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INSIDECOSTARICA.COM
| COSTA RICA
NEWS |
Monday 16 May 2011 |
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"Prepaid",
Everyone
Wants
A
Piece
Of
The
Pie
The
contracts
are
now
signed
and
by
the
end
of
the
year
and
for
the
first
time
in
Costa
Rica
there
will
be a
choice
of
cellular
carrier.
In
December,
Costa
Ricans
will
be
able
to
choose
their
cellular
phone
carrier
between
Kolbi
(ICE),
Movistar
(Telefonica)
and
Claro
(America
Movil).
But,
what
will
be
the
service
most
wanted
by
customers?
The
operators
are
betting
on "prepago"
(prepaid)
and
are
readying
to
slice
up
the
pie.
This
is
evidenced
by
the
reaction
of
Costa
Ricans
when
ICE
introduced
prepago
last
year,
as
the
prepaid
service
surpassed
the
demand
for
postpaid
service.
And
the
main
advantage
for
choosing
the
prepago
by
most
Ticos
is
the
ability
of
controlling
costs.
Many
cellular
users
in
Costa
Rica
who
connected
for
the
first
time
got
a
real
surprise
on
receiving
their
first
bill.
When
signing
up
they
were
told
the
monthly
cost
would
be
just
under
¢4.000
colones.
But,
many
faced
bills
of
three,
four,
five
times
and
more
that
for
not
realizing
that
each
minute
(over
the
included
60
minutes
of
call
time)
costs
and
they
add
up
real
fast.
And,
for
the
first
time
for
many,
the
novelty
of a
cell
phone
was
to
call
everyone
and
anyone,
only
to
find
themselves
short
in
the
pocketbook
when
it
came
time
to
pay
the
bill."
So,
when
ICE
introduced
the
prepago
- a
system
used
in
many
other
parts
of
the
world
- it
was
quickly
chosen
by
thousands
of
customers,
many
connecting
for
the
first
time,
many
others
switching
from
the
postpago.
ICE
says
that
today
the
position
between
prepago
and
postpago
is
50/50.
ICE
also
reports
that
it
has
65%
of
the
market
already,
leaving
only
35%
of
the
pie
for
the
newcomers
into
the
market.
However,
that
may
not
be
the
case,
as
experts
estimate
that
cellular
service
consumption
may
hit
as
high
as
130%
or
more
in
the
coming
year,
meaning
that
people
will
have
not
one,
but
two
or
more
cellular
phones
-
each
from
a
different
carrier
- at
at
the
same
time.
At
least
that
is
what
Claro
and
Telefonica
and
their
multi
million
dollar
investment
in
Costa
Rica
are
expecting.
What
these
operators
are
also
banking
on
are
the
number
of
customers
switching,
mainly
leaving
ICE
for
them.
A
poll
by
the
Centro
Internacional
de
Política
Económica
of
the
Universidad
Nacional
shows
that
67%
of
ICE
customers
may
possibly
switch.
The
choice
of
carrier
will
depend
on
who
provides
the
better
service
and
promotion.
But,
competing
for
the
piece
of
the
communications
pie
are
also
companies
for
local
and
long
distance
calling
using
a
technology
called
virtual
calling.
Those
include
companies
like
Amnet
and
Cabletica
well
established
in
the
market
and
newcomers
like
Interphone,
Call
My
Way,
Comuni-K-Dos,
Conextel,
etc.
In
total
more
than
20
companies
have
or
will
be
entering
the
market,
some
even
offering
their
version
of a
prepaid
chip,
allowing
cheaper
calling
to
the
United
States
and
other
countries
and
even
to
Costa
Rica.
One
company,
Intertel
Worldwide,
for
example,
has
ICE
in
its
bullseye,
directly
competing
against
ICE
in
the
calling
cards
sector
of
the
market.
Many
of
the
companies
are
forming
alliances
with
each
other
and
with
bigger
operators
to
compete.
Their
success
or
failure
will
depend
on
the
effectiveness
of
the
strategies
by
ICE,
Movistar
and
Claro
to
attract
and
keep
customers.
ICE
has
had
a
running
start.
For
the
last
several
years
since
the
opening
of
the
telecommunications
market
in
Costa
Rica
was
announced
and
the
process
began,
the
state
telecom
has
been
putting
one
hurdle
after
another,
stalling
the
process
while
it
solidified
its
marketing
plan
and
position.
Today's
ICE
is
fast
becoming
a
shadow
of
the
ICE
of
the
past.
Today,
the
state
telecom
offers
more
than
just
a
cellular
connection,
but
packages
with
telephones,
including
their
latest
prize,
the
iPhone.
It
will
be
an
interesting
time
for
Costa
Rica,
after
having
only
one
operator
-
fixe
line
telephones,
cellular
phones,
long
distance,
calling
cards,
etc,
etc,
for
more
than
six
decades. |
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