Japan Week
Features “500 Rakan” exhibit by Hajime Maboroshi, INBioparque, Santo Domingo, Heredia, and Alliance Française, through Sept. 15; photo exhibit, “Childhood Scenes: 60 Years of Postwar in Japan,” Sept. 7-21, Rectory, UNA, Heredia; film and concert, Sept. 10, 7:30 p.m., Cine Magaly, Barrio La California. Info: www.cr.emb-japan.go.jp.

Music at Dusk
Violinist Grace Marín and pianist Pilar Aguilar, 5:10 p.m., National Theater.

Piano concert
By Dúo Caggiano, pianists Flora Elizondo and Ana Isabel Cabezas, 7 p.m., UCR School of Music, room 107, San Pedro.

Japanese film
“I Was Born, But…,” silent film by Yasujiro Ozu . 7:30 p.m., Cine Magaly, Barrio la California.

The Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) has announced that as of Saturday it will consolidate all GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) cell phones into one network. The move will dissolve the contract with the French firm Alcatel and make Sweden's Ericsson the sole network provider for all GSM phones.

According to ICE, uniting the networks will improve service for the 400,000 customers that currently use Alcatel. Of the 1.8 million GSM phone users in Costa Rica, 1.4 million receive service through Ericsson. The consolidation of the two providers will synchronize the radio towers that provide the GSM signal. Currently, service for Ericsson users is provided by 317 radio towers. With the acquisition of the Alcatel towers, there will now be 459 towers dedicated to GSM service in a single network. ICE said they will continue to add to the number of radio towers, and that by the first quarter of 2010 there will be 753 towers around Costa Rica.

“This unification will begin with 459 radio towers, and by the end of the year there will be 529 active radio towers,” said Claudio Bermúdez, assistant telecommunications director at ICE. “This will allow the unification of all the platforms of phone and messaging companies, as well as improved sending and receiving of information and improved coverage at the national level.”

To activate the new system on Saturday, all GSM customers, both Alcatel and Ericsson, must turn off their phone, wait a few seconds, and turn it back on. When the phone is turned back on, the new and improved signal should be activated. If the phone does not register the new signal, GSM users are instructed to call customer service numbers 115 and 193. The users transferred from the Alcatel network have phone numbers that begin with digits between 8810 and 8851, as well as from 8950 to 8951.

In addition to an improved signal, the united network is expected to provide more security for GSM phone users. According to ICE, all GSM phones are registered with the Equipment Identification Registry (EIR), which contains the registration information of all GSM users. If a phone is stolen or lost, the EIR will automatically block usage of the phone by other users.

ICE said the undertaking will cost a total of $17.5 million, which includes the consolidation of the networks and the construction and activation the radio towers.

Laura Chinchilla, the frontrunner in the 2010 Costa Rican presidential election, spoke to representatives of the country's biggest international firms Wednesday with a message that played to their interests.

Her presidency, she said, would be characterized by an effort to reduce regulations and paperwork, speed up bureaucratic processes and allocate more resources to improving the country's infrastructure.

“Costa Rica needs to ascend to a new stage in development as a leader in innovation, technology and sustainable development,” she told an audience of dark-suited business men and women, at a luncheon organized by the Costa Rican American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM). “How do you ensure that Costa Rica advances with the same velocity? Well, vote for me.”

Working with a power point presentation, she showed how Costa Rica already tops many regional statistics in economic development, including its position as the fourth most-developed nation in Latin America.

But she listed equality, sustainability, security, competitiveness and governability as challenges to the next administration.

“We envision a Costa Rica that continues to be competitive … that is prosperous, green (environmentally-friendly) and intelligent,” she said.

For Lynda Solar, executive director of AMCHAM, the message is on track, but putting it into action is another question.

“She gets it,” said Solar. “She understands the issues and concerns we have. Yet, it's not a matter so much of what she says, but that she executes her plan.”

In other political news, the tourism minister is the latest in a long list of politicians to leave President Oscar Arias's administration in order to gear up for a potential post with Chinchilla, should she win. Carlos Ricardo Benavides will be replaced by Allan Flores.

The rising cost of oil in international markets will result in a hike in Costa Rica's gasoline prices and taxi fares, according to the Public Services Regulatory Authority (ARESEP).

On Sept.16, taxi fares will go up ¢ 25 to ¢ 455 (78 cents) for the first kilometer and ¢ 30 (5 cents) for every additional kilometer.

Gasoline and diesel prices will go up by about ¢ 34 (nearly 6 cents) a liter, pushing the cost of a super gasoline to ¢ 601 ($1.03), regular gas to ¢ 582 ($1) and diesel to ¢ 506 (87 cents) per liter.

For those with cars that hold up to 45 liters, the rise will see an increased cost of ¢ 1.530 at the pumps for a full tank.

This marks the sixth rise in gasoline prices this year, with a barrel of oil in international markets now costing around $70.