The largest fiber optic deployment led to 192,996 kilometers being reached in Costa Rica as of January 2021. The figure is 146.1 percent higher than the 78,417 kilometers reported a year ago. In January 2020, 68,226 kilometers had been logged. The data comes from a comparative analysis of the Superintendency of Telecommunications (Sutel).
“Internet service users demanded more quality of service as a result of the Pandemic and companies responded,” said the President of the regulator’s Council, Federico Chacón. It added that Internet subscriptions of more than 10 Mbps increased from nine to 54 percent in two years.
Quality Internet service in expansion
In the last year, Sutel added, subscriptions for Internet services in Costa Rica by fiber grew 63 percent. Data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) indicate that there were about 903,735 fixed broadband subscribers in 2019 and only 2.7 percent used fiber to connect.
“The country must equate urban and rural areas,” acknowledged the regulator. With that objective, he added, resources from the National Telecommunications Fund (Fonatel) are being used, which allowed the construction of 2,175 kilometers of fiber. With this, in addition, free Wi-Fi was provided for users in 513 parks and other public areas throughout the country.
