Radiografica Costarricense (RACSA), a semi-autonomous subsidiary of Costa Rica’s Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE), is not for sale, according to ICE’s president, Eduardo Doryan Garron.
Doryan, quoted on Costa Rica’s legislative assembly’s…
Radiografica Costarricense (RACSA), a semi-autonomous subsidiary of Costa Rica’s Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE), is not for sale, according to ICE’s president, Eduardo Doryan Garron.
Doryan, quoted on Costa Rica’s legislative assembly’s website, has had something of a fractious relationship with RACSA. In June he made comments that were interpreted by local press that ICE would be reabsorbing RACSA into its organisation, cutting off its oxygen and converting it from a fairly free and entrepreneurial offshoot into a billing and payment processing centre.
This led to the general manager of RACSA, Alberto Bermudez resigning in protest. Bermudez was eventually persuaded to rescind his resignation by Doryan and rejoined three days later.
Now it seems that RACSA and ICE will be collaborating closely as Costa Rica braces itself for telecoms liberalisation and in influx of lean and mean foreign telcos.
Doryan said: “Our idea is to maintain, strengthen and guarantee that RACSA is always part of ICE. RACSA is not for sale and that should not be a constant concern for our parliamentarians.”
The two entities have inked an agreement that will establish RACSA’s indefeasible rights of use of ICE’s SDH fibre network. It also defined access rights to xDSL ports and the country’s so-called RAI advanced internet network, which is an ICE project designed to narrow the digital breach with low-cost broadband access.
RACSA and ICE will together fund a VSAT platform and co-develop and implement information services.
The proposals were approved unanimously by the RACSA board.
Sutel, Costa Rica’s telecoms regulator has opened the tender for spectrum blocks in the 850MHz, 1,800MHz and 210 MHz bands and expects response by November 5.
