A unique satellite internet service has been approved to operate in Costa Rica, allowing for the Redmond, Washington, USA-headquartered Starlink to soon operate in the country.

Starlink is a satellite internet constellation operated by the Elon Musk aerospace company SpaceX. The firm is providing satellite Internet access coverage to over 54 countries. It also aims for global mobile phone service after 2023.

Starlink started the regulatory process to branch in Costa Rica in October 2022. This week, the President of the Board of Directors of the Telecommunications Superintendency (Sutel), Federico Chacon, recommended that the Executive Branch grant the concession to Starlink.

Future customers will be able to access 50 to 500 Mbps service in the country for around $110 per month. At the same time, the one-time set-up fee, which is to include the hardware, will run customers around $600.

As part of the company's regional expansion plan of operations, three countries are prepared to open local Starlink branches between October to December 2023: Costa Rica, Guatemala and the Bahamas. 

Business magnate Elon Musk is the founder, CEO and chief engineer of companies such as SpaceX, Starlink, Angel Investor, Tesla, and Twitter, among others. Musk is the second-wealthiest person in the world, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The source primarily focuses on his ownership stakes in Tesla and SpaceX, with an estimated net worth of around $167 billion.

Starlink is one of many international firms investing in Costa Rica. Recently, the Japan-headquartered company Hitachi, a global cloud-services systems integrator firm specializing in Microsoft business applications and technologies, announced its expansion of operation in the country. 

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What other U.S. companies should open operations in Costa Rica? We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments news@amcostarica.com