Costa Rica’s state.e telecom, the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) has expressed an interest in taking part in the public Wi-Fi tender launched by the country’s Superintendency of Telecommunications (Sutel).
La Republica reports the first phase of the tender to install a free Wi-Fi service in public spaces such as parks, squares, libraries, train stations and community centers across the country was launched earlier this year.
Described as the country’s most ambitious telecommunications project, the aim of the USD$45 million dollar tender is to install a total of 985 hotspots in 360 districts across the country, with users able to connect at speeds of 100 Mbps, rising to 300 Mbps after five years.
Funding for the project will come from the Fondo Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (FONATEL) – National Telecommunications Fund – with the contract set to be awarded in December and the successful bidder has one year to install the corresponding infrastructure get the project running.
