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GSM LInes
Sold Out
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GSM
LInes Sold Out
The Instituto
Costarricense de
Electricidad (ICE) said
yesterday that all of
the 300.000 new GSM
lines that went on sale
last month have been
sold, although only 37%
(113.000) of the lines
have actually been
activated.
In addition to the
300.000, customers also
bought up all of the
40.000 lines that ICE
had on hand, all from
customers who did not
pay their bills.
In effect, there are no
more GSM lines to be
purchased, a situation
that has been constant
with ICE over the last
several years as it
continually scrambles to
add more lines to its
network only to be sold
out within weeks of
their introduction.
For those now wanting to
obtain a GSM line they
will have to wait until
ICE auctions off lines
that customers fail to
pay their monthly bill
or do not commit to
their reservations.
ICE is currently in the
process of acquiring 1.5
million lines of the
third generation known
as 3G. However, those
lines won't be available
until sometime 2009.
In the meantime, ICE
plans to add 200.000
more GSM lines during
the second half of this
year, though no date or
details were made
public.
ICE made the 300.000 new
lines available on
December 17. Customers
were allowed to reserve
their lines since the
beginning of August.
Although ICE cannot
offer any more new lines
to the public, it still
has 187.000 lines
waiting for customers
who reserved, to
connect.
In the past, customers
scurried and made line
at ICE agencies to
connect to ther network
fearing missing out of
the opportunity. This
time around, customers
have the confidence of
ICE being organized and
that their line will be
available when they
decide to connect, many
waiting out the "cuesta
de Enero" - January
financial crunch - to
buy their cellular phone
and pay the ˘12.500
deposit required.
Elberth Durán, a
spokesperson for ICE,
said the institution has
been accommodating and
is giving customers up
to a month to connect.
Currently ICE is
limiting installations
to 10.000 lines daily to
avoid long lines at the
counter. |
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The long lines to
connect a cellular phone
at ICE agencies are a
thing of the past as the
state institution is now
organized and limiting
the number of lines it
will connect daily. File
foto Dec 2005. |
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