Claro to launch LTE next month

Mexican-backed cellco Claro Costa Rica has announced that it will commercially launch its 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) on 1 April, having entered the final stage of trialling the new platform, La Nacion reports. In terms of coverage, the network will be available in La Ururca, Heredia, Escazu and Santa Ana at launch. LTE services will be available for mobile handsets, tablets and USB modems, although tariffs will be post-paid only at first, with pre-paid options expected to follow in mid-2014: prices for 4G services will range from CRC8,000 to CRC50,000 (USD15.44 to USD96.51) per month. As previously reported by CommsUpdate, Costa Rican incumbent Grupo Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (Grupo ICE), which offers telecoms services under the Kolbi brand, expanded its 4G offering to include mobile handsets earlier this week, having launched a data-only service in late November 2013.