THE 113 nationwide operator-assisted telephone directory service is free for the rest of the year to everybody (TT, Aug. 5) – except the multinational firm Verizon, that is. The Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE), the state-owned company that has a monopoly on telecommunications in Costa Rica, has announced that it will ask Verizon for nearly $1 million to cover the costs, according to the daily La República. Earlier this year, the institute terminated Verizon’s contract to produce the nation’s telephone directories after it published regional directories, rather than one directory covering all of Costa Rica as in past years (TT, July 8). Because of the resulting lack of a national directory, ICE decided to make calls to 113 free through December.The institute will continue to cover the costs until the contract dispute is resolved, the daily reported.
