Costa Rica

Mobile networks and carriers in Costa Rica use 1 GSM band, 2 UMTS bands, and 2 LTE bands. Find out if your unlocked phone or mobile device will work in Costa Rica. See the tables below for details.

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Costa Rica's mobile network landscape is characterized by a well-developed telecommunications infrastructure. The country has a significant number of mobile phone subscriptions, with 7.88 million mobile phones in use as of 2022, corresponding to an average of 1.5 mobile phones per person. This is higher than the average in the United States, which stands at 1.1 mobile phones per person.

The major mobile providers in Costa Rica include ICE (Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad), Claro, and Movistar. ICE is the government-owned provider with the largest network coverage across the country, particularly in rural areas. Claro and Movistar are private companies that also offer competitive services, with good coverage in urban areas.

Historically, the development of mobile communications in Costa Rica has been rapid. The number of mobile phone subscriptions has significantly increased over the years, with a notable shift from landline phones to mobile phones. As of 2022, the number of landline phones has fallen, while the spread of cell phones has risen to 152 cell phone subscriptions per 100 people.

In terms of internet speed, Costa Rica ranks 57th in the world for fixed-network broadband internet, with an average download speed of 93.62 Mbit/second and an upload speed of 47.72 Mbit/second. For mobile internet, the country ranks 80th, with a download speed of 31.30 Mbit/second and an upload speed of around 9 Mbit/second.

The cost of mobile phone contracts in Costa Rica is relatively low, with a monthly budget averaging $10.10 in 2022, a 37% decrease from the previous year. This includes 140 telephony minutes, 70 text messages, and a data transfer of 2 GBytes, which is a high consumption rate globally.

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Carriers

Name	# of frequency bands in use
Claro	3
Fullmóvil	2
Kolbi	3
Liberty	4
Movistar	4

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Frequencies in use

GSM

Name	Interface
1800 MHz (DCS)	GSM

UMTS

Name	Interface
B1 (2100 MHz)	UMTS
B5 (850 MHz)	UMTS

LTE

Name	Interface
B3 (1800 MHz +)	LTE
B7 (2600 MHz)	LTE

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