|
Foreign
Residents Can Only Obtain
Cellular Service Directly From
ICE Office
Thinking of getting a cellular
phone in Costa Rica? No problem
as long as you a resident. That
has been the standing policy by
the Instituto Costarricense de
Electricidad (ICE) - the state
monopoly on telecommunications -
for foreigners wanting to
connect to the cellular network.
However, since December of 2005,
ICE authorized some 800 agents
across the country, who some did
not follow that rule and allowed
foreigners without a residency
cedula to connect their cellular
telephone. An appeal by ICE to
the Sala Constitucional will now
put a stop to that practice.
The Sala ruling handed down
yesterday supports ICE's right
to limit foreigners to visit an
ICE agency - not an authorized
agent, like a cellular reseller
at the mall, for example - to
produce the required documents
to prove their immigration
status before providing cellular
service.
The court judges, unanimously,
sided with ICE, saying that the
Institucion request is not
unreasonable since authorized
agents don't have access to the
list of persons with "cédulas de
residencia" (residency), which
makes it impossible for them to
verify the validation of the
foreigner's document.
Thus, the Sala IV as the court
is sometimes referred to, said
that verification can only made
at an ICE agency (office).
Orlando Cascante, director of
Mobile Services at ICE, said
that the institution applies
strict requirements to avoid
fraud with cellular lines,
saying it is a security measure.
Cascante said that they have had
cases where a foreigner obtains
a cellular line on a weekend,
racks up international calls of
more than ˘500.000 colones
(us$1.000 dollars) with only a
˘12.500 colones deposit.
Cascante added that all
residency documents are closely
checked and verified before and
after providing the service.
|
|
