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International Calls

How to save money when calling home

Costa Rica’s state owned ICE group holds the monopoly on telecommunication. The advantage is that the Costa Rican government want to keep telephone costs low.

Grupe ICE has divided countries over 6 groups, which are as follows:

Group A: USA, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Alaska and the US Virgin Islands
Group B: South America, Caribbean (except Cuba), South Korea, Japan and Taiwan
Group C1: Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Belize and Panama
Group C2: Nicaragua
Group D: Europe, Singapore, Thailand, Australia and New Zeeland

Group E: Cuba and the rest of the world

ICE offers several calling options to meet your needs:

MIDA

This service allows you to make international calls from your home, cellular phone, business or public telephone by calling directly. This is ICE’s most economic way of calling internationally and the minimum charge is one minute. MIDA divides the world in different calling zones and each zone has its own costs. Tariffs may change but by calling International Information at 124 you will find out what the current tariffs are. The prices below do not include taxes and were valid in February 2006.

Group A: US$ 0.27/minute
Group B: US$ 0.43/minute
Group C1: US$ 0.40/ minute from 7 AM till 7 PM, US$ 0.35 from 7 PM till 10 PM, US$ 0.28 from 10 PM till 7 AM, weekends and holidays
Group C2: US$ 0.40/ minute from 7 AM till 7 PM, US$ 0.35 from 7 PM till 7 AM
Group D: US$ 0.52/minute
Group E: US$ 1/minute

Servicio 09

This is the bilingual operator service. Calling through this service allows you to pay for the call yourself or make a collect call. You can control the cost and time of your phone call by letting the operator know how long or how much you want to spent. You can use this service in combination with a Munditel card. If you want to make a call using this service, you have to dial 09 followed by the country code, city code and telephone number of the person you want to call. After having dialled the complete telephone number you will be connected to the operator. Countries are divided into the same groups as with mida, but the costs are higher. You are advised to check the prices by calling 124 before making your actual phone call.

Group A: US$ 0.81/first minute US$ 0.27 for each additional minute
Group B: US$ 1.21/ first minute US$ 0.43/ additional minute
Group C1: US$ 1.06/ first minute US$ 0.40/ additional minute
Group C2: US$ 1.06/ first minute US$ 0.40/ additional minute
Group D: US$ 1.34/ first minute US$ 0.52/ additional minute
Group E: US$ 2.04/ first minute US$ 1.00/ additional minute

Servicio 116

This is the bilingual operator direct service. Just call 116 and you will be connected with an operator. Prices below are give for the first 3 minutes and for each additional minute and do not include taxes.

Group A: US$ 1.55 US$ 0.27
Group B: US$ 2.31 US$ 0.43
Group C1: US$ 1.86 US$ 0.40
Group C2: US$ 1.86 US$ 0.40
Group D: US$ 2.81 US$ 0.52
Group E: US$4.28 US$ 1.00

Pais Directo

This is a direct operator call which can either be paid by credit card or as a collect call. Some example telephone numbers:

Argentina: Telefonica 00 80000 540054, Telecom 00 800 54545454
Brazil: 0800 055 1055
Canada: 08000151161
Dominican Republic: 00800 2263 3835
England: 0 800 044 1044
France: 0800 033 1033
Israel: 0 800 972 1972
Italy: 0 800 039 1039
Japan: 0 800 081 1081
Mexico: 00 800 8356 3953
Netherlands: 0800 031 1111
Northern Ireland: 0 800 044 1044
South Korea: 00 800 1234 8000
Spain: 0800 034 1034
Taiwan: 0800 886 1886
Uruguay: 00 800 5980 0598
USA: AT&T 0800 011 4114, MCI 0800 012 2222, Sprint 0800 013 0123
Wales: 0800 044 1044

Munditel Cards

Munditel telephone cards are cards that allow the international phone call made being charged directly to you home phone bill. You can use the cards calling from Costa Rica or from countries that have a direct call agreement with ICE, most of whom are listed under the País Directo section. Calls go through an operator who will validate your call. In order to make a call you will have to call 09 followed by the access code of the country you’re calling to as well as the rest of the number you want to dial. The operator will ask the pin number, card number and the name of the person you want to call. If you want to obtain a Munditel Card you will have to send an application by fax to 225-1444. You will also have to show identification papers of the applicant. Countries are divided into several groups. The costs are:

Group A: US$ 0.81/first minute US$ 0.27 for each additional minute
Group B: US$ 1.21/ first minute US$ 0.43/ additional minute
Group C1: US$ 1.06/ first minute US$ 0.40/ additional minute
Group C2: US$ 1.06/ first minute US$ 0.40/ additional minute
Group D: US$ 1.34/ first minute US$ 0.52/ additional minute
Group E: US$ 2.04/ first minute US$ 1.00/ additional minute

Calling Cards

Telecommunications in Costa Rica is a state owned monopoly. There are telephone cards available in Costa Rica but these are all issued by ICE. There are three different telephone cards:

Colibrí 197 card (in 500 and 1,000 Colones)
Viajera internacional 199 card (in US$10, US$20 and 3,000 Colones)
CHIP (in 1,000 and 2,000 Colones)

The Colibrí card is used for domestic calls, the Viajera card is used for international cards and with the CHIP cards both domestic and international calls can be made. CHIP cards can only be used at special CHIP telephone boots.