Costa Rica as a developing country is always moving forward and finding new ways to be ahead of the technology. The latest arrival is a new mobile Internet service called Kolbi Banda Ancha, in other word, Kolbi Broad Band. It is by no means a substitute for for the Acelera ADSL, however if you are always on the move and want Internet to travel with you, this is the one you need. This new service is probably going to replace the WiMax Wireless service that is presently offered by Racsa. As the cellular phone network is growing and expanding, so is the 3G network. It is expected that in a few years from now, this will eventually become the one and only way Internet will be provided in Costa Rica, whether at home, at work or out and about. For one thing, it will be easier to improve the Third Generation rather than to run cable in every household of the country!

The system works with the new Third Generation cellular phone, however there is no need to have a cellular phone with you to access the Internet. All you need to do is to plug in some kind of antenna device in the USB port of your laptop and there you go, you are connected! The maximum speed is 1.5Mbs and if you are providing the USB device that actually cost $80.00, the connection itself will only cost you $10.00 per month, the cheapest so far in this country. The downside of course is the speed as it depends on signal strength; it may get so slow as to become non-existent, and you may need to move around in order to get connected at all. If you find yourself in an area where there is no broadband access, then you cannot expect to get much more than 1Mb, and today this is virtually as good as having no Internet at all. Indeed, if you like to watch videos or movies from your laptop, this won’t work.  All in all, there is room for improvement, but as we all know, this is exactly what is eventually going to happen. In a few years this new connection will be fast and efficient, and probably will be the main, if not only, Internet provider.

It would seem that it is the fear of competition that has pushed the ICE to come up with new technologies such as the 3G Internet service. For those who are accustomed to high speed Internet available nationwide together with a choice of Internet provider, Costa Rica may look likes it still has some way to go! However everything is moving in the right direction and within the next 5 years we are certain to witness some interesting development in this growing little country! Those who first moved here a decade, or even two decades ago will agree that the progress we have witnessed is impressive; whether we are looking at technology, development, infrastructure, down to shopping and customer service skills, Costa Rica is a country that has shown that it is possible to speed up development while delivering quality. On the same token, it is still Costa Rica, as we love it: A small and charming Central American country, with so much charm, the most extensive biodiversity of the world, the best beaches and a climate to die for!

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Filed under: Travel on December 19th, 2010