ICE has sold 50% of the GSM lines available on the new Ericsson network, but of the 300,000 remaining it needs 200,000 to offer the new “prepaid” service. Since ICE is selling 2000 – 2500 new lines per day, the remaining lines will run out in July or August if the pace remains steady.

Currently 36% of the population has a cell phone, ICE has 540,000 clients on the old TDMA system and 700,000 clients on the two GSM systems. Preliminary market studies indicate that within a few years 50% of the population could own a cell phone, which would put Costa Rica on par with Chile, where 6 of every 10 people have one.