher.
According to Mauricio
Barrantes, a Racsa
official, the increase
in broadband demand is
directly related to the
increase in number of
computers, saying that
some 455.000 Costa Rican
homes now have a
computer and some 20%
are connected to the
internet.
Racsa's marketing
department says that, on
average, three people in
each home connect to the
world wide web, while a
couple of years ago the
average was one, which
means that more and more
Costa Ricans are
learning to surf the
web.
Racsa is forecasting
that by 2011 only 16% of
its customers will
continue to connect
using dial-up, customers
who do not have another
way of connecting - such
as in rural areas.
Barrantes also said
that, in a market study
paid by Racsa, 28% of
Costa Ricans still are
not connected to the web
because they feel the
prices are too high.
Currently, Racsa offers
a dial-up connection for
up to five hours for
only ¢1.800 colones
(us$3.50) while the
slowest cable modem
connection is only
¢8.000 (us$16) monthly,
plus the cost of cable
television which is
another ¢15.000 colones.
Alternatively, Racsa
also offers its
900-ENLINEA connection
which costs ¢7 colones
(us$0.014 cents) - plus
the cost of the
telephone calls - or its
WiMax connection for
¢14.000 colones monthly.
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