The Costa Rican regulator SUTEL has named a new president, Maryleana Mendez.
Mendez, who has served as the regulator’s vice president for the last two years, replaces George Miley.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Mendez acknowledged the work of Miley…
The Costa Rican regulator SUTEL has named a new president, Maryleana Mendez.
Mendez, who has served as the regulator’s vice president for the last two years, replaces George Miley.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Mendez acknowledged the work of Miley in organising the country’s recent spectrum auction.
She said that SUTEL’s priority is to ensure that network operators and telcos comply with their duties and that the rights of service users are protected.
Mendez has been working at SUTEL over a tumultuous couple of years, culminated in the end of the telecoms monopoly of state-owned incumbent El Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE).
In January, various spectrum licences were awarded to Claro (a subsidiary of America Movil) and Telefonica’s Azules y Platas.
Claro was awarded spectrum in the 1,800MHz and 2,100MHz bands, while Azules y Platas was awarded spectrum in the 850MHz, 1,800MHz and 2,100MHz bands.
Liberalisation was a condition for Costa Rica to join the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) in 2009.
But the process was reportedly slowed by disagreements over the creation of SUTEL and its function, as well as by ICE taking time to hand over particular radio frequencies.
