By Wendy Anders

Changes proposed by the Costa Rican telecom regulatory agency (Sutel) in Internet pricing that would eliminate postpaid Internet plans and charge per download fees is under criticism by the Costa Rican Professional Journalists Association (Colegio de Periodistas or Colper).

“The move would be a step back in access to information,” said the association recently to Informa-Tico.com, a Costa Rican news site.

“The imminent announcement of charges for downloading data threatens to significantly increase the rates for Internet service, which constitutes a setback in access to information, continued Colper.

The proposed changes come at a time when the majority of the country’s population uses their mobile phones freely to send messages, share photos and videos, and view multimedia content, said the journalists.

“We are talking about charges for everyday use of WhatsApp, Waze, and Facebook that are accessed via mobile Internet plans,” said the association.

Sutel tried previously to make this concession to the telecom companies, but strong opposition from different sectors stopped the plans, said Colper in a statement.

However, earlier this month, the agency announced the issuance of a declaration of “effective competition” for the postpaid mobile market, which most likely will usher in a new system of per Internet download charges, reported Informa-Tico.

“From our perspective, the potential increase in this service will be a clear limitation to the work of journalists and communicators, and have a negative effect on universal access to Internet services among the general population; it would foster an increase in the digital divide and thereby affect the democratization of information,“ said the journalists in a statement.

According to Sutel and telecom companies, per download charges could decongest the country’s relatively slow network. But this is not the right solution, says the journalists association. Better infrastructure should be created to guarantee faster Internet speeds, says Colper.