Phone and Internet

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Telephone and internet access

The main problem with internet access in Spain is that it usually takes at least a month to get a telephone line connected and the speed of the broadband is not great.

Initially I chose Telefónica for my phone and ADSL, but there are other providers. I was told that the connection would take between 10 - 20 days. The phone took 26 days to be connected and the ADSL another 15 days after that (it was August). You can phone Telefónica for free from a land line or payphone and get connected to an English speaker.
Telefónica's website in English is also helpful.

Telefónica sell you a router or modem which is sent to you in the post. If you have a Mac make sure you specify this, as not all of the routers work with Macs.

Do you need to connect a landline with Telefonica in order to receive ADSL?

In most cased you have to rent your line from Telefonica even if you are going with another service provider for your internet connection, just like BT in the UK. However, Vodafone (recommended above Orange for their vastly superior customer service) and Orange now also offer a line connection so you can bypass Telefonica altogether.

You can order a modem or router from Vodafone, Ya.com and Orange on the internet, as long as you have a Spanish bank account. You can also buy the router or modem over the counter at Vodafone and Orange shops as well as resellers, and shops such as the department store El Corte de Inglés in Placa Catalunya (www.elcorteingles.es).

ADSL in Spain

Vodafone

There are now a couple of new options available to help you get an ADSL connection a lot faster. Vodafone offer a new router which comes with a mobile internet USB stick built-in. This means that if you take out a contract with Vodafone for ADSL, you can have your internet connection via mobile internet whilst waiting for the landline ADSL to be connected. The deal also comes with free calls to national landlines.

This is the service I currently have and it's working well. I had a mobile internet connection within a few days, with the ADSL line connected within two weeks. Using the mobile internet while you're waiting for the ADSL to be connected costs the same monthly price as your ADSL package, you only pay mobile broadband rates if you use the mobile USB stick removed from the router away from home.

This is a great solution as it means you can have internet in your home (subject to vodafone coverage in your area) within days, and you always have the mobile internet option if you want to browse the internet away from home or if there are interruptions to the ADSL landline connection. You can even take the mobile internet overseas with you, so if you go back to the UK, for example, you don't need to be without an internet connection (international rates would apply in this case and their always available on the Vodafone website).

The cost for a 6Mb connection is reasonable compared to other providers and currently the first two months are at half price. Having recently subscribed to this service I can say that I found the Vodafone customer service very good. I would recommend going to one of their shops if your Spanish isn't great as it's always easier to deal with people in person rather than over the phone. Vodafone also have solutions for small businesses.

Vodafone: ADSL with mobile internet, landline calls and router

Orange

Orange offer a similar service – if you take out an ADSL contract you can have "Internet Sin Esperas" (mobile internet) on a pre-pay basis while you wait for the connection, which takes up to 30 days.

Orange are slightly cheaper than Vodafone, but my personal recommendation is that the Orange customer service leaves a lot to be desired and after initially starting my ADSL contract with Orange, I cancelled it because of problems getting connected and with receiving their offer of mobile internet pay-as-you-go whilst I was waiting for the landline ADSL connection. It was impossible to get and the customer service was appalling.

I was given very conflicting information from different departments within Orange, and after taking out my contract for ADSL I found it impossible to purchase "Internet Sin Esperas" as promised. I dealt with Orange over the phone, but I think if you decide to go with Orange, go to one of their shops where you can collect the mobile internet modem whilst you are there taking out your contact for ADSL, and make sure you have it before you leave the shop! Do be aware that many of the website offers are not available in the Orange shops.

I eventually cancelled my Orange contract, but then Orange blocked the line for 15 days, so that I couldn't initialise another service until after that period. Fortunately, Vodafone also had a solution for this and gave me a Vodafone number as part of my new contact and gave me the service on this new number within days.

Orange: ADSL with free landline calls

Mobile Internet in Spain

Both Vodafone and Orange offer mobile internet through their network. You need to purchase a USB mini router which plugs into your computer and service is available as soon as your contract is activated. Obviously the quality of the line is dependent on the reception in your area, but it's possible to check this before you purchase and most areas in Barcelona are covered.

At the time of writing, Orange and Vodafone require you to sign an 18 month contract.

Vodafone Mobile Internet

Orange – Internet Everywhere

If you move into a new flat in August you can more or less forget about getting anything connected by the main telephone companies until September – everyone is on holiday in August!

Cheap International Phone Calls

Rather than using coins in the public phones it’s often easier to buy a phone card (una tarjeta para llamar por teléfono) for either €6 or €12 from one of the Tabac shops or from most newspaper stands.

Use an over-ride provider

My recommended way to save money on dialling overseas or nationally is to use an over-ride telephone provider such as Dial Abroad. I use Dial Abroad to call from my landline phone to landline phones in the UK for half the price that Telefonica would charge for the same call (I also use Skype too but sometimes the call quality is not great). There is no need to change your landline number or prepay with a credit card. From anywhere in Spain you can simply dial an access number before the number you need to call. You're then transferred to another cheaper network and the cost of your call is included in your Telefonica bill. Telefonica also charge you a small connection fee, but you can make follow-up calls without a connection fee by pressing the hash key twice, rather than hanging up, and then dialling the next number you want to call.

To find out more about Dial Abroad and the many other telephone over-ride providers, as well as how to make cheap calls from your mobile phone, check out www.getdialing.com, it's a directory and review site for cheap call providers worldwide: Cheap international phone calls.

Another cheap way to phone, nationally and abroad, is by using one of the many private telephone booth shops or Locutorios (internet cafés often offer this service too). You make your phone call and pay cash when you're finished.

VOIP

VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) has to be the cheapest option for international phone calls, so if you're intending to be in Barcelona or Spain for some time, get yourself an ADSL/Broadband connection and see my page on VoIP providers.

Skype is a great service and has many options other than phoning computer to computer for free, for example, Skype now has subscription packages for either one nominated country, for Europe or for Worldwide calls.

These are very good value and worth looking into if you use Skype regularly. For example if you subscribe to the Europe package you get all landline calls in Europe free.

Expat-telecom

Expat Telecom offers a pre-paid calling service, which can be used anywhere in the world from a standard telephone. You just have to sign up online: Expat Telecom, the perfect callback phone service for all expatriates living abroad

Internet cafés

There are many internet cafés, especially in the centre of the city. However, a lot of them don’t let you send or receive attachments. If you just want to check your email and reply, they are fine. The main Tourist Information Centre in Placa de Catalunya has a map listing all the central internet cafés.

Free wifi internet access at libraries

A lot of the libraries in Barcelona provide free wireless internet access to library members. It's relatively easy to join your nearest library, so it's worth doing, even if it's just a backup plan for when your internet access at home goes down (it happens).

To join the library you need to show your passport and give your name, address, phone number and email address. You will then be issued with a library card. I've used my local library in Gràcia and connected easily to their wifi network. You have to enter two numbers in order to log on to their system; these are your passport number and the number on your library card.

Once you have joined your local library you have access to all libraries in Barcelona. ◊

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