Storytelling
By Oswaldo Pai from Spain as part of the StoryTelling Festival, 7 p.m., Spanish Cultural Center, Avenida 13, Calle 31. Info: 2257-2919, ext. 118.

Marcos Witt in concert
New album “Sobrenatural,” 8 p.m., Auditorio de Oasis de Esperanza , Moravia, tickets at www.todoticketcr.com, 2280-1409.

Elsa Basil in concert
Nicaragua singer, with guest artists Fancisco Murillo, Melissa Soto, Media Hora and Jonathan Méndez, 10 p.m., Jazz Café, Escazú; tomorrow, 10 p.m., Jazz Café, San Pedro.

Three global telecommunications companies have placed their bids to deploy a third-generation (3G) mobile network in Costa Rica, vying for a project to set up 950,000 new lines here by the second half of 2009, according to the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE).

Huawei Technologies, ZTE Corporation and Ericsson each gave their proposals Tuesday morning, the deadline set for the international public bidding process, ICE said in a press release.

3G is a wireless network that promises advanced services to cell phone users, including video calls and the ability to surf the Web at top speed.

In August, the government stopped ICE from awarding the 3G contract to Huawei, a Chinese company that had made a bid of $582.8 million to install the lines – more than double the $225 million ICE had budgeted for the project.

Huawei's fresh bid is $245 million plus a $9 million share in Banco de Costa Rica, ICE said.

Also Chinese, ZTE has bid $446,944,559 with a $6.75 million share in the same bank, BCR.

The part Costa Rican consortium of Swedish telecom provider Ericsson has proposed $340,921,843 and a $9.6 million share in Banco CMB Costa Rica.

A tremor marking 6.2 on the Richter scale shook from Panama to Costa Rica after midnight Tuesday, with no reports of injuries, according to the National Emergency Commission.

Some border towns, however, reported damage such as a water tank and shelves falling over at Ciudad Neily Hospital, according to the daily La Nación.

The quake started at 12:11 a.m., 12 kilometers north of Puerto Armuelles, Panama, the Volcanological and Seismological Observatory of Costa Rica reported.

The observatory said the quake originated in the Panama Fracture Zone, and headed up through Costa Rica's Southern Zone, Cartago, Turrialba, Siquirres, Heredia and Sarapiquí. San José residents also reported being jarred by prolonged tremors in the middle of the night.

Some expats are fuming over a proposal to raise the required minimum income foreigners must prove to obtain residency.

The proposal, part of a larger immigration reform now moving through the Legislative Assembly, would require retirees to show monthly income of $2,000 a month, up from $600 under current law.

Expats seeking residency under the category rentista would have to show they earn $5,000 a month outside Costa Rica, up from $1,000 a month under current law.

Rentista, which means “earner,” is one of 10 categories under which foreigners would be able to apply for temporary residency. The other categories include journalist, scientist, intern, businessperson, athlete, investor and other professionals.

The bill could pass out of the Government and Administration Committee as early as Tuesday, said Natalia Cordoba, a legislative aid for committee president Olga Marta Corrales of the National Liberation Party (PLN). The bill would then face debate on the legislature's floor.

Immigration Director Mario Zamora, the bill's principal author, said the requirements would help ensure that foreigners spend money here, contributing to Costa Rica's economy. Still, he said, he will soon meet with legislative aides and opponents of the bill to discuss the figures.

Ryan Piercy, director of the Association of Residents of Costa Rica, said the new requirements would hurt Costa Rica's economy.

“It affects the amount of investment. It affects the amount of tourism. It affects all sorts of areas beyond whether Joe Blow can't move here because his pension isn't high enough,” said Piercy, who plans to lobby against the bill.