2 Comments »

1. 

   I’ve heard that they decided to tack on a 2 and 8 was for the year 2008. Costa Rica must be growing quite a bit to change the numbering system. Hopefully you won’t have too many frustrations with the change.

   Your site is similar to another one I’ve been following that gives inside info on the life,
   culture and people of Costa Rica. Thank you for that. God bless.

   Comment by whitsonp — March 22, 2008 @ 3:31 pm

2. 

   I’ve removed the link to the site that you were trying to promote. I have seen senseless comments on other Costa Rica blogs that I read and maintain, their sole objective is to promote this site.

   The 2 and 8 for 2008 is the stupidest suggestion I’ve heard in a long time. Obviously if that is the kind of information given on CostaRicaHQ, then I would recommend that people not visit it.

   Fortunately, your URL (blog address) is already recognized as SPAM by our Akismet s*am filter and your spa**y comments will not pollute the blogosphere for much longer.

   If you read Spanish, which I doubt, and want to understand the topic fully, which I also doubt, then you can download the official PDF that explains the new numbering system:

   http://grupoice.com/esp/temas/camp/2_8_dig/doc/plan_numeracion_esp.pdf

   For the real readers of the blog, Urban legend here in Costa Rica has it that the real reason given by ICE for using 2 and 8 is that in the previous switch there was too much confusion when they made the switch from 6 digits to 7 digits.

   Common sense tells us that, there were too many numbers available for the 3 prefix TDMA cell phones, which will eventually be phased out. Conversely, there were not enough cell lines available for the new GSM technology lines, which is due to expand by 600,000 lines by Christmas. (we just don’t know WHICH Christmas!) To the ICE it made more sense to bring in all cell lines under the 8 number rather than leaving an entire digit (3) unavailable.

   The PDF explains that the new system will follow guidelines established by the international telecommunications standard E.164. This calls for 2 segments of the phone number:
   - 3 digit CC (Country Code)
   - 8 digit SNC (Significant National Number)

   The SNC in turn has two parts: the subscriber number and the national destination number.

   A simple statistical calculation shows that the ICE will now have 1 billion land line numbers available and another 1 billion cell line numbers available. It sounds like a lot, but if you keep in mind that they want to offer disposable cell lines (GSM chips for unlocked phones) and also many new technologies rely on cell lines (like car alarms that track the vehicle), then it is not so many lines after all.

   They are reserving 3,4,5,6,7,9 prefixes for future use. I wouldn’t doubt that the other prefixes have to do with CAFTA, which they can give up to other providers in the not too distant future.

   Comment by Writer — March 25, 2008 @ 10:06 am

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL

Leave a comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.