Only 15.000 Cell Lines
Left Available
For those in the market
for a new cellular line
they better hurry as
there are only 15.000
lines left of the
300.000 the Instituto
Costarricense de
Electricidad (ICE) put
on sale on December 17.
The state monopoly on
telecommunications said
that 285.000 GSM lines
were subscribed to by
customers in the past
three weeks, 63.000 of
which were activated by
authorized ICE
distributors that also
sell cellular
telephones, while the
rest of the lines were
activated at ICE
agencies.
This is the last new
cellular lines that ICE
will be introducing for
a while is continues in
the process of awarding
a bid for 1.5 million
lines of the newer 3G
generation of cellular
service, which could be
a year away.
ICE, with the 3G lines,
is preparing for the
eventual opening of the
telecommunications
market to competition
which is expected to
occur once the Tratado
de Libre Comercio (TLC)
- free trade agreement
with the United States -
is implemented.
Currently only Costa
Ricans and legal
residents can subscribe
to ICE's cellular
network. Visitors and
non-residents have to
either rent a cellular
phone from a number of
companies dedicated to
the rental of cellular
service or rely on a
friend or other person
to get service, as ICE
does not sell "prepaid"
SIM chips as is the
custom in most other
countries around the
world. |
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