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. |
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