The Costa Rican telecoms regulator announced on 14 December that just two telcos – Telefonica and Claro – had made bids during the country’s mobile spectrum auction.
Other companies thought to be considering bidding – including Tigo (a subsidiary of the…
The Costa Rican telecoms regulator announced on 14 December that just two telcos – Telefonica and Claro – had made bids during the country’s mobile spectrum auction.
Other companies thought to be considering bidding – including Tigo (a subsidiary of the Luxembourg-based telco Millicom), Digicel and Cable & Wireless – did not make bids.
Claro is owned by America Movil, the Mexican telco headed by telecoms magnate Carlos Slim.
Telecoms regulator SUTEL plans to announce the winner and grant licences in September 2011. It had announced a minimum price of US$70m for bids for spectrum in the 850MHz, 1800MHz and 2100MHz bands.
SUTEL had produced research showing that the country could host three new telcos, in addition to the state-owned incumbent Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE).
The auction process has been a protracted one.
It began in February, but a number of setbacks delayed the process. The most recent of these occurred when seven potential bidders complained that the bidding process was unclear. Costa Rica’s comptroller general instructed SUTEL to withdraw and amend the document.
The auction has become necessary for Costa Rica because it needs to open up its telecoms market after joining the CAFTA free trade zone in 2009.
