Direct-Telecom

Does anyone have any views on Direct Telecom or had any experience with them, I am thinking of leaving Telefonica but don't want to jump from the frying pan into the fire.

Used them for years for cheap calls, especially international. Never had any problems, with the service or billing. No complaints at all. Don't use them anymore simply because I now have free land line calls with Movistar (Telefónica), free to mobiles on weekends, and only use SKYPE for international calls. My personal opinion for what it's worth: although Movistar are bloody incompetent and frustrating at times, they still control the infrastructure so even if you have your line rental with another provider thereby avoiding direct contact with them, when things go wrong (as they did recently in Málaga, causing thousands to be without internet for days after a fire) they appear to sort their own customers out before others. I have neighbours with Jazztel and Orange; they had no connection for days, while my service was never even interrupted. Sometimes it really is better the devil you know.

I joined Direct_Telecom in June 2010 and have only the Basic Package.I have experienced nothing but good service from them as well as Telefonica when there was a problem with the ADSL or Telephone Line these were rectified pretty quickly .I  had ADSL but no Telephone Line when there was the FIRE recently in The Malaga Telefonica Telephone  Exchange.Otherwise a good service but if you want 300 Free Calls a month then I suggest the Full ADSL Package.

Thanks Roberto & Nigel but I am wanting the full works, they say they give 8MB ADSL, 300 Minutes International calls, and Unlimited National calls for 39.50 Euro per month, I am paying Movistar 64.82 Euro for that, seems too good to be true, must be a catch somewhere.         Cheers.

It does look good, but be careful. Firstly, they say "up to 8mbps", so don't expect to actually get that. At the end of the day, you won't get more than the line Movistar provide will support.

Secondly, the 39.50 is for the ADSL and call packages; you still need a line. Note that one of the features of the ADSL package is "Fully compatible with DT OneBill", which of course is another 13.97, and these prices do not include IVA. So the total will come to about 63 euros a month. The 300 mins international calls is good, but SKYPE to SKYPE is free, and paid for international calls with them are very cheap - €5.99 + IVA per month for unlimited calls to Europe for example.

I have (up to) 6 Mbps with Movistar (I actually get over 5, which is pretty good), and recently called them to ask for a reduction in my bill; I now get free calls to domestic landlines and free calls to mobiles (any operator) at weekends, and with the landline and maintenance and IVA my total bill is about just under 59 euros. And, just my opinion, but I think I'm less likely to lose my connection than someone using another provider. Can't prove it of course, but recent events seem to back it up.

As long as  you have a good ADSL connection (our's is sometimes a bit 'iffy', but we still manage)...you can sign up for an account with someone like www.voipcheap.com whereby it costs you just 5 cents to make a call for one hour! (Most countries at this price!)...

You just put on credit of 12.50Euros  (Eu2.50 is VAT and handling costs) and you put in on your computer screen your home phone no (so in this instance you need a landline too - although it can be done all thru the computer if you are ok with a headset)... and it rings your home no, you pick up and it connects you to the other no you want!

'Simples!'

We save a lot of money on our calls this way. (We just pay the providers Eu10 rental pcm for the telephone line).

PS - I used to work freelance for DT. They are an OK co on the whole. (The mob phone thing just went off the rails).

Again, just my opinion, but I had a look at Voipcheap a while ago, but got really p*ssed off with the way you have to pay to get the "free" calls - it's a bit like flying with budget airlines! Plus, I made the mistake of importing all my SKYPE contacts, only for them to spam them all with a message "from" me which I found myself repeatedly apologising to people for. Consigned it to the trash quicker than it took me to d/l and install it. And apart from that, I know exactly 0 people who use it, but just about everyone I know has SKYPE. Sorry but it's a no-brainer for me. There's SKYPE, and then there's all the pretenders.

Was a bit confused by this: "...so in this instance you need a landline too - although it can be done all thru the computer ". Don't you need a landline anyway, to get your ADSL? Didn't find the explanation very simples - maybe I'm being thick? So who do you get your line and ADSL from?

Roberto -

Our ISP is Mercury Commnunications, based in Elviria.

We live in the campo (I mean real campo 2km down a dirt track), and they supplied us with a small dish, a long cable and a router. NO LANDLINE (Even Movistar/Telefonica would not connect us with anything, even though their engineer said we could have a Satellite dish).

The signal we send/receive on is based on the ADSL wireless system to one of Mercury's relay masts that we can see (just!). Likewise, although we have a 'landline phone number' (which we chose as an extra), this likely (don't quote me as I am just a beginner!)... is all done by VOIP (Voice over internet Protocol), via ACOX (A co based in Alhaurin).  The quality is as good as any over the ground poles and wires landline - so we are very happy customers.

Re voipcheap etc, we have never had any problems and are happy to pay up front when most calls last 1 hour and only cost us the 5 cents connection charge. (Mobiles and non standard no's cost extra of course).  Eu10 goes a long way!

PS - Just to clarify  my previous post -  I talk about landline, when I mean phone line connection. (In our case this is via the ADSL line!)

All clear, thank you! Sorry for being a bit slow

re: Voipcheap, I'm sure they're fine, it's just that I get annoyed when something is advertised as "free" only to find you have to pay something to get the free bit! Oh, and as I said before, apart from your good self, I still don't know anybody else who uses them!

Cheers. 

I have used VOIPCHEAP since they started about 8 years ago and in my opinion they are better than SKYPE  and cheaper for the non Skype to Skype calls or should I say non Voip to Voip

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We joined BT through Cocoon telecom about 2 months ago, very smooth switchover and excellent service so far.

We got landline and adsl with uk and spain calls, line rental and IVA included for €60 per month

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