By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The addition of an eighth digit to Costa Rican telephone numbers is prompting discussion and even minor fears.
The Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad will make the switch in the early minutes of Thursday. Land lines will receive the number 2 as an additional prefix. So the telephone number of A.M. Costa Rica, which now is 223-1327 will become 2223-1327.
Cellular numbers will have an 8 placed in front.
One problem developed when phone customers learned that the telecommunication agency had not updated its billing software. The company froze its accounts this week but promised not to cut off users for non-payment until after the computers recognized eight digits.
Some customers were unconvinced.
The company known as ICE has put a detailed explanation and a series of frequently asked questions on its Web site. There is an English version. It also has established a help line, 115, which is supposed to be staffed through 5 p.m. today. |
Curiously, ICE will not staff the lines after the changeover is made. Most employees are off for Semana Santa Thursday and Friday, which are legal holidays.
The country added a seventh digit in 1994, and ICE said that eight digits should handle all the lines needed for at least 30 years.
Operators at the help line said there were not a great rush of calls this week. Several callers asked if they had to turn off their cell phone by midnight tonight. (Probably not since the changeover is all software at the telephone computer end.)
Technicians at several large hotels with a number of incoming lines said they were not expecting problems, although one said an extra person would be on the front desk in case of unexpected developments.
The biggest discussion among expats has been how to speak the new eight digits. Will it be 22-23-13-27 as is the signals of a football quarterback. Or maybe 2223-1327.
The phone company's three-digit information numbers, such as 113, are not changing. Incoming international callers will have to use the eight digits, but most 800 lines will not change. |