60,000 telephone lines for 150,000 people. It doesn’t quite add up! But this is what is being offered by the Instituto Costarricense de Electridad (ICE) on Monday, Dec. 8. The Electricity Institute is Costa Rica’s only telecommunications service and currently enjoys being the only player in the market, much to the dismay of its neglected customers.

To get a telephone line in Costa Rica, one must fit several requirements including being a permanent resident or citizen as well as produce proof of an address via a utilities bill. This process leads to several complications for numerous expats and tourists who Visit Costa Rica in their thousands each year yet are unable to communicate with friends and family via their mobile phone.

It is not only foreigners however that have problems with getting a Costa Rican phone line. There are currently 150,000 eligible users, a number of whom have been on a waiting list for months after requesting a line from the solo operator in the Central American country. As of Monday, some of these requests will be dealt with after ICE decided to allow up to 5,000 new connections daily until the 60,000 quota is filled. The lines will be offered on a first-come first-served basis and derive from previously owned phone lines from other users that were cut off or never showed up to claim them.

The latest ’second hand’ lines offered are part of a promise from the state-run monopoly ICE that 300,000 extra lines will become available between late 2008 and early 2009. There are currently 1.8 million mobile phones users in Costa Rica, all subscribing to the ICE provider, however this looks set to change in the next few years.

Earlier in 2008, the government approved a bill to allow competition in the telecommunications industry which has led to a number of private telecommunication businesses analyzing the possibility of tapping into the Costa Rican market. Several companies have already registered in the country, only to be held back by the pending bureacuracy behind the law, as well as a long procedure of permits and licenses, something which looks to be a long acceptance process.

Until approved however, ICE remains the only provider in the industry and continues to attempt to fulfill consumer demands. Whether it’s successful at doing so or not is debatable, just don’t expect to receive a call on the matter!

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Filed under: Business on December 9th, 2008