Government to Launch High-Speed Internet

THE Costa Rican Electricity Institute(ICE) this week announced it will officiallylaunch the Advanced Internet Network– featuring ADSL Broadband Internet –on Monday.The inauguration event, called“Internet 2005,” is scheduled to be held at7 p.m. at the Melico Salazar Theater indowntown San José.The new, nationwide fiber-optic networkis intended to modernize CostaRica’s national telecommunications systemby establishing routers at centralpoints around the country dedicated tohigh-speed broadband data transmission,ICE said in a statement.Costa Rica has been waiting for high speedInternet for years. The project wasfirst proposed in 1999, and its completiondate has been continually pushed backsince 2002 (TT, Nov. 19, 2004).With a promised wide distribution andlow cost, ICE said the service would contributeto narrowing the “digital divide” inthe country.