[Anonymous]

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone had experience with UMTS mobile internet access in Spain. (I need internet access “on the road”)

What is the best operator considering cost and coverage?
In the UK I was using Vodafone, but I heard that in Spain there are better offers from Movistar and Orange.

Any piece of advice?

Cheers
Dids

[Anonymous]

Dids,

I use Vodafone. They strike me as competitive. I’m not a big fan of Telefonica, don’t have much of an opinion of Orange.

I use a Vodafone 3G internet access card on the road. Works well, and I get reasonable down and up speeds in some pretty remote places around Spain. I’m paying something like 32 Euros a month for 1G.

That’s just my experience

Mark

[Anonymous]

Mark,

Thanks for the tip. Yesterday a friend lent me a Movistar 3G PCMCIA card. The coverage is ok even though when you travel inland the 3G coverage is not optimal and you fall back on slower GSM.

I know! Mobile operators customer service is bad everywhere, from Iceland to South Africa… but Movistar is reaching a new low.
Yesterday I asked them a simple question: “can I add the 1Gig 3G data offer on top of my present Movistar sim card? I want to use my phone and my laptop with a data cable.”

3 calls -> 3 different answers
– No you cannot! you have to buy a PCMCIA data card
– Yes you can. It’s an extra 30euro/month on your contract
– You have to be an “Autonomos” (???!!!)

In other words… I will get a contract with good’ol Vodafone.

Sorry for rant.
Cheers
Dids

[Anonymous]

I have lived in Spain some 18 years and I can assure you that one of the easiest ways of simplifying life is to avoid Telefonica and Movistar like the plague.

[Anonymous]

@Rawlins wrote:

I have lived in Spain some 18 years and I can assure you that one of the easiest ways of simplifying life is to avoid Telefonica and Movistar like the plague.

I completely agree with you ……

[Anonymous]

Telefonica fined by EC for abuse of broadband market:
http://ipcommunications.tmcnet.com/news/2007/08/21/316388.htm?p=news

[Anonymous]

Unfortunately, I live in an area which is a vodafone ‘black spot’, with no coverage, and so HAVE to rely on Movistar.

Considering going for the Movistar 3G, 1Gb for 30e/m.

I have no intention (at the moment!) of downloading music/films or doing any significant uploading of files. I do however ‘surf’ web pages frequently as part of the job (ahem, it’s all research-based, honestly!!).

Knowing people who have in the past been stung with hefty charges, once they stray over the 1Gb limit, I’m interested to know the amount of surfing I can safely do, without worrying about these additional charges.

Someone has suggested 1-2 hours a day max as a rule-of-thumb?

Does this sound about right? If so, I might need to consider the more expensive package.

[Anonymous]

Rawlins wrote:

I have lived in Spain some 18 years and I can assure you that one of the easiest ways of simplifying life is to avoid Telefonica and Movistar like the plague.

Could not agree more. Interesting statistics published today that new mobile phone providers Carrefour and Yoigo can be 67% cheaper than the Monopoly Big 3. No doubt Telfonica will soon put a stop to that.

[Anonymous]

@iano wrote:

Unfortunately, I live in an area which is a vodafone ‘black spot’, with no coverage, and so HAVE to rely on Movistar.

Considering going for the Movistar 3G, 1Gb for 30e/m.

I have no intention (at the moment!) of downloading music/films or doing any significant uploading of files. I do however ‘surf’ web pages frequently as part of the job (ahem, it’s all research-based, honestly!!).

Knowing people who have in the past been stung with hefty charges, once they stray over the 1Gb limit, I’m interested to know the amount of surfing I can safely do, without worrying about these additional charges.

Someone has suggested 1-2 hours a day max as a rule-of-thumb?

Does this sound about right? If so, I might need to consider the more expensive package.

We’re in a mobile blackspot, but Movistar coverage is good – but alas GSM/GPRS only. I use the USB card for uploads and a SkyDSL satellite dish for downloads. This keeps the phone card usage to < 400MB each month and I download about 6GB over the satellite at 4Mbps.

Bear in mind that I run an IT company and will generally be on the net heavily from 6am until midnight every day.

[Author]

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