ICE official demonstrates videos on cell phones. (MAJELLA LOPEZ.)
The Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad on Wednesday, announced the release of its 4G LTE mobile network under its trademark Kölbi. The service provides Internet accesss, with up to 10 Mbps of bandwidth.
This month users who have the 4G LTE capability on their smart phones will be able to use the service for free. Subsequently, ICE is offering promotional packages that will cost between ¢ 5,000 and ¢ 13,500 per month with bandwidth between 6 megabits (Mbps) and 10 Mbps respectively (regular price is ¢ 13,000 and ¢ 27,000).
To activate the service, users must check whether they will be in the postpaid coverage area of the 4G LTE network. Prospective users will also have to verify that their device supports the 4G LTE network in the 2600 MHz band. The final step is to configure the machine to recognize the 4G LTE network and finally activate the service by sending a message to 6060 with the word activation.
This fast Internet is not available for the iPhone 5, 5S and 5C phones, because a software update from the manufacturer is pending. However, ICE hoprs that the software will be available by April.
ICE competitors, Movistar and Claro are working on plans to offer 4G service, and hope to launch by the end of March.