After the entry of new telecommunications operators in 2011, Costa Rica achieved historic growth in access to connectivity in a decade, according to the Third National Connectivity Report recently released by the Council for the Promotion of Competitiveness (CPC).
And, while in 2010 only a quarter of homes in the national territory had a fixed Internet connection, a decade later this number grew to reach 84% of homes in the country with this technological facility.
In this context, last year the country closed with a total of 191,589 km of fiber optics deployed, representing 40% of fixed Internet clients, according to the Telecommunications Statistics Report presented by Sutel last July.
Despite these good signs, the country maintains a lag in broadband penetration in access to Information and Communication Technologies in areas far from the Greater Metropolitan Area such as Upala, Talamanca, Guatuso, Los Chiles and Río Cuarto, as indicated by the CPC study.
Entry of 5G
Meanwhile, in ten years the number of lines with mobile Internet went from 239,019 to 4,641,694, ending in 2020, so it is expected that prior to the entry of 5G, the number of active cellular lines in the country could be close to 5 million.
The above represents, on average, almost one line per inhabitant, according to the latest demographic report from the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses, which was even recognized by the OECD in its Economic Study of Costa Rica in 2023.
“The evolution and impact that our country has had is tangible and evident, with 163 companies competing to offer better services and prices to users. We are among the countries in the world with the most cell phones per inhabitant and we enjoy high Internet penetration in the population,” Federico Chacón, president of Sutel, said.
The highest and lowest cantons in access to ICTs
The most recent National Competitiveness Report continues to reflect a disparity in Internet access between the areas closest to the GAM and rural communities, a situation that could improve with more connections through satellite Internet such as Elon Musk’s Starlink, according to experts consulted.
