ICE claims US$32mn from Sutel for interfering in rates

Costa Rican state-run telco ICE has sued watchdog Sutel for interfering with rates, demanding 17.3bn colones (US$32.2mn) in compensation.

ICE argues that Sutel failed to update interconnection rates between mobile operators since 2011, meaning that the final fees charged to users did not cover the costs of call origination and termination.

ICE said in a press release that despite costs of 17.95 colones for call origination and the same amount for termination, giving a total of 35.90 colones per minute, Sutel set the maximum charge to users at 29.49 colones for pre-paid phones and 30 colones for post-paid clients.

It adds that the demand for compensation is to recover 15.7bn colones in revenue alleged to have been lost between November 2011 and June 2015, plus 1.6bn colones in interest.

This is not the first time ICE and Sutel have clashed. ICE filed a legal protection measure against Sutel earlier this year, claiming that the watchdog's outdated practices result in discriminatory treatment.