Now that the long-awaited iPhone 5 has finally reached Costa Rica, would-be shoppers are gasping and feeling the unpleasant effects of sticker shock if they choose to purchase the new Apple handset with cold, hard cash. Getting a new iPhone 5S with 16 GB of memory for less than $800 is nearly impossible, which is why wireless carriers such as Movistar are offering them for just $20, albeit with a few caveats.

According to tech blog iPhoneti.co, Movistar announced in late November its special Comunidad (Community) 100 plan, which offers users the opportunity to acquire a brand-new iPhone 5S 16 GB along with a service contract for just 10,000 colones (around $20) per month. The Community 100 plan is part of a series of monthly contract plans clearly designed to compete against former wireless monopoly ICE, which offers the popular Kolbi line of wireless devices and service options.

Movistar’s Community 100 plan is probably the most economical entry-level monthly contract plan for users who just can’t wait to get their hands on an iPhone 5S in Costa Rica. It works as follows: Movistar already knows about the usage patterns of wireless customers in Costa Rica, and the company is prepared to offer unlimited 2 Mbps Internet access, 1000 text messages, 100 minutes of talk time within the Movistar network and 100 minutes outside of the network. At just $20 per month for a two-year contract, new Movistar customers will end up financing the rest of the iPhone for an additional 11,662 colones per month, about $560.

The Number Portability Catch

All of the above may sound reasonable until customers run into the fine print, which states that the Comunidad 100 plan is only for customers who are porting their cellphone number over to Movistar. This means that existing Movistar customers need not apply. This is part of the ongoing battle between Claro, ICE and Movistar; these wireless carriers are hoping to capture customers interested in keeping cellphone numbers they may have been using for year, and they are bound to get creative with their offers.

Wireless providers in Costa Rica will probably have to do better than this iPhone offer from Movistar in order to steal customers from each other. Ticos are typically resistant to change, and according to a recent report by national newspaper La Nacion, requests to take advantage the new wireless number portability feature have gotten a chilly reception in Costa Rica thus far.

Although iPhones have enjoyed tremendous popularity in Costa Rica, whether the iPhone 5S and the lower-end iPhone 5c will help Apple retain wireless supremacy in this country is unknown. Apple has more than just Android-powered devices to worry about now: Nokia Lumia phones and their Microsoft Windows Phone operating system are really catching on across Latin America, and Costa Rica is not an exception.