The Monopoly on Cell Phones is Hard to Crack ...

Prior to that date, the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) had no trouble installing the towers, but now the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has decided to adhere to international standards and make everyone endure the the red tape required for granting installation permits.

An article written by Cesar Blanco Fajardo in Prensalibre.cr notes that "Phone companies currently entering the market, such as Movistar and Claro, are being denied permission, which has caused trouble for these companies, who hope to be operating in the country by the end of the year."

"The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is adamant regarding authorization for the placement of cell towers in areas close to airports, although the institution has not closed the door to dialogue with companies like Movistar and Claro in order to reach an agreement. "

Source: prensalibre.co.cr

More on this topic

Costa Rica: The Cell Phone Tower Problem

July 2011

While operators are putting up new antennas, the lack of regulation in the field is creating problems for the future.

The opening of the telecommunications market in the country has been accompanied by a significant increase in the installation of new antennas, many of them owned by private companies that will join the market when the privatisation process is formalized.

Costa Rica: No Authorizations for Cell Towers

October 2010

Municipalities still have 2.000 pending applications for building towers.

Problems in issuing permits (just the municipality of Turrialba has 200 requests) have to do with the lack of knowledge on how to process such permits.

"The Government asked on Oct. 21st for representatives of local governments to support a general regulation for municipal procedures on telecommunications" publishes El Financiero on its web page.

Telefónica Prepares Infrastructure for Opening in Costa Rica

June 2011

The Spanish company plans to use third party infrastructure to accelerate its entry into the market.


Mercedes Agüero journalist for La Nacion newspaper interviewed the highest ranking representative of the company in the country.

"There some issues such as base stations and microwave frequencies that are priorities. How could this affect the speed with which they want to deploy the network?

Lack of Cell Phone Tower Regulation in Costa Rica

April 2011

Only 28% of the country's municipalities have clear rules for granting permission to install radio base stations.

In a note presented to congress on March 31, the Chamber of Info-communication and Technology reported that, "to date, only 23 of the 81 municipalities and 3 district councils have approved celular telephony infrastructure regulations".