The higher the Internet speeds, the greater the chances Costa Rica would have of protecting employment and foreign investment in the event of a new global emergency, according to the conclusion of several experts consulted.
And it is that due to Covid-19, the preference of users for the acquisition of broadband Internet plans with speeds greater than 100 Mbps increased significantly, which allowed thousands of Costa Ricans to work online or maintain their businesses operating.
In fact, among the countries that make up the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Costa Rica was the one that reported the highest number of new broadband and fiber optic subscriptions, according to the most recent statistics report on the sector issued by the General Superintendence of Telecommunications (Sutel).
Better conditions for remote and hybrid work
The adaptability of the economy and the conditions of access to the network, translated into better conditions for remote and hybrid work, cloud computing, supply chain management and the virtualization of key services such as education, electronic commerce and telemedicine, among other aspects.
Higher productivity and the creation of new jobs
“Beyond the contribution of digitization in a pandemic context, the impact of higher Internet speed translates into higher productivity and the creation of new jobs in the future, representing a key factor in the future economic recovery of Costa Rica and at the same time, providing better tools for an eventual new emergency.
It can be concluded that a 10% increase in fixed broadband penetration generates a growth of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita of 2.1% in Costa Rica, which in turn entails an important social effect, since the digital divide would be substantially reduced,” according to Dr. Raúl Katz, director of Business Strategy Research at the Columbia Institute for Tele-Information at the Columbia Business School in New York.
Maximizing the impact of digitalization and accelerating digital transformation would help generate greater prosperity in the different economic, productive and social sectors of the country, added the experts.
Precisely, the convergence between mobile networks such as 5G, soon to be established in Costa Rica, as well as the latest generation fixed networks such as Wi-Fi 6, would generate a more robust and powerful Internet for the benefit of the industry and end users, according to Juan Manuel Campos, president of Cyber Regulation.
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