Low-Cost Internet for Cell Phones Coming

CELL-PHONE users who seek access to the Internet may have 24-hour service at their fingertips within weeks – for only $8 per month.

If the Public Services Regulatory Authority (ARESEP) approves this rate – soon to be proposed by the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE), according to the daily La Nación – users will pay a flat rate much lower than those offered elsewhere.

Telecommunications company Cingular, for example, charges $25 per month in the United States and $14 per month in Puerto Rico for similar services, the daily La República reported.

Approximately 30,000 people are already participating in an ICE pilot program to test the service. The institute hopes to connect 20,000 more users in the next few weeks, La República reported.

The service allows users to access any Web page with a WAP system through their cell phones, or to connect a computer to the Internet using the phone as a modem. Only GSM phones can use the service.

ICE originally planned to begin offering the service in December, but delays in the process of setting the tariffs postponed the start date.

For more information on cell-phone Internet access, visit www.ice.go.cr.