ICE Expects Overload of Text Messages For New Years
Sending SMS (Short Message Service) text messages in Costa Rica has become big, so big that the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) - the state monopoly on telecommunications - cannot cope with the demand.

According to ICE, the cellular network can only handle up to 10.000.000 (million) messages. On Christmas Eve/day the volume shot up to 14.000.000  (million) and for New Year's Day the volume is expected to be 15.000.000 (million) messages.

That's a lot of typing on a small numeric dial pad.

Why so many messages? Cost, for one, a fad, for another. Sending a text message cost only 1.5 colones per message, compared to ¢30 colones (at peak times) per minute to make a call. Also, depending on the cellular phone, the same message can be broadcast to tens and hundreds at the same time.

Sending text messages has become somewhat of a fashion for the young, who prefer to demonstrate their dexterity in typing a message on a dial pad. All over, in a restaurant, on a bus, at work, even at church, people let their fingers do the talking.

The number of messages on Christmas day was a record. The record before that was 11.000.000 (million) following the Alajuela  Saprrissa soccer game. The increase is mainly due to 150.000 new customers ICE just connected during this month to its new GSM cellular network.

Orlando Cascante, director of mobile services at ICE, says a system collapse is normal when they see more traffic than the system can handle. Cascante added that ICE is installing additional towers along Avenida Segunda today to better handle the volume of text messages and cellular calls. The Carnaval - the traditional holiday parade along Avenida Segunda - will not hamper ICE's work crews.

Cascante also said that customers of the new GSM network can now send multimedia files (video, music and photos) over the network if they have a cellular phone that is equipped for those functions. ICE had announced that the multimedia transfers would be permitted in March of 2006. Customers need to call 193 to sign up for the service.

So, what happens to those text messages that are beyond ICE's capacity? Your guess is as good as anyones'. ICE says that all messages, though late, will be processed and delivered. But, don't sit by you cellular waiting, because as uses found out last Sunday, some messages just get lost in space. Literally.