Costa Rica 2013 Blog: Panel – Impact on the Country’s Competitiveness: The Opening of the Telecommunications Market
Panelists discussed the opening of Costa Rica’s telecommunications market and the impact it has had on the Central American country’s technology field.
Speakers:
- Jorge Abadía, CEO, Telefónica Costa Rica
- Víctor García, Chief of Regulatory and Wholesale Services, CLARO
- Ronald Jiménez, Vice President, Chamber of Information and Communication Technology
- Rowland Espinoza, Vice Minister of Telecommunications, Ministry of Science, Technology and Telecommunications
- Ricardo Monge, Technical Secretary, Presidential Council on Competitiveness (Moderator)
The Presidential Council on Competitiveness' Ricardo Monge opened the panel by asking what the opening of the telecommunications sector has meant for Costa Rica, as the country moved from having a monopoly to several providers. Panelists shared views on how the increased competition resulted in improved service for consumers, advances in digital innovation within the country, and closing the digital divide.
Telecommunications Vice Minister Rowland Espinoza pointed out that the telecom industry has a direct impact on GDP, accounting for 7 percent in 2007 and rising to 9.2 percent in 2012. Moreover, the sector employs roughly 10,000 people in Costa Rica and has drawn more than $900 million in investment between 2011 and 2012. Telefónica's Jorge Abadía referred to figures shared by the vice minister as evidence of how far the telecom sector has come in the past five to 10 years in terms of the level of technology. But CLARO's Víctor García cautioned that, in order to sustain these benefits for the customers, the sector must be profitable enough to bring new technology to Costa Rica. Many transactions would have a much higher cost without new digital technologies, noted the Chamber's Ronald Jiménez, who pointed out that this has a benefit across sectors.
Watch the remarks (en español):