Settling In 125fi ve other companies entered the market, each with a
different strategy. For example, AES, now changed to AXS,
invested heavily in infrastructure such as its own fi bre
optic network. Boliviatel adopted the opposite strategy,
initially saving millions by using (and paying for the use
of) existing infrastructure. Boliviatel got the jump on AXS,
but the bigger investor may regain the edge in the future,
unless the fi bre optic system is replaced by a more state-
of-the- art technology. Dialling methods have changed along
the way, and may still change, in an anarchic situation, so
there’s no use giving advance instructions for making a
phone call.
For the visitor, the simplest way to secure an operating
telephone is by renting an apartment that already has one.
The second simplest way is to purchase a mobile phone.
Using the Internet, either from a hotel or Internet café, may
turn out the least expensive and most practical, especially
for long distance, with voice-over-Internet-protocol looming
in the near future.
Standard long distance rates abroad tend to be more
expensive from Bolivia than they are from most Western
countries to Bolivia, but phone cards have eased the
stress, and the Internet has been and is the most popular
international communication device for visitors from abroad.
Internet cafés abound and they are remarkably cheap
compared to their Western counterparts.
Public telephones may still be found in larger cities at
sweet stands and in small grocery shops, but the most
practical method is to fi nd a child with a mobile phone
whose business is to charge you Bs 1 to make a call. Long
distance calls and faxes may be made from the offi ces of
various Bolivian phone companies, including ENTEL, the
original one.
HOUSING
Older attractive hotels, with colonial-style architecture, are
quite inexpensive by Western standards.
There is the pensión (boarding house) alternative, where
one fair price gets you room and home cooking.