Costa Rican telecommunications officials have authorized Internet access for 125 cafés this week, most of which are in the Central Valley region, the Superintendent of Telecommunications (SUTEL) said.

The businesses, including 104 in the Central Valley region where the capital San José lies, will be allowed to provide Internet access and voice over Internet protocol (VoIP).

According to SUTEL, 77 internet cafés and stores had been authorized previously and another 400 are in the authorization phase.

The influx of Internet cafés is evidence of the increased interest in companies grabbing a piece of the country's telecom market, which was opened for competition in the beginning of 2009. The telecom market was controlled by the monopoly of the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) until Costa Rica joined the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA) on Jan. 1 of this year.

Of the 125 internet cafés, 88 will offer Internet access and 37 others will offer both Internet access and VoIP, which allows telephone calls to be made via the internet.

Meanwhile, seven Costa Rican companies participated in a trade mission known as “Costa Rica IT & Telecoms Network” on Thursday in New York. The mission, which was organized by the Foreign Trade Promotion Office, was used to develop potential commercial relationships with U.S.-based companies interested in participating in the Costa Rica telecom market.

“The opening of the telecommunications market in our country, without question, offers a range of opportunities to companies in the information and communications industry,” said Foreign Trade Minister Marco Vinicio Ruiz. “For that reason, activities of this nature promote opportunities for New York companies to make contacts and participate in our telecommunications market.”