QCOSTARICA — Costa Rica’s well known bureaucracy keeps the massive deployment of 5G technology frozen, and with this, puts investment, competitiveness and job creation at risk.
So far, there is no defined date to hold the first auction among operators interested in deploying this technology in the country, much less, can we see the horizon when will be able to enjoy this super Internet network, since a handful of procedures demanded by the telecommunications superintendency, the Superintendencia de Telecomunicaciones (Sutel), are at a standstill.
– Advertisement –
This is, without a doubt, the largest pending task in the technological area and one of the most important in the country.
To give an example, to date there has been no registration in the National Telecommunications Registry of the agreement between the Government and the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) – state power and telecom utility- for the return of the radio spectrum in the frequency segment from 3,625 MHz to 3,700 MHz, which, It would be the first step to take.
Likewise, the decision is pending whether or not to use the State Public Procurement System (SICOP), given that, according to Sutel, it does not adjust to the needs and characteristics of the spectrum auction process.
Another element that has not been resolved is related to the cybersecurity regulations for 5G networks and higher, which would be a cause of uncertainty between the operators and the Sutel.
One of the stumbling blocks in in the tender process is the regulation prohibits the use of equipment manufactured by countries that are not signatories to the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime of the Council of Europe in the operation of this technology.
Likewise, one more obstacle appears, represented by the inability of the public services regulatory authority, the Autoridad Reguladora de los Servicios Públicos (Aresep), to appoint two of the three members of the Board of Directors of Sutel next year, which prevents having a quorum to making decisions regarding the 5G competition.
– Advertisement –
This situation is due precisely to the fact that, in turn, the Aresep Board of Directors currently has three members of the four needed to appoint the remaining directors of Sutel, a situation that has been going on since March of this year and that it has to be resolved by the Executive branch and ratified in Congress, according to Carolina Mora, spokesperson for Aresep.
Given this, tender bids for the 5G cannot be made. Sutel has been able to make progress in the analysis of consultations and observations from companies and organizations that participated in the consultation of the draft bids.
Among these, the current mobile operators stand out, as well as entities and manufacturers in the sector worldwide such as 5G Americas, the GSM Association (GSMA), Inter-American Association of Telecommunications Companies (ASIET), Qualcomm, Ericsson, Global Association of Satellite Operators, among others.
The parth to 5G in Costa Rica
While the 5G bidding process remains on hold, ICE is taking several steps forward in the development of this technology.
– Advertisement –
- July 2023, the Finnish firm Nokia is confirmed as the winner to develop the telecommunications infrastructure for private 5G networks, in order to be marketed for the business market through Radiografica Costarricense.
- October 2023, the Executive Branch, through the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación, Tecnología y Telecomunicaciones (Micitt), sanctions the state operator for the retention of unused frequencies, following the resolution of an administrative process initiated at the end of the Alvarado Quesada administration, ordering it to immediately deliver 70 MHz of band 2 .6 GHz to the State to be included in the 5G tender.
- November 2023, without publicly knowing the status of the clarifications requested by ICE before the Micitt for the aforementioned sanctions, the state operator calls a press conference to announce the launch of an international public tender for the deployment of 5G networks, claiming to have “ legal certainty” to carry out said procedure.
– Advertisement –
Source link
Rico
