Costa Rica celebrates its 15th anniversary of Internet access.

Today, fifteen years after the internet took it’s first baby steps into Costa Rica, about 35% of the Costa Rican population has access to a computer with internet. Academia is conducted through email and over the internet, and more Costa Rican businesses, organizations and companies are realizing the importance of having a web presence. Though not yet completely integrated into many Costa Ricans’ everyday lives, the internet is growing in both popularity and importance.

In 1993, more than ten years after the first TCP/IP-wide area network — the Internet in its youngest and siimplest form — was made operational, San Pedro’s Universidad de Costa Rica (UCR) first connected to the Internet.

Costa Rica’s first connection was made from the university’s Escuela de Informática (School of Information Technology), where there were only 12 nodes and 1,500 users. Afterwards, to support the use of Internet technology, Costa Rica created a group called CRNet, which was housed in the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE), in San José.

During the second phase of Internet development in Costa Rica, national newspaper La Nación became the first private entity to have internet access in the country, and in 1995, became one of the first newspapers in all of Central America to create a website. During Costa Rica’s third state of internet development, internet cafés began popping up in 1997. Popularity grew until 2005, when ICE presented the country with high-speed internet access.

Jorge Woodbridge, ministro de Competitividad (Minister of Competitivity), said that the companies that have opened offices here are attracted to Costa Rica due to its general economic, political, and social stability. In fact, in a recent study, Costa Rica was voted as the most technological country in Central America.

However, specific plans by Google to open an office in Costa Rica in the near future were apparently misinterpreted in a conversation between Google executives and President Arias. The direct of communication for the company stated that if they were to construct a regional office in the country, they would be the first to announce it. The press release that went out on Wednesday from the Casa Presidencial, incorrectly stated Google’s plans to have a regional hub set up in the country.

Costa Rica’s technological resources and internet access have made it a Central American powerhouse, and this reputation has helped to secure a large amount of international investment. In coming years, the Costa Rican government hopes to increase offerings and welcome more companies into the country.

*This article has been edited from its original version that was based on a Presidential press release that has proven to be untrue. 

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Filed under: Business on April 17th, 2008