My dear departed friend, Kimson Plaut lived in Brazil for 12 years without getting a phone. It was a nightmare trying to get one, he told me on several occasions, so he just gave up.
A few years ago I was talking to a woman who worked for Bell South. She told me that when they opened up their first cellular franchise in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, the lines formed around the block the night before.
This, then, should surprise no one:
Lines stretched for blocks at phone stores as Cubans were allowed to sign up for cellphone service for the first time. The contracts cost about $120 to activate, a half-year’s average salary. Still, lines formed before the stores opened, and waits grew to more than an hour.
It's pent up demand, especially for something that has been denied.
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