A
little
late
but
for
sure
the
iPhone
4S
will
was
available
at
the
12:01am
Friday,
24
hours
later
then
the
original
announced
launch.
The
delay,
this
time,
is
not
a
fault
of
operators
in
Costa
Rica
but
to
the
U.S.
manufacturer,
Apple
Inc.,
that
had
failed
to
comply
with
the
requirements
of
the
Supterintendenica
de
Telecommunicaciones
(SUTEL).
Apple
enthusiasts
waiting
outside
Kolbi
(ICE)
store
in
Multiplaza
Movistar,
Claro
and
ICE
all
cancelled
their
Thursday
morning
launch,
rather
they
sat
in
meetings
all
day
with
Apple
and
SUTEL
officials
to
correct
the
problem
and
agree
to a
simultaneous
launch
today.
The
SUTEL
made
it
clear
that
it
wasn't
prohibiting
the
sale
of
the
iPhone
4S,
but
reminded
that
distributing
equipment
that
does
not
comply
with
its
technical
requirements
is
considered
a
gross
misconduct
and
the
operator
could
face
a
fine
of
between
0.25%
and
0.5%
of
gross
income.
Movistar
en
Multiplaza
For
such
the
operators
decided
to
suspend
the
launch
and
allow
Apple
to
work
out
the
problems
with
are
with
the
IMEI
number,
a
sort
of
unique
ID
that
identifies
each
and
every
cellular
phone.
The
result
of
Thrusday's
negotiations
is
that
Claro
and
Movistar
will
be
the
official
representatives
of
the
warranty
for
the
iPhone
4S
in
Costa
Rica
and
Apple
committing
to
submitting
the
IMEI
numbers
to
the
Sutel
and
the
information
available
to
all
three
operators.
And
finally,
each
iPhone
4S
sold
by
the
operators
is
"an
approved"
phone
as
required
by
the
Sutel,
providing
customers
the
information
of
guarantee
of
such.
Although
the
iPhone
4S
has
been
in
Costa
Rica
for
some
time,
the
units
were
purchased
outside
the
country
or
online
and
were
"homolgados",
that
is
if a
service
problem
existed
the
carrier
would
not
be
responsible
and
customers
could
not
file
a
complaint.
Also
the
those
phones
not
purchased
in
Costa
Rica
are
not
covered
by
the
warrantee
in
Costa
Rica,
but
need
to
be
sent
to
Apple
in
the
U.S.
The
Sutel
defends
the
"homolgacion"
approval
process
as a
guarantee
that
the
software
and
hardware
of
every
cellular
phone
purchased
in
Costa
Rica
works
properly.
On a
side
note,
the
iPhone
4S
in
Costa
Rica
comes
"unlocked",
that
is
it
can
be
connected
to
any
of
the
three
operators
in
the
country,
for
the
SUTEL
prohibits
the
sale
of
"locked"
phones.
Claro
in
Multiplaza
Costa Rica's Daily English News
Source
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