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Hi,

Looking for a broadband provider with  an English customer service desk... I have just moved to spain and my spanish is not that good to say the least.. (thats why I'm here to learn) 

My landlord has installed broadband and line for me through Telefonica, which is costing me €64 per month..I do not use the phone for outgoing calls... Under his suggestion it may be cheaper going somewhere else..

I'm only here until End of June 09..I'm  living in the Mijas Pueblo area..

thanks in advance

Susz

Troviscas Hi,

Telefonica has an English speaking dept.

When in Spain contact through tel.no. 1004; the switchboard answer machine answers in spanish, but if you say 'English' after the machine runs through the options you will be transferred. It can be a bit hit or miss...I suspect its just one person because whenever we have had to contact them we always finish up talking to the same girl. She is quite fluent in English, but like all customer service people she has targets to meet so you can expect a bit of sales talk.

64Euros sounds a bit high for line rental and ADSL I suspect  you may be paying about 10 euros 'commission' to your landlord if thats who you pay your bill to...It may be very difficult to change over to another provider Telefonica dont like doing it and there have been several cases where although the change has been made, Telefonica havent deleted the ADSL charge from the bill and the consumer has finished up with two ADSL bills; one from the new provider and one from Telefonica. You would still be liable for Telefonicas line rental since they have the monopoly on the lines in Spain.

Hope this helps

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you might also be paying for  bundled services that you niether need nor want such as  the cangura filter and the telefonica security package,,, one trashes any web search and the other refuses to let you send mail with more than two mail recients both cost around 10 euros.. you have to get telefonica to turn both off

you might also be paying for  bundled services that you niether need nor want such as  the cangura filter and the telefonica security package,,, one trashes any web search and the other refuses to let you send mail with more than two mail recipients both cost around 10 euros.. you have to get telefonica to turn both off

That seems VERY steep!

There is a website you can look at and then query your landlord about the service you are getting.

It is called telefonica in english.

Dot com (I cannot post links yet so take out the spaces and make it all one word).

Rick

Be very wary of telefonicainenglish...

The is a load of stuff about their service or lack of it on this forum and others.

They promise a lot, but at the first sign of difficulty chicken out with the usual Brit type customer service responses; "We were sorry ot hear of your problem etc, etc..."

They will also debit your bank account immediately you talk to them about the provision of service and then if and when it all falls flat, you have to do a lot of chasing to get it back...

Search on this forum under telefonicainenglish...

"64Euros sounds a bit high for line rental and ADSL I suspect  you may be paying about 10 euros 'commission' to your landlord"

Not so. The basic line rental charge is currently €13.97, and 6Mbps ADSL €40.90 per month. Add IVA @ 16%, and you have a monthly bill of about €64. For new subscribers, they are currently offering ADSL at €25.90 until next summer, but this offer may not have been available to Troviscas' landlord. Anyway, ask to see the bill if in doubt - you will soon know whether the landlord is adding to it (you're so suspicious, Foxbat!)

" You would still be liable for Telefonicas line rental since they have the monopoly on the lines in Spain".

Not true. You can switch to other providers, such as Jazztel for example, and pay the line rental to them instead of Telefónica. For a similar package (but with free national calls thrown in) you'll pay €13.45 line rental, plus ADSL at €25.95. HOWEVER - it is true that Telefónica do still own and maintain (or not) the infrastructure, so if their equipment goes down, they take everybody with them......but are more likely to fix their own customer's problems first. If you opt for another service provider, you are kissing goodbye to any hope that Telefónica may help with any problems with the line. Not that they're much use anyway. It is also true that if you do switch, you are likely to spend until next summer trying to stop Telefónica collecting from your bank account. In my humble opinion, for the time that you will be there, it will be far less hassle to just stick with what you have for now. For outgoing calls, use SKYPE or someone like Direct Telecom, and if you need to speak to Telefónica (hope not!) call 1004 and ask for an English speaking operator.

Finally, and with due respect to Rick, do not touch Telefónica in English, English Telefónica, or any other variations. They have nothng to do with Telefónica but are resellers, and have, shall we say, rather a questionable reputation. Been covered elsewhere on this forum many times.

Happy surfing!

Firstly may I say Thank you to all who replied..  

After much sole searching... wasted conversations with broadband companies and yes Telefonica 1004... not forgetting Telefonicainenglish.com I think it is wise to stick with what I have got ...

I have searched the internet reading up on Telefonica.. .. they do seem to bet the Rolls Royce in communications in spain... and the rest are great looking Mazda MX5's if you know what I mean.

I had a word or should I say email conversation with my landlord regarding this, and everything is cosha from his corner I never doubted him(well maybe a little bit)!

I pay £20.00 per month back home for Broadband and Line rental.. but hey this is spain and I'M LEARNING FAST....

At the end of the day this is a luxury not a must have.. and as everybody knows luxury does not come cheap..

Thanks again for the info

Merry christmas

Suszie

Suszie,

Just as an aside to this issue; £20 for broadband and line rental is pretty damn good I agree; The difference out here is that Telefonica wont cut you off or put a cap on your speeds or quantity of downloaded material the way that BT, Virgin or the other major ISP's do back home (under their 'Fair Useage' policy...).

Telefonica can be difficult to deal with but if you have a problem they do respond pretty damn quick. We have two computers and one or other or both machines are online 24/7. We are way out in the campo in a small pueblo. In two years we have had problems on only two occasions and both have been dealt with within 24 hours.

Our only beef with Telefonica is that in the major cities they get a 6-10Mbps service; we are on a 1-3Mbps service and pay the same price; but its just one of the joys of living in the country, halfway up a mountain...!and if everyone in the village goes online at the same time it poses a bit of a loading problem because the lines are multiplexed and hence shared and our download speeds drop dramatically. Not a lot we can do about it though.

Do have a Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year

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Hi

Does anybody out there know of a Broadband Provider that does not require the use of a telephone line. I have heard of a Company called "Clearwire" but cannot decipher their Spanish website as I am not proficient in Spanish yet.

We are buying in Casares/Sabinillas area, Costa Del Sol, and will only be in residence for between 3 and 4 months a year. We do not  need a telephone line as we can use Skype, both on mobiles and from a PC-less SKYPE phone. However, we do need broadband for this and also for radio, television and a remote security system. The broadband service must be via a router, wi-fi if possible.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Happy New Year

Hi Ken..

Telefonica do a broadband line only.. cost you 130€ to install and then you have your monthly payments of 40.90€ per month.. that allows unlimited downloads..  They may have different offers so ask.. don't touch telefonicainenglish.com they are not telefonica...

you can contact  the real telefonica on 1004 from a telefonica line and ask for english speaking customer service.. they will put you through..

also Orange do a broadband line and you can pay  for 3 month 4 months etc.. but you have to get telefonica to install line first.... see roberto's comments on changing from telefonica... to others..

hope this helps

suszie

Ken,

What you need is a Wi-FI connection, I gave up waiting for telefonica to provide me with a telephone line, I live in Calahonda and use Y-internet (located above super-sol Calahonda). So far its been excellent, signal strength varies from good to excellent, prices 150eu. per year, you can also have month by month contract. Several friends are also in the process of ditching telefonica in favour of a wireless system, I believe the system will cover the whole CDS.