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| Costa Rica Expertise Ltd http://crexpertise.com E-mail info@crexpertise.com Tel:506-256-8585 Fax:506-256-7575 |
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scheduled to increase By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The price regulating agency said Tuesday that taxi fares and the price of gasoline were going up. Super gasoline is going up 34 colons per liter or about 6 U.S. cents. Plus gasoline is going up 33 colons a liter. TAxi fares are going up 25 colons for the first kilometer to 455 colons or about 78 U.S. cents. Subsequent city miles will be at 416 colons each, an increase of 30 colons. Fares for vehicles used for the disabled and rural vehicles are slightly different/ The agency, the Authoridad Regulatora de Servicios PúblicosPúblicos has cut taxi fares about percent in March reasoning that fuel prices had come down.me down. Both increasess areexpecteded to tax effect Sept. 16 when the decision is published in the La Gaceta official newspaper. The agency also reminded passengers that because legally they have the right to choose the route, they also must pay for any tolls that the taxi driver has to pay. The gasoline price follows the change in certain economic indicators between July 31 and Aug. 13. Among these are the international price of petroleum and the devaluation of the colon. There were similar increases for diesel and other petroleum products. Our readers' opinions
Wimax never will be access method of choice Dear A.M. Costa Rica: As a retired wireless/microwave engineer, I am continually amazed at people who think that they know more about radio signals and propagation than the professionals who design and build systems based on radio. Your article in Tuesday's A.M. Costa Rica is a good case in point. The "Evolutiona" WiMax system offered by RACSA operates on "C-band" microwave frequencies because it is only at microwave frequencies that available bandwidths make possible the kinds of connect speeds that Internet users are coming to expect. As you go higher in frequency, available bandwidths become greater. But as you go higher, the signal also becomes more like light waves, which are themselves a form of microwave energy. In other words, it becomes ever more easily blocked by obstructions. At C-band, a frequency of 3,000 million hertz, or cycles per second, the signals become so similar to light that they behave much like it — it doesn't take much to completely block the signal. So to suggest that the "weak signal" that can't "amazingly" can't penetrate walls or even trees, displays an appalling ignorance of how high-bandwidth systems must be constructed. Yes, in theory it would be possible to construct a system that could easily penetrate walls and trees, but the throughput would be so slow that it would more resemble the early dialup modems than a modern Internet access system, and such a system could support only a handful of users without being maxed out. This bandwidth versus line-of-sight problem is why wireless Internet access is simply never going to be the access method of choice. Your problem is the laws of physics, not RACSA's system design. I am an Evolutiona customer, and a happy one. This e-mail was sent to you through that network. I have been on the Evolutiona system since January of this year, and have been pleased with the service I have received so far. Before going on the Evolutiona system, I was on a very similar private WiMax network. RACSA's WiMax system costs about half as much per month; installation, which happened a couple of weeks after my order, cost one fourth as much, and the performance and uptime has been vastly superior. The longest service outage I have had so far was six hours (due to a server failure in Cartago), and it is rarely down for more than an hour or so, and that maybe once a month. For me, the system you are complaining about works brilliantly. It is at least as reliable as the Cox cable modem I was on in Phoenix before moving here, and the performance nearly as good. By comparison, the private WiMax network I was on in San Ramón wasn't installed for three months after my order, and when it was finally installed, it was down frequently — several times per week, typically, and was often down for a day or two at a time — when it went down on weekends, it would usually be down until a tech came on duty on Monday morning. Throughputs were much slower and the latency (delay) was so highly variable that it was difficult to stream even low bit-rate audio media on that network except late at night. So don't complain about RACSA and its WiMax system design just because you happen to be in a difficult spot and don't understand the physics. In my professional experience, Evolutiona is about as good as WiMax gets. Scott
Bidstrup
Cartago Limitations of Wimax are the nature of the beast Dear A.M. Costa Rica: The problem you encountered with installation of RACSA's Wimax wireless Internet access service is inherent in the current technology. It's the nature of the beast. Here in Grecia, we've had three companies providing wireless Internet access, and all three have required an unobstructed line of sight to either their primary antenna or to a repeater placed between the user's site and that primary antenna. The RACSA technicians were on the right track by moving the mast and antenna around on the roof and by recommending removal of part of the tree. This is precisely what we have had to do in order to get service from Costa Rica Wi-Fi on our mountainside outside Grecia. Perhaps when the technology changes these limitations will ease, but the current technology has brought Internet access to areas that are difficult to reach at very reasonable cost. The alternative, stringing cable to every location where Internet access is desired is impractical from both technical and cost perspectives. Wireless access systems, over which I will send this message to you, are a practical alternative in many situations. David
C. Murray
Grecia, Alajuela
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| A.M. Costa Rica third newspage |
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In case you can't find the Sabana ICE tower By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad is awaiting a court decision on whether it will have to cut its rates. The company pleaded poverty and said the rate cut would endanger its financial stability and cost it about $1 million. Nevertheless, the company known as ICE is seeking to change its image. One step is placing two illuminated signs atop its central headquarters in Sabana Norte. The company did not say how much the new signs would cost, but it said the signs would use low-consumption lighting. |
 Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad
photo
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Environmental
group says Nicoya wetlands are being farmed
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Special
to A.M. Costa Rica
Agropecuaria Caletas S.A., has continued the destruction of wetlands within the Refugio Nacional de Vida Silvestre Caletas - Arío that was created in 2006 to protect the olive ridley and leatherback sea turtles that nest there, according to an environmental organization.. The organization, the Programa Restauraciónortuga Marina, filed suit against Agropecuaria Caletas S.A. for draining the wetlands of the Caletas Ario Wildlife Refuge, the organization noted. The Tribunal Ambiental Administrativo ordered the company to halt all of its activities in and around this sensitive wetland in April, said the environmental organization known as Pretoma. In June, the Tribunal Ambiental ordered the company to pay $21,200 for damages after officials observed how the |
company was
draining and burning a 150-hectare (370-acre) wetland that boarders
Playa Caletas on the southern Nicoya Peninsula, Pretoma said. Pretoma volunteers took videos of the area this weekend. Randall Arauz, president of Pretoma, said the company was continuing to drain and cultivate in the wetlands. Pretoma said that in July 2008 it filed a lawsuit against Agropecuaria Caletas S.A. and its president Silvester Feichtinger. The company seeks to convert the area into a corn field, the organization said. In August 2008, fires on the wetland spread to within one meter of Pretoma’s sea turtle conservation camp, putting at risk its six volunteers and sea turtle hatchery that protect 130 nests and estimated potential 10,000 turtle hatchlings, Pretoma said. |
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| A.M. Costa Rica fourth news page |
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 Chart
shows what respondents through were the major problems in doing
business here.
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| Costa
Rica still ends up in top half of index of competition |
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
with staff input A new survey indicates that Switzerland, rather than the United States, is now the world's most competitive economy. The World Economic Forum announced the results Tuesday, based on how countries performed in areas such as good government, infrastructure, innovation, and availability of talent. Singapore's economy ranked third in the survey. Emerging economies China, Brazil, and India all showed improvement, while Russia's ranking fell. In other economic news, a government report said Tuesday that U.S. consumer borrowing slid by $21.6 billion in July - the sixth month in a row that borrowing declined. That contributes to less spending in the consumer-driven U.S. economy. Meanwhile, 15 major banks from the U.S. and Europe sent a letter to the U.S. Federal Reserve Tuesday, promising to be more transparent when dealing with complex investments known as derivatives. Some critics say loose regulation of the trading of derivatives played a big role in the economic crisis that began one year ago. The banks say they will use a central forum to make some transactions, to make it easier to monitor them. Derivatives are financial instruments whose value is based on something else, like home loans or crude oil. Costa Rica ranked 55th out of 133 countries, up slightly from 58th place in 2008-2009 World Economic Forum survey. The rankings are calculated from both publicly available data and the Executive Opinion Survey, a comprehensive annual survey conducted by the World Economic Forum together with its network of partner institutes (leading research |
institutes and
business organizations) in the countries covered by the report. This
year, more 13,000 business leaders were polled in 133 economies. The survey is designed to capture a broad range of factors affecting an economy’s business climate. The report also includes comprehensive listings of the main strengths and weaknesses of countries, making it possible to identify key priorities for policy reform. Costa Rica was ranked low in the efficiency of government officials and on the country's infrastructure. Corruption was in fifth place as detracting factors. The Global Competitiveness Report’s ranking is based on the Global Competitiveness Index, developed for the World Economic Forum by Sala-i-Martin and introduced in 2004. The index is based on 12 pillars of competitiveness, providing a comprehensive picture of the competitiveness landscape in countries around the world at all stages of development. The pillars include institutions, infrastructure, macroeconomic stability, health and primary education, higher education and training, goods market efficiency, labour market efficiency, financial market sophistication, technological readiness, market size, business sophistication, and innovation. The report contains a detailed profile for each of the 133 economies featured in the study, providing a comprehensive summary of the overall position in the rankings as well as the most prominent competitive advantages and disadvantages of each country/economy based on the analysis used in computing the rankings. Also included is an extensive section of data tables with global rankings for over 110 indicators. This year’s report also includes a number of discussions of selected countries and regions. Because the index is a synthesis of various surveys, the results probably are not as precise as the forum would suggest. Such indexes paint with a broad brush. |
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| Telecom
agency wins backing from Contraloría By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The nation's financial watchdog has rejected a claim by telecom operators who challenged the right of the new Superintendencia de Telecomunicacions to collect a fee to support itself. The decision came from the Contraloría de la República, and was reported by the Superintendencia. The challenge came from the Cámera de Infocomunicaciones. The Superintendencia has stipulated that telecom providers kick in nearly 5 billion colons each year. That's about $8.6 million, beginning Jan. 1. The telecom chamber argued that it should have some input to the decision by the Superintendencia in setting the fees and that due process was violated. The chamber has the option of taking the argument into court. The fees paid by the telecom provider will come from what is charged for services. The Superintendencia is a rapidly growing bureaucracy which has defined a broad role for itself, including supervision of private telecom nets. Sportfishing competition won't go to Venezuela By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The third leg of the Presidential Caribbean Cup sportsfishing tournament scheduled for this month in Venezuelan waters has been canceled, said the organizers, the Presidential Challenge Charitable Foundation Inc. in Florida. The organization said that it learned of several prominent charter boats that would not be returning to Venezuelan waters for the fall season, which in turn prompted others to also not return to the area. In addition, the ever-changing political landscape has made it very difficult to organize tournament logistics such as fuel supplies and catering in order to run a successful event, it said. Two remaining events for the 2009 competition, the El Salvador and Guatemala legs, are proceeding as planned, the organization said, directing those interested to its Web site. Fugitive Tica found in Canada By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A Costa Rican woman sentenced to 10 years for a 1994 drug crime has been located in Canada, the Poder Judicial said Tuesday. She is Rose Mary Cordonero Garcia. She was arrested in Ontario Thursday. The Poder Judicial said that the arrest came after a year or coordination between prosecutors here and Canadian police working under the banner of the International Police Agency. The woman was sentenced in October 1995 but fled, the Poder Judicial said. The case involved smuggling cocaine. |
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Gold cracks
$1,000 mark for third time Tuesday By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Wary investors are buying gold, pushing prices upward on precious metal trading markets. Gold prices topped the $1,000 an ounce mark for just the third time during trading Tuesday, climbing to their highest level since February before falling again. Investors say gold has become an increasingly attractive investment because of concerns about the value of the U.S. dollar and other currencies. They fear massive spending efforts by world governments to stimulate economic growth will lead to inflation and cause many currencies to decline in value. Some economists say the current rush to buy gold is also the result of fears that the world's stock markets are headed for a steep decline. The highest price paid for gold came in March 2008, when prices also topped $1,030 an ounce. The price of gold on the world market has been rising steadily in recent weeks. People traditionally buy gold during difficult economic times because they think it will hold its value better than other investments. For that same reason, investors also buy gold when they think the value of the U.S. dollar is going to decline. U.S., Monaco OK agreement to exchange tax information Special
to A.M. Costa Rica
The U.S. Department of the Treasury today announced that the United States and Monaco have signed an agreement to allow for the exchange of information on tax matters between the two countries. The agreement was signed by Deputy Secretary Neal Wolin and Minister Franck Biancheri in Washington. "This administration is wholeheartedly committed to combating offshore tax evasion," said Wolin. "We are working with countries like Monaco to ensure that the IRS has access to the information that it needs to enforce U.S. tax law. Today's agreement serves as an example for other financial centers around the world and reflects our continued efforts to end the use of offshore accounts as a tool for tax evasion." The with Monaco will provide the United States with access to information it needs to enforce U.S. tax laws, including information related to bank accounts in Monaco. Information exchanged pursuant to the agreement may be used only for tax purposes, and the tax authorities must safeguard the confidentiality of information exchanged, the Treasury Department said. |
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