Convergencia Research, Consultoría especializada en Latinoamérica y Caribe
Monday, November 08, 2021

Alvarado insists, but digital literacy does not advance in Costa Rica

The president of the country has encountered strong opposition within his party, in the control body and between operators and the private sector in general. What is at stake is US$ 22 million annually.

The digital literacy bill is stuck in the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica, where the government of President Carlos Alvarado is unable to overcome the blockade of the opposing party and of some of official legislators who oppose its treatment and sanction.

In order to overcome this barrier, Alvarado encouraged changes in the text of file 22.206, seeking to melt barriers, but he has not achieved that objective and, on the contrary, from civil society new voices contrary to the intentions of the Executive Power have been added in the last weeks.

The bill is currently being treated in the Tax Affairs Committee, where it does not have general support either. The Assembly has 57 members, one of whom has stood out for defending the official text: Yorleni León, from the National Liberation party.

At its heart, the project proposes to modify the General Telecommunications Law to derive the resources of the National Telecommunications Fund (Fonatel, in Spanish) towards a new plan, the Digital Literacy Program, which would be managed by the Ministries of Public Education and Science and Technology (Micitt, in Spanish). The stated goal is to bring connectivity and computers to vulnerable students without resources to access those goods and services.

Money. The political and civil opposition to Alvarado assures that the literacy program is an attempt of the Executive Power on Fonatel, a fund whose resources have a specific allocation.

Fonatel has several sources of income. The two most important are the sale of spectrum and the contribution of telecommunications operators, about 160 in total, of which the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE, in Spanish) contributes half. As of July 31, Fonatel had accumulated US$ 340.8 million. In September 2020, the Undersecretary of Telecommunications (Sutel, in Spanish) established the rate to be applied on the gross income of that year at 1.5%, which is paid over the following year, with which it is expected that in 2021 total revenues would add US$ 22.7 million, Moreover,  US$ 10.8 million had already entered as of July 31.

Sutel issued its opinion last September proposing that 1.5% also be applied to the income of operators in 2021.

Fonatel should be in charge of the programs for the universalization of telecommunications in Costa Rica. Currently, it manages five programs with this objective: Connected Communities, Indigenous Territories, Connected Homes, Equipped Public Centers and Connected Public Spaces. 

Responsible. Sutel and the ministries of Education and Science and Technology are fighting for the responsibility of ensuring connectivity of the 4,514 educational establishments in the country. According to Micitt, Sutel should be in charge of 2,375 schools with Fonatel resources, while the Ministry of Public Education should finance connectivity for another 1,662 schools in 2021 and an additional 477 in 2022. But there is no agreement between public bodies.

In fact, Alvarado's proposal aims to respond to a harsh social reality that the coronavirus pandemic exposed in all starkness. According to data from the Ministry of Public Education, released by the President, more than 436,000 students do not have Internet at home and 322,000 do not have a technological device. Alvarado observed that this diversion of resources was necessary since Fonatel was unable to provide an answer.

For opponents of the project, the arguments of the Comptroller General of the Republic are central. The agency issued its third position contrary to the official text. The members of the body believe that the same objective can be achieved with the laws that are already in force. In addition, they assure that the project is not clear regarding the costs to be financed by Fonatel and criticized that it only covers the education sector when the digital needs are of the entire society.

The College of Informatics also expressed disagreement with the plan. Although it considers the digital literacy of Costa Ricans important, it argues that the modifications produced by the new law could make the state structure more complex. In turn, they argue that it would be inconvenient to include a specific education program in the Telecommunications Law, which regulates technical aspects. They also consider the fact that said bill would give Micitt powers that currently belong to the Superintendency of Telecommunications to be worrying.

On its part, the Infocom Chamber, which gathers the country's telecommunications operators, said that the problem is not solved with new legislation but with political will on the part of the governing body to adjust the National Telecommunications Development Plan, that expires at the end of this year and whose renewal is in doubt.

On the other hand, the Costa Rican Union of Chambers and Associations of the Private Business Sector supported Infocom's position and also spoke out against the creation of the National Digital Literacy Program.

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