Costa Rica's ICE is biggest contributor to Fonatel fund

Costa Rica's state-owned telco ICE is the biggest contributor to the Fonatel telecom fund, having paid in more than 31bn colones (US$58mn) to the program between 2010 and 2015.

Fonatel, which is managed by watchdog Sutel and is used to finance connectivity and the expansion of telecom service projects around the country, is formed by contributions from private companies. Under Costa Rican law, operators need to provide between 1.5 and 3% of their gross revenues to the fund.

Despite being the greatest contributor to the fund, ICE was only the recipient of 32% of total funding for its connectivity projects in the five-year period, the operator said in a press release. According to ICE, a multinational company is the operator that has received most money from Fonatel, with 47.7% of the total funds in the last five years.

Among the ICE programs financed by Fonatel are concessions to expand services in areas such as Roxana de Pococí and Área Sur in 2013 and 2015.