Costa Rica News – The Superintendency of Telecommunications (Sutel) wants to allow telecom operators to set their own prices starting next year.
The companies would no longer be subject to maximum costs allowable by law. Will this result in higher prices for consumers?
The current maximum is ¢24,000 for mobile Internet navigation, ¢40 per minute for calls if prepaid and ¢30 if postpaid. It is almost time to find out what happens without the ICE monopoly or the strict regulations on telecommunications, including fixed telephones and international calls.
In order to allow this freedom, to be open to supply and demand, to the company’s, Sutel must prove that there is now effective and genuine competition between companies.
The results of the study it is doing will be ready later this year.
With effective competition in place prices should not go too high. The country has been under regulatory pricing for 40 years.
The model of free supply and demand should benefit consumers in a direct way, by bringing options.
