193.000 TDMA Cellular Lines Still Available, ICE Says
Looking to get a cellular phone? Well, the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) - the state monopoly on telecommunications - has some good news.

ICE says it as available some 93.000 cellular lines of the older TDMA technology and is selling at a rate of 1.200 per well.

The reason for the slow sales is that customers prefer the GSM technology which allows more features like viedo messaging and GPRS - internet connection - though the features is being made available by ICE. The current GSM networks in operation have the capability of providing the high end features, however, ICE is not turning them on, waiting on rate approvals.

Currently ICE is not offering GSM lines and new cellular customers will have to make do with TDMA. The state telecom is in the process of evaluating its needs and preparing a bid to purchase more GSM lines.

The decision to expand the current networks installed by Alcatel and Ericsson was nixed by the ICE board of directors, preferring to offer the purchase via a new bid and possibly using the newest G3 technology.

To subscribe to cellular service in Costa Rica, you must be a citizen or resident, have a receipt for the equipment to be connected and provide a copy of a recent utility bill. A ¢12.500 colones deposit is also required. Foreigners visiting Costa Rica cannot subscribe to cellular services offered by ICE.