Top 10 Costa Rica

Amnet Frees Itself Of ICE And Racsa

As of Tuesday, Amnet no longer partners with the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) and the Rafiográfica Costarricense (Racsa) to bring its customers internet services by way of its cable television network.

Amnet is also the first to take advantage of the opening of the telecommunications market, the first non-state owned company to provide internet service independently.

To achieve this goal, Amnet had to rely on the Superintendencia de Telecommunicaciones (SUTEL) to intervene to guarantee direct access to the Maya I cable, which has been under the exclusive administration of ICE.

Amnet says it plans to partner with giants like Google, McAffee and Dell to bring new services to Costa Rica.

Up to now, Amnet was basically a cable television operator, paying Racsa and ICE rights to provide its customers internet access.

Amnet customers had to hold two accounts, one with Racsa/ICE and the other with Amnet. Now, customers deal directly with Amnet for all internet services.

Current Amnet internet customers now have a choice to switch over to a sole Amnet account or continue to be Racsa subscribers by way of Amnet.

The change, however, does not mean lower costs for its customers.