Cell Phones Sell Like Hotcakes
Of 6,000 GSM cell phones being sold by the phone company ICE, only 2,200 remain unsold and those are available only at authorized outlets, reported the daily Al Dia today.
The phones retained by ICE, the government monopoly phone company, sold out in a rush, according to al Dia staff writers Erick Bonilla and Yensy Aguilar. The phones are Erickson and have excellent coverage, according to ICE spokesman Geovanni Bonilla.
But, reported the newspaper, plenty of complaints were heard from purchasers from the company’s offices about long lines and slow service. Costa Rica is one of the “talkiest” countries in Latin America with thousands of cell phones in use and customers all but stampeding to buy new ones.
In another article in the same edition, ICE executive president Pedro Pablo Quiros told the paper that he is not at all concerned about competition if, as many desire, the communications market is thrown open to free enterprise. However, it appears that the ICE employees’ union is not so confident the company can go head-to-head with private firms and will join a huge demonstration planned by groups opposing ratification of the Central American Free Trade Agreement with the United States, a pact that would open the communications market.