Costa Rica's state telecommunications operator Grupo ICE launched a new tender to acquire goods and services for the implementation of the 5G and LTE network.
With a reference budget of US$249mn, the tender includes radio frequency elements, 5G mobile core, interconnection routers, management systems, training, operation and maintenance.
The tender comes after a previous one, launched in 2023, was declared void this year due to changes in the company's needs.
That was after ICE defined in 2024 new technical bases for the implementation of its mobile networks to focus on OpenRAN technology, an alternative to traditional proprietary technology.
It was also promoted as a strategy to counter Huawei's Chinese proprietary technology.
Companies that have previously participated in ICE's market study include Ericsson, GBM Costa Rica, Samsung, Ribbon Communications, SISAP and Nokia. ICE has already selected Nokia for deploying 5G fixed services.
By unifying the requirements in a single process, the acquisition needs for radio access (RAN) equipment and services for both 5G and 4G are integrated, making use of other FDD bands that ICE currently has, such as 1800MHz, 2100MHz, 2600MHz and 850MHz.
The company, which could not participate in the latest 5G spectrum auction, has an MVNO agreement with its subsidiary Racsa, which owns spectrum in the 3.5GHz band. This band is seen as the best alternative to deploy 5G services.
Source: https://www.bnamericas.com/en/news/costa-ricas-ice-launches-new-tender-for-4g-and-5g-network
