hi, i've got a phone question. (jer it's a carbon copy of my email to you )

approximately how much is it per month to have a fixed phone line in an apartment? and then about how much per minute for a call? the reason i ask is that i was considering ONLY getting a mobil phone there in spain, and going to a cybercafe for my emailing, BUT, perhaps if i get a linea fijo, dail into a local access number that has free/cheap internet (AOL, navegalia) the total cost will be less than all the money i spend in the cyber cafes. answers? opinions?

also, calling a mobil vs linea fijo to spain from the US should only have a difference in the initial surcharge put on calls to mobiles, right? about 80 cents?

thanks all you spain experts! :l:
-rebecca

Rebecca,

My line in my apt. costs about 11 euros a month for the rental of the phone (Telef�nica not only installs your line, but gives you one of their phones). There was an internet option for 18 euros a month for evening minutes, but we also dial up through a local, cheaper option.

As for local calls (internet), it�s 2 eurocents a min. during the day, and 1 eurocent at night. Our long distance back home to the states costs 13 euros a month for 1000 min. (through a different company with better rates than telef�nica).

What is expensive is the installation itself. I think it costs about $140, but our landlord called one of his other tenants who was leaving Spain, so we just paid her for half the cost and got the line transferred.

Hope this helps!

Hey Rachel and Rebecca...one tiny administrative correction on something you said Rachel:

quote:

(Telef�nica not only installs your line, but gives you one of their phones).

I know it sounds goofy, but they don't give it to you, but rather rent it to you. If you look on your phone bill, there's a nominal rental fee. (Just in case you were planning on taking it back to the US with you... )

Regarding the internet question. Before I got an ADSL line, I connected a lot with my 56k dial-up modem. If you too have to resort to such archaic forms of accessing the internet , the trick is to dial-up either:

• after 6pm Monday-Friday.....or
  
• ALL day Saturday and Sunday
  

In other words, DON'T connect from Monday to Friday between 8am and 6pm unless you have money to burn. If you do this, you pay something like 1/5th of what you'd pay during peak time per minute. Also, unless my buddies at Telef�nica have changed it, there's a fee each time you connect with your modem of 10,5 pesetas. (Like 6 Euro cents or so.)
Of course, keep in mind that, if you want to stay connected to the internet ALL THE TIME to visit cool sites like multimadrid.com and my site: EnglishUnlimited.NET, that ADSL has become quite affordable in Spain. (Absolutely SHAMELESS Marketing!! ) Many service providers like Jazzfree, Madritel, Wanadoo and (I think even) Telef�nica give you the: Installation fee, Subscription fee & ADSL modem for free. Then you only have to pay the monthly fee which isn't too much more than Telef�nica's flat fee (Tarifa Plana) of unlimited Internet dial-up access after 6pm.

Sorry for the novel... After 4 years here working as a Telecommunications Engineer with Telef�nica and Alcatel, let's just say I have a bit of experience with the subject. I even helped test and install the ADSL access nodes that provide service for Telef�nica and Madritel ADSL customers. You know it's gotta be good then... Happy Internet connecting!!

uy, now i'm getting confused. SO, if i wanted to dial up with a 56K modem (i am archaic, i know ), all of my expenses are (approximately):

1) 140 euros for installation of phone
2) 11 euros/month for the phone line
3) small fee/month for the phone
4) 6 cents each time i connect to internet via local call
4) 2 cents/min (day) or 1 cent/min (night)for local call to the internet.

is this right? what service do you recommend i use to dial in this way? and do you think in the end it would be cheaper for me to do this then go to an internet cafe?

Also, Tony- if i wanted to get a ADSL connection through the providers you mentioned, how much is "monthly fee which isn't too much more than Telef�nica's flat fee for unlimited internet dial-up after 6pm"?

And Rachel- what is the company through which you pay 13 euros/month for 1000 minutes to the USA?

Sorry for all the buggin' questions, but it's great to be getting this info and able to plan all this ahead of time. thanks so much for your time answering me!

-Rebecca

OH, one more. sorry! no one addressed my question about fees to call land lines vs. cell phones from the US to spain...

Rebecca,
I had said that it costs 11 euros for the RENTAL of the phone (I guess I assumed that when I said Telef�nica gives you a phone, it was implied that it was a rental). Anyhoooo, so the 11 euros is it. Consider it your most min. monthly fee besides calls, internet and any other add-ons.

Can�t answer the cell phone question, sorry.

Hey all, wow! I get here a bit late and everything is covered already

Hey binkx, the remaining doubt about the rates from the U.S. to cell and land lines in Spain is something only a U.S. carrier can answer. Each carrier in the U.S. has its own rates for this and those calling you should get the info there. They should try to get a good plan to call to Spain (cell and land line).

My mom called my cell once before getting a good plan from Verizon and she was charged like $2 per minute to my cell from NY

Now it is cheaper and I think she pays like $0.20/min to my cell and $0.08 to my land line.

Also, if you put in a land line, get youself a good calling card such as the "Eurocity" one talked about on my "Spain telephoning" page at www.multimadrid.com/practical_info/mad_phoning.htm The card is AMAZINGLY cheap and will save you a FORTUNE on your calls to the U.S.A., Europe or Canada.

Saludos,
jer...

p.d. tonytorero, don't appologize for the novel, we need more posts like yours around here

Hey all! 3 things...

quote:

1) (jer) Hey all, wow! I get here a bit late and everything is covered already

That's cool Jer. Rachel and I've 'got you're back!'

quote:

2) (Rachel) I had said that it costs 11 euros for the RENTAL of the phone (I guess I assumed that when I said Telef�nica gives you a phone, it was implied that it was a rental).

Rachel: I should have never doubted you. Please remember that I'm from Kansas , not that big, shiny city of yours known as Seattle. We're a bit slower catching on to those subtle differences between 'give' and 'rent' . You're hereby vindicated. AND...

quote:

3) (Rebecca) if i wanted to get a ADSL connection through the providers you mentioned, how much is "monthly fee which isn't too much more than Telef�nica's flat fee for unlimited internet dial-up after 6pm"?

Rebecca: In my case (I have mine with Telef�nica.) we're paying in the vicinity of 6.000 pesetas/month (about 36 Euros). That's �36 for a dedicated 25 hour, fast broadband connection that never requires dial-up, can connect up to 4 computers to the same dedicated connection through the ADSL modem. Consider this: download speeds with a 56k modem here in Spain run at about 2kb per second. My ADSL connection downloads at around 50kb per second... or 25 times faster. That's a pretty nice feature if you want to do something like, say download a 900MB full-length major motion picture over the Internet. And I have contracted the SLOWEST ADSL speed presently on the market. Pretty impressive if you look at it that way!

If you just want an idea, there you have it. (as well as probably more information than you bargained for or even wanted. ) However, if you're looking for more detailed rates between the different service providers and you want to know things like what specific bandwidth sizes you can contract, let me know by leaving another post and I'll try and research it for you a bit.

Info is available online with each of the 4 carriers I mentioned in my original post. It's pretty much all in Spanish though. FYI...

quote:

That's �36 for a dedicated 25 hour (per day), fast broadband connection ...

I know I can edit my own post jer, but it deserves to be pointed out that, with my last post, I've just officially joined the 'Madrid Work-aholics Club' by saying that the connection is "25" hours per day, when everybody knows that there are actually 30 hours in every day.

I must have been referring to how many hours per day I'm working right now. Sorry for the mistake...

Jer- can the Eurocity card be used from a phone booth? If so do the same rates apply?

Hey tonytorero, huh! Now I am really confused, I sleep 20 hours a day adn work 48

Ok, I have the same ADSL line as tonytorero (the min bandwidth one) and it si plenty for me. It runs 43 Euros per month and I love it. You all should as well since it is entirely responsable for bringing you the Plaza Mayor live 24/7 baaaaaby!!!! It is 6,300 of those old "pesetas" per month tony but you neglected to mention the nice low 16% IVA (VAT) tax

binkx, I think you misunderstood the Eurocity card, itIS meant for using from phone booths and fixed (land) lines and those are the rates for that. You can also use it from cell phones (Movistar only as far as I know) but the airtime is about 5 times as much per minute.

I use the Eurocity cards from my land line here at home to call the U.S.A. and hardly ever pay enything to the rats at Telef�nica (except my ADSL that is which I would prostitute myself to pay for if I had to )

binkx, back to the internet at home vs the cybercaf� thing. Keep in mind that a 56K dialup here in Spain is usually horribly slow and downright frustrating. On the other hand, the cybercaf�s use super bandwidth connections so it really 2 different worlds we are talking about here. You need to figure out how much time you are going to need online and make your decision. I for one would get an ADSL put in. At 43�/month is is a sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet deal

Saludos,
jer...

p.d. On behalf of tonytorero and myself, "glad we could make your head spin with all of this info"

Who was it that said "being overinformed is better than not being informed at all!"... oh yeah... I just made that up, what a load of crap :z:

Jer...shouldn�t we be sleeping now?

Jejejeje, no rest for the wicked eh!!!

Saludos,
jer...

p.d. By the way tonytorero, that animated donkey image is soooooo you

ok i finally got it! thanks everyone for the great info. i think i'll stick with my original plan and go to cyber cafes for internet, b/c i don't really think i'll be spending 43euros worth there a month. as far as phone calls go, since it would be more money for my parents to call a cell, i'll load up on those Eurocity cards and do all the calling myself since i only have a temporary stopover in Madrid, i'll make a bee line to the shop you mentioned, jer!

enjoy your weekends!
-rebecca

Hey Rebecca, stop that bee line!!! The Telecom Centers place mentioned on my telephoning section at www.multimadrid.com/practical_info/mad_phoning.htm is actually closed and has moved up the street a bit on the same side. It is now called "Calling Centers" (very original name and is a very small place (almost a hole inthe wall) so it is easy to miss. Either way, many "locutorios" (calling centers) sell the Euro City card. There is a place on Calle Atocha just off the Plaza de Jacinto Benavente that sells them, it is a big calling center.

One warning about the Euro City card, it is VERY hard to get through n Sunday evenings since EVERYONE is calling then but it is a great card overall.

Saludos,
jer...