Costa Rican telecoms and electricity conglomerate Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) has agreed to buy local pay-TV operator Cable Vision.
The acquisition transforms ICE’s offering from triple play to quadruple play.
State-owned ICE will…
Costa Rican telecoms and electricity conglomerate Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) has agreed to buy local pay-TV operator Cable Vision.
The acquisition transforms ICE’s offering from triple play to quadruple play.
State-owned ICE will acquire 100% of Cable Vision for an undisclosed value, multiple local reports said.
ICE has a virtual monopoly on Costa Rican telecoms which regulator Sutel has been trying to address. According to a local report, Sutel had required ICE to divest 350 MHz spectrum if it wanted to close the Cable Vision takeover. However the regulator later changed its mind following complaints from ICE and a threat from unions that they may strike.
Costa Rica has been resistant to the privatisation or liberalisation of its telecom sector, although in 2011 America Movil and Telefonica were allowed to launch mobile subsidiaries in the country. They both have started to eat into the market share of the dominant mobile operator, ICE-owned Kolbi.
Neither ICE nor Cable Vision replied to requests for comment before the press deadline.
