Costa Rica Internet Access – ADSL
Advanced internet connections may change Tico networking habits with permanent,
high-speed connectivity for your home.
As from this week, thousands of Costa Ricans are able to connect to the rest of
world from their homes or offices using broadband connections that were unimaginable a few years ago.
With the Advanced Internet Network, Costa Rica hopes to improve its world ranking for network access both in connection quantity and quality.
The Costa Rica Electricity Institute (ICE) officially launched the service Monday (13 June, 2005) using video-conferencing, one of the many applications that could become a daily communication option for Costa Ricans once they embrace this technology.
ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Lines) is a broadband connection technology
using normal telephone lines to transmit data at high speed. Users have access
to latest generation applications such as video conferencing, tele-medicine and
tele-education – it will be possible to take complete courses over the net and
interact with other students.
Being asymmetric, with different frequencies, reception speeds are greater than
the channel transmitting giving better net-user speeds.
Getting the network in place has taken several years and it will initially be
available to high-density areas in seven provinces in the country. Not all the
numbers are working yet and during this first phase, over 74,000 connections have been created that will rise to 100,000 from early next year.
growth will be simple once the infrastructure is in place. Some of these functions need special equipment and programs, “but the working basis – the data transferal network – is ready,” explains Hernandez.
Home users will enjoy a more extensive, powerful internet service. Chatting, for example, will go from simply sending and receiving messages to full audio and video exchange with the possibility of sending big files. This means whole movies or audio clips can be transmitted as well as books from digital libraries that are starting to increase and transmit their online collections.
If you wish to listen to opera on a London radio station and download the news
from a Korean TV while sending your e-mails, you can!
Advantages.
High Speed. Different navigation speeds from 128 kbps to 4,096 kbps – that translates into being able to send a complete CD worth of information in under three minutes.
Permanent Connectivity. Once your computer is switched on, you are connected, without needing passwords, at all times.
Voice and Data. You can use your phone and also surf the Web without detriment to either service.
Flat Rates. The monthly fee is the same regardless of how much time you are online or information is downloaded.
More than one connection. Clients can create a home network for up to five
computers on the same ADSL account with speed spread among all the machines.
This new service offers better tele-work opportunities with employees no longer
required to work from an office. Small companies, especially, can benefit directly
by updating their inventories in real time providing a better customer service.
Anyone interested in the ADSL service can call 115 to apply.
Your line should not be more than 2.17 miles from a telephone hub and the ownership of the line must be in your name. Minimum computer requirements are a Pentium III with 128 mB RAM and 40 mB free hard drive.
Acceptable operating systems are Windows 98, Mac OS 7.0 or greater. Computers
must also have an Ethernet card with 10/100 Base T interface to connect to the
ADSL equipment. Other equipment such as terminals are sold together as CPE and
Splitter.
ICE will rent this equipment next quarter for US$1 per month. If you need the
service sooner, you must buy the ADSL modem in an ICE shop for around $50 to $400. Charges will appear in your regular telephone invoice.
Our thanks to Esteban Oviedo, Pablo Fonseca and our friends at La Nación – Costa
Rica’s largest Spanish circulation newspaper for their permission to use
this article…
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Andrew Makarik
to@welovecostarica.comAndrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.
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