GSM Cellular Coverage To Improve, ICE Says
Having problems with your cellular reception within office buildings? Well, the fix is on the way.

The lousy or no reception within office buildings is a primary complaint by customers of the GSM service, which now make up the largest number of cellular customers over the older and established TDMA network.

The Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) says it will be intalling amplifiers to the network for the downtown San José area so that reception can be bettered.

According to Roberto Vargas, head of the amplification project, the first phase will be install equipment to better reception in buildings like the Registro Nacional, Hospital México, Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología, the Consejo Nacional de Rehabilitación and in the ICE offices in La Sabana, buildings that have had traditionally have had lousy reception.

The cost of the project is us$160.000 and will be finished within 15 days, according to Vargas.

Orlando Cascante, head of mobile services at ICE, added that all the base stations will have amplification, in accordance with the contract ICE has with Alcatel and Ericcson, the installers of the GSM networks.

Cascante said that once the installation of the amplification equipment is complete, the GSM service will improve in most areas around the country.

A report by the Gestión Técnica Celular del ICE released on March 3rd, determined that after three months of operation, one third of the new GSM network installed by Ericcson does not have adequate coverage. Ericcson was awarded the contract to install 600.000 GSM cellular lines, which will be fully operational by August. The new network was activated last December, adding to the original 400.000 GSM cellular lines installed by Alcatel several years ago.