Waiting Their Turn in Line: Costa Ricans around the country waited in long lines yesterday to get one of the 40,000 GSM cell phone lines released by Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE).

Frontier Airlines is seeking to make Costa Rica one of its travel destinations and applied yesterday for U.S. federal authority to fly here, according to the Denver Post.

Free Screening of Film “Invierno en Baghdad” (“Winter in Baghdad ”)
Film documenting how the war in Iraq has changed life for children in that country, directed by Javier Corcuera, produced in Peru, Spain and Iraq, 7 p.m., Sala Calle 15, San José, Ave. 2, Calle 11/13.

"Screen Night"
Dance performance by the French group Kdanse, 8 p.m., Teatro de la Danza, National Culture Center (CENAC), San José. Info: 221-2154.

By Amanda Roberson
Tico Times Staff | aroberson@ticotimes.net

By mid-morning, lines were already snaking down the streets of San José as people waited to get their hands on one of the 40,000 GSM cell phone lines the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) released yesterday.

These lines are hot commodities. The Tico Times received reports of people missing work to face hour-long waits at distributors authorized to sell them.

GSM lines are also being issued at ICE agencies by appointment only, but all of the 16,000 appointments made available May 10 have been taken, according to ICE spokesman Elbert Durán. The remaining 24,000 lines are being sold at commercial distributors.

At 3:13 p.m., 10,481 of the 40,000 lines available had been sold – approximately 2,000 through ICE appointments and about 8,000 at authorized commercial distributors.

“They sold at a rhythm of about 1,000 per hour and we expect this to continue (today),” Durán said, adding that at this rate, ICE will run out of lines in four or five days.

Those who are unable to get one of the lines released yesterday can place their name on a waiting list by calling 115, Durán said. Approximately 40,000 additional lines are expected to be released in about three months.

The lines released yesterday were recycled after being revoked from clients who failed to pay their bills.

About 100,000 cell phone lines that use TDMA technology, the other cell phone technology in Costa Rica, are also available. To purchase this type of line, users must visit an ICE agency, Durán said.

By Amanda Roberson
Tico Times Staff | aroberson@ticotimes.net

Two earthquakes shook the ground and rattled residents in Costa Rica yesterday.

The first occurred at 9:58 a.m. and originated 23 kilometers southeast of the Southern Zone town of Golfito, 22 kilometers below the earth's surface. It measured 4.4 on the Richter scale, and residents in nearby Ciudad Neilly reported it was so strong that objects fell from shelves and walls, according to María Miranda, spokeswoman for the Volcanological and Seismological Observatory of Costa Rica (OVSICORI), based at Universidad Nacional (UNA) in Heredia, north of San José.

Residents from other Southern Zone towns also called OVSICORI to report feeling the quake.

The second earthquake occurred at 12:41 p.m. and originated 10 km northeast of Arenal Volcano in the Northern Zone. It registered 3.8 on the Richter scale, Miranda said.

Frontier Airlines is seeking to make Costa Rica one of its travel destinations and applied yesterday for U.S. federal authority to fly here, according to the Denver Post.

If granted permission, the budget airline would offer nonstop flights between Denver International Airport and Costa Rica on its 132-seat Airbus A319 planes. No direct flights here from the Colorado capital are currently available.

According to Frontier's Web site, the airline currently flies only to North American destinations.

Frontier Chief Executive Jeff Potter said he is interested in Costa Rica, among other international destinations, including Jamaica, the daily reported.

“Costa Rica is a popular destination, and we've had great success in Mexico, so this would kind of just be the next logical step,” said the airline's spokesman, Joe Hodas.