Telecom , the recently privatized phone company, has newly renovated offices (all open daily 7am-10pm) in every town from where you can make local, long-distance and international calls. Offices in the larger towns also offer Internet services. Reverse charge (collect) calls can be made to the US and Canada, but not to the UK. A three-minute minimum call to Europe costs about US$8, and direct-dial services are available to the US (AT&T, MCI, Sprint). The telephone code for the whole of El Salvador is 503.

Most public phones in El Salvador are now cardphones : either the yellow Telecom booths (with instructions in both Spanish and English) or the lime-green TelefA?nica booths (instructions in Spanish only). Both require prepaid cards which can be purchased at many stores, gas stations and the Mister Donut restaurant chain; the TelefA?nica card uses a unique number code which must be keyed in before use (don't insert the phonecard). You can make international calls from both types of cardphone, but it's cheaper to go to a Telecom office. There are also a limited number of red coin-operated phones , but they don't always work and you can't make international calls from them. Rates for local calls are the same at Telecom offices; a minimum call costs 1 colA?n.

Faxes can be sent from Telecom offices, but don't expect great service, and all hotels with a fax machine will usually send one for you, though at a considerable premium. Most towns now have places with Internet access, particularly around universities and in shopping malls. Connections are generally very good and prices range from US$2 to US$4 per hour.