Telecommunications officials have given authorization for six companies to offer Internet service, voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) and other online options in Costa Rica, logging in a breakthrough in the country's long-sealed telecoms monopoly.

The green-lighted companies are Dodona SRL, Intertel Worldwide S.A., Worldcom de Costa Rica S.A., Call my way NY S.A., Redes Inalámbricas de Costa Rica S.A. and JASEC.

These businesses can now compete with the state-owned Internet providers, the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) and Radiogárafica Costarricense S.A. (RACSA), whose exclusive stronghold expired one year ago when President Oscar Arias signed a law to end the state's 59-year-old monopoly on telecom services (TT Daily News, June 5, 2008).

“This is a historic step for the country,” Carolina Mora, spokeswoman for the Superintendent of Telecommunications (SUTEL), told The Tico Times. “It's the first time telecommunications companies have been authorized to offer services after decades of a monopoly situation.”

SUTEL on Monday included R&H International Telecom Services in its list of approved firms but on Tuesday, Mora said R&H's inclusion was an error. That business remains in a list of 40 companies awaiting approval from SUTEL to begin or expand operations in Costa Rica. The telecom authorities had accidentally omitted JASEC, a company based in Cartago, the old capital east of San José, Mora said.

Of the 40 businesses, 10 are proposing to launch Internet cafés and the remaining would offer Internet or VoIP services to companies and individual customers, Mora said.

At least one of the companies is already up and running. Started in Costa Rica 15 years ago, Worldcom – not related to the defunct U.S. company Worldcom/MCI – has been waiting for the day this country would crack open its Internet market.

With a green light from SUTEL, “Worldcom can immediately provide telecommunications services in this market. Worldcom's telecom network is totally operational across national territory,” said Valentin Horvilleur, the company's general director, in a statement e-mailed to The Tico Times.

The opening of the online industry came ahead of the cell phone sector's much-anticipated diversification. Phones and mobiles are still considered the province of ICE. Mora said the phone industry will not likely see new competition in until February 2010.

Japanese violinist Midori Goto arrived in San José Monday for a week of musical education and performances, a visit the Culture Ministry said will bring attention to the importance of music in the lives of children.

Midori – as she is known worldwide – spent part of Tuesday visiting the National Musical Education System's (SINEM) schools in Desamparados and Pavas, two districts just outside San José. At a press conference earlier in the day, she said part of the reason she chose to come to Costa Rica was to see and support the three-year-old system and the country's dedication to advancing the arts.

“I'm very much looking forward to working with and meeting with the teachers and students of SINEM this week,” Midori said. “We hope that by brining music and culture into their lives, they become more aware of their world and more a part of it.”

The violinist will perform with the National Symphony Orchestra twice while in the country: once on Friday at 8 p.m. and again Sunday at 10:30 a.m. During both performances – which will be held in the National Theater – she will be playing Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto, a piece picked out by the orchestra's director, Chosei Komatsu, who also happens to be a close friend of Midori, the two said.

The concerts will also feature Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 and Brahms' Academic Festival Overture.

Tickets range from ¢3,000 (about $5.25) to ¢15,000 ($26.30) and are available at the National Theater's box office (in Plaza de la Cultura) or by calling 2221-5341.

Rainforest Alliance and the Nestlé Nespresso Company signed the “Ecolaboration pact” on Monday, an agreement that is aimed at benefiting coffee growers in Costa Rica and across the globe.

The accord guarantees that coffee sold by Nespresso is grown in a sustainable manner. Coffee fields are graded based on a set of over 100 criteria.

If a coffee grower meets 80 percent of the overall criteria, and scores no less than 50 percent in any specific area, a Rainforest Alliance Certified stamp will be placed on the packaged coffee.

Rainforest Alliance could not guarantee that growers would receive a higher price for the certified coffee, but Communications Coordinator Jessica Webb said that “consumers usually prefer a sustainable product over a non-sustainable product.” She noted that in many cases, a higher price is associated with sustainably-grown products.

A press release from Rainforest Alliance, an international conservation organization, said that certified fields will “cover all the aspects of sustainable agriculture, including the conservation of water, protection of wildlife…(as well as) good salaries, drinking water and access to schools and health services” for workers.

Nespresso expects that 80 percent of its coffee bags will have a Rainforest Alliance Certified stamp by the year 2013.

Other countries that will participate in the program include Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Kenya and Mexico.

Coffee was once Costa Rica's number one cash crop until falling to number three in 2006 behind bananas and pineapples.

Search the TT Back Issues for an interview with the president of Rainforest Alliance, Tensie Whelan, about sustainable coffee.

The number of Influenza A(H1N1) virus cases climbed above the 200 mark in Costa Rica this week with 209 reported cases, according to the Health Ministry.

The country continues to be on high alert, following the issuance of a Phase 6 pandemic warning by the World Health Organization (WHO) on June 11. All people entering the country are still required to fill out paperwork indicating their medical condition, and educational material continues to be circulated at public places.

“The country has responded efficiently, vigilantly tracking the cases,” read a statement from the Health Ministry, which added that Costa Rica ranks 18th in the frequency of reports of new cases.

Though the virus has spread to five of the seven provinces in the country, only one death has thus far been reported. A 53-year-old musician from Heredia died on May 9 of a multitude of medical complications (not all relating to the virus).

According to the WHO, close to 100 countries have reported a total of 52,160 cases worldwide. In an effort to create a joint response to the pandemic, representatives from 40 countries, the WHO and the Pan American Health Organization plan to meet in Cancun, Mexico, for a summit next week (July 1 to 3).