Mail and Telecommunications
Other than in remote areas, communications in Panama are good. Most small towns have a post office and telephone office, so keeping in touch with home is fairly easy. Letters posted with the Correo Nacional (COTEL) cost US$0.35 to the US and US$0.45 to Europe. They should reach either destination within a week or two, though have been known to take far longer - it's best to post them in Panama City. Most post offices have an Entrega General (Poste Restante, General Delivery) where you can receive mail - in Panama City your correspondent must specify the post office zone: the most central is Zone 5, on Av Central/Via Espana. Post office opening hours are generally from 7am to 6pm Monday to Friday, 7am to 5pm on Saturday. Panama's recently privatized telephone company is owned by Cable and Wireless (C&W). Local phone calls are cheap, and there's a wide network of modern payphones that take phonecards sold in shops and street stalls. You can make  © 2003 by Rough Guides Ltd. as trustee for its Authors. Published by Rough Guides. All rights reserved. Rough Guides name is a trademark of Rough Guides Ltd. Buy the book here!
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international collect calls from these via the international operator (dial 106), and both AT&T (dial 109) and MCI (dial 108) can place collect or credit-card calls to the US. Otherwise, C&W offices are the best place to make international calls or send faxes . Hotels tend to overcharge for phone calls. Panama's country code is 507; there are no regional codes for internal calls. As elsewhere, there's a growing number of Internet cafes in the main towns.
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