Costa Rica
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ICE to award fiber contract to ECI

Bnamericas
Costa Rica's electrical and telecoms monopoly ICE plans to award the tender for its Border-to-Border national fiber optic project to Israeli firm ECI Telecom, project director Oscar Rodríguez told BNamericas. "We are in the process of awarding it to ECI. We have sent the recommendation and after ten days if there are no appeals, we will be able to close the tender," Rodríguez said. An appeal at this point is not expected, mostly because the country's comptroller general has eliminated all of the other firms which could possibly make one. "There are none left who have, as the lawyers say, a legitimate interest. A company which could be awarded the contract has such interest. But there are none," Rodríguez said. The original amount bid by ECI, US$72mn, is being revised in light of discounts and other adjustments. Rodríguez did not have a final figure for the tender award, but said that work on the project will likely start at the beginning of 2005. The national fiber optic project has been hamstrung by delays, contract cancellations and appeals since it was initiated in 2001. Costa Rica's comptroller recently voided a contract ICE had awarded to Sweden's Ericsson, leaving ECI as the sole survivor out of four original firms. "This has been the story of our lives. We award, someone else appeals, there is a rejection, and so on. At the root of the problem is the fact that the comptroller makes the final decision. ICE doesn't make the final decision over which equipment is bought, who is awarded it or when the system will be ready. It is all a decision by the comptroller," Rodríguez said. Ericsson representatives contacted by BNamericas declined to comment on this latest development in the process. For a country so well known for efficiency and organization, the ongoing problems in the tender process are something of an albatross. Last week, the comptroller voided yet another tender to Ericsson that ICE had awarded for 600,000 GSM lines, forcing ICE to produce documents in support of its award decision. Rodríguez said the problem is that there are so many stakeholders in the tenders. "Basically, because there are many interests in the telecoms business, there is much interest because of the upcoming opening of the market. There will be participation of private companies in the sector. This happens due to certain sectors of the press, and public opinion are especially critical of the tender process and only complicate things," he said. "The model of the organization of the state with the comptroller and various entities is in crisis. For several years, we have been trying to update the legislation of the state. In an environment in which the rate of technological change is so quick, the state has to be more agile," Rodríguez noted.

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  • Company: Radiográfica Costarricense S.A.  (RACSA)
  • State-owned Costa Rica internet provider Racsa, a subsidiary of state telco ICE, offers internet and voice services. It manages subscriber connections to ADSL internet while ICE...