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New GSM Network Customers Can
Now Buy Insurance Against Theft
of Cellular Phone
Tired of getting your cellular
telephone stolen and having to
dish out money to replace it?
Well, the Instituto Nacional de
Seguros (INS) - the state
insurance company - has come to
the rescue with an insurance
policy for cellular telephone
theft.
The INS will charge 7.25% of the
value of the cellular telephone
for the replacement cost if the
telephone is stolen. The INS
policy is available immediately
and can be purchased directly
from the INS or any of the
authorized INS insurance agents.
The cost therefore would be
˘7.250 colones for one year's
protection for a cellular
telephone valued at ˘100.000
colones, for example.
But, there is one catch. The
policy only covers cellular
telephones installed on the new
GSM network that went on sale
Monday.
The reason is that the new GSM
network installed by the
Ericcson company has the built
in the IMEI (International
Mobile Equipment Identity), a
unique 15-digit code used to
identify an individual GSM
mobile telephone to a GSM
network. The IMEI is stored in
the Equipment Identity Register
(EIR).
A cellular telephone lost or
stolen cannot be connected again
to the new network. Since the
Instituto Costarricense de
Electricidad (ICE) is the sole
provider of cellular service in
Costa Rica, the lost or stolen
phone is useless on the new
network.
However, the phone can be used
on the "old" network installed
by Alcatel several years back,
since that network does not
count with the IMEI.
The Ericsson network will allow
ICE to assign each telephone
number the registered IMEI of
the telephone connected. Once
reported stolen, ICE can then
detect if the telephone unit is
being installed on another
number.
The INS is making available a
special telephone line
800-TELEINS (800-8000-8001) that
will take calls 24 hours day to
make a claim, which should be
made within 48 hours of the
theft. The insured then has 15
days to present the
documentation (cedula, and
police report of the theft) for
reimbursement. INS will not pay
the insured directly, but
rather, will pay the retailer
for the replacement of the
cellular telephone unit.
ICE reports that as many as
8.000 cellular telephones are
reported stolen each month.
Having an insurance policy and
connected to the new network,
gives consumers peace in the
event of a robbery,
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