Mobile phones blanket the region

Penetration of the mobile-phone market is extremely high in Central America, according to figures from the International Telecommunication Union, a United Nations agency.

The Latin American average is 110 mobile subscriptions per 100 persons -- 110 por ciento -- but in Central America, only Honduras had a lower rate of penetration.

Costa Rica has the highest penetration in all of Latin America, at 178 percent. El Salvador is at 152 percent, Panama 146, Nicaragua 133, Guatemala 118. and Honduras 84 percent.
Mexico scores a mere 89 percent.