New Business Fills Yellow-Pages Void
By Katherine Stanley
Tico Times Staff
kstanley@ticotimes.net

After months of back-and-forth over the country's telephone directories, the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) finally announced it would publish white pages (residential), but no yellow pages (commercial) this year. In the right place at the right time: the private Telefónica Amarilla, S.A., which had just completed its first-ever yellow pages and began distributing them just days after the ICE announcement.

General Manager Alexander Morales said it's a common misconception that the new company was formed to take advantage of the conflict between ICE and the U.S.-based telecommunications firm Verizon, which previously published the books. However, he told The Tico Times yesterday that the company was formed in January 2005, just before the ICE-Verizon wrangle began, and has nothing to do with the split – it's just serendipity.

This is the first time the yellow pages have been published privately in Costa Rica, according to Telefónica Amarilla spokeswoman Theda María Briceño. She said the books are now being distributed through the Red Cross, which traditionally distributed the directories published by ICE. As in past years, the Red Cross is requesting donations in exchange for bringing the phone directory to people's doorstep.

The phone-book saga began last year, when ICE ended its contract with Verizon. ICE first claimed that Verizon had made a major change in the way the directories were published without consulting the institute. Namely, Verizon published five regional directories rather than the traditional nationwide book (TT, Jan. 21, 2005). The conflict later prompted a decision by Verizon executives to cease all operations here (TT, July 8, 2005).

ICE claims that the conflict has prevented it from having enough time to find another company to publish the yellow pages, La Nación reported. Radiográfica Costarricense, S.A. (RACSA), the state telegram and Internet company, will fund the publication of the white pages and will invite various companies to compete for the concession.

Telefónica Amarilla is left with the entire yellow-pages market to itself. Unsurprisingly, expansion plans are already in the works. This year, the company published 125,000 copies, and is planning 500,000 next year to cover the entire country. To help deal with the demand, the company will offer 20,000 additional directories on CD-ROM, also distributed by the Red Cross once the paper copies are distributed. Morales said this will probably take place in February. All ads can also be viewed online at www.telefonicaamarilla.com.

For more information on obtaining a book or CD-ROM, or participation in the 2007 guide, visit the company's Web site, listed above, or call 296-9681.