Hi Jer

As requested I am starting a new thread.

I shall be needing a long-term (i.e. not rental) solution. I shall be making and receiving a fair number of international calls. It would also be great to be able to receive data (primarily emails). Web browsing would be nice but non-essential - Have 3G services been launched there or not? I shall certainly need international roaming and itemised billing.

My Spanish is pretty poor at present so I'd like to avoid Spanish language websites if poss but was wondering if you or any other mmers could advise me on available handsets, available packages and tarrifs.

(If I was staying in the UK I'd probably get one of those Blackberry jobbies!)

Many thx in anticipation

i am pretty sure you can get a blackberry jobbie here. a few of my students have them.

but i am no techie...where is fabrizio/roland/jer?

hey Mark, as Candela said, the bberry is available here.

it is offered by both telef�nica movistar and vodafone spain.

vodafone is the better deal but as far as i know, they only offer that unit on cotract and last i knew, vodafone only gave contracts to those with residency here (legit residency that is, just saying, "i live here" is not enough ).

i have heard that movistar bends the rules more but they are also more expensive.

if money is no object, do it with movistar but i prefer vodafone.

pay-as-you-go data usage is very expensive at 2-8 cents/kb sent and received (2 with vodafone and 8 with movistar) so that is not even worth looking at. also, to get itemized billing, you will need a contract so pay-as-you-go is not an option for you.

i�m afraid i do not deal in contracts, only pay-as-you-go and i know you said your spanish is weak but you are very limited as far as english lang. sites with decent, up-to-date info on this stuff so fight your way through the following...

http://empresas.vodafone.es/Vodafone/EmpresasPS/EmpresasPS/0,2607,10000,00.html

your best bet would be to get it as a "profesional", see http://www.vodafone.es/Vodafone/EmpresasPS/EmpresasPS/0,2607,9984,00.html

and if you go to www.vodafone.es/Vodafone/EmpresasPS/EmpresasPSSin/0,2610,8448,00.html , you will see they have a few models of the bberry as well as some palms available.

you can get a "linea de datos" (data line) as well which will provide you with inexpensive data use.

IF YOU CAN'T GO THE COMPANY OR PROFESIONAL ROUTE, vodafone also offers the bberry and palms to individuals. see http://www.vodafone.es/Vodafone/ParticularesPS/ParticularesPS/0,2603,21613,00.html . pricing is at http://www.vodafone.es/Vodafone/ParticularesPS/ParticularesPS/0,2603,21616,00.html . the one you would need is the "Tarifa plana de correo e Internet (nacional y en roaming*)" one and is only available with a 12 month minimum contract.

this can all get VERY complex so what i recommend you do is call vodafone when you arrive. the page at www.vodafone.es/Vodafone/EmpresasPS/EmpresasPSSin/0,2610,17554,00.html has the number to call. ask for an english speaking operator since you will not get by in spanish. often times they are eager to help more when they know you don't speak a lick of spanish.

this may all be available only to "empresas" (official companies) and may be a moot point but it is really the only way to go about it.

movistar seems to only offer the bberry to companies, see http://www.movistar.com/empresas/servicios/correomovil/blackberry.htm .

basically, the only service i offer as far as contracts go is consulting. i charge my clients 50�/hour as a middle man between them and the cell ops. to get things done and have questions answered. gotta put a price on my knowledge and language skills after a few days of looking through all of this yourself, you will wonder why i don't charge twice as much :jeje:

hey, you asked!!!

saludos,
jer...

Thx Jer - I know how confusing it can get in English so yes..I can see its a minefield when I get over to Madrid! Appreciate your help though and who knows - I may yet enlist your professional services!