Getting a phone or internet connection in Spain can be a nightmarish business. We offer some solutions.

Poco A Poco Orange Farm, Pauline and Brian Brettle’s bed and breakfast tucked among southern Valencian orange groves, is only four years old - and it's taken two of those to get a telephone.

But after battling with a radio phone and having to run the business from the internet café in town, the Brettles are happy to announce a new arrival in the family: their much-wanted satellite phone.

Spain is seeing increasing numbers of foreigners with transferable skills choosing to work from home, many of them preferring somewhere off the beaten track.

But getting a landline and internet connection is a struggle many expats do not anticipate and lacking knowledge of how the system works can leave even the most fluent in Spanish tearing their hair out.

The Spanish College of Registered Homeowners reports that the price of Spanish resale homes is rising faster than that of new-build properties for the first time in a decade, boosted largely by the growing demand from foreign buyers seeking out 'real Spain' rather than the coast.

But while we may be pushing up the prices, pushing phone companies to make our Spanish homes high-tech is another matter.

''We were told endlessly by Telefonica [the state phone company] that we don't have the infrastructure for a landline and that it would be too expensive to supply us with a satellite phone,'' recalls Pauline Brettle.

''But another English couple recently moved into a nearby house and had a satellite phone within weeks.

"I challenged Telefonica and was told that it's because we live in a different exchange. The woman said I wouldn't understand and hung up.''

The Brettles' telephonic fortunes changed when a satellite phone company emerged out of the blue, costing the same monthly rate as a landline.

''We’re not far from Torrevieja where there is a large expat community, so things are speeding up,'' says Brettle.

''You just have to keep hassling the phone company to make sure you haven’t dropped off their system.''

Sally Harrison left the theatrical world in London to set up estate agency Axarquia Properties, which specialises in the relatively undeveloped region east of Malaga.

''I installed a telephone line but had to wait another three years before we got broadband internet. I had no idea it would be so difficult,'' says Harrison.

The experience has served her well for clients who want to move to the countryside and run their business from home.

''They mainly want to run B&Bs or consultancies which only require a small office space at home and their first question is usually 'Can we get internet?','' says Harrison.

''Benamargosa and Benamocarra are popular villages about 10km inland and there are no problems getting landlines or internet there, but further into the countryside telephone lines are hard to come by.

"I live near a mountain which is a no-go area for phone companies. Satellite phones are becoming very popular as you can always get a connection.''

Spanish phone operators can seem antiquated

For the uninitiated expat, satellite phones look like conventional telephones and send radio signals direct to a satellite and down to a land earth station where your phone call can be connected to a network.

Spanish companies such as Iberbanda or Telecor offer various price options, from an upfront fee of EUR 2,500 but no monthly line rental and free calls or a monthly fee of EUR 55 for phone and broadband plus call charges.

Ethnet, a company based in Hertfordshire, in the UK, which is the main distributor for the Hughes network system in Europe, has seen an upsurge in demand from Britons moving mainly to southern Spain.

They offer a broadband connection via two-way satellite anywhere in Spain for GBP 860 for installation and GBP 55 a month for connectivity.

"The only requirement is that you have a line of sight to the satellite, like satellite TV," says Ethnet's Barry Lieberman.

"We have also seen an increase in customers wanting phones which work over a satellite link because they are moving to areas of Andalucia which are developing in terms of property but don't have the backbone of technology.

"You can't even use mobiles in these areas," Lieberman adds.

Ethnet's phone connection costs GBP 250, with GBP 17.50 monthly line rental.

Many rural Spanish communities still rely on radio phones supplied by Telefonica, but reception is often bad - and forget about running broadband from one.

"Some clients bought a house near Comares which they want to turn into a B&B. They had a radio phone installed but they were told they would there was a shortage of available phone numbers so they would have to wait another couple of months," says Sally Harrison.

"They just accept that this is what life is like it the Spanish 'campo'. This is still a very traditional area of Spain, which is its appeal, but some people don't realise how basic that means some things can be.

"The advantage is that you can buy beautiful villas here for less than half the price of a similar property in Marbella and your children will grow up speaking fluent Spanish."

Suzanne Carmichael, from estate agent Indigo Estates, has many clients who travel between the UK and Spain for business.

"They span careers from commercial real estate and IT consultancy to a lady who has distributes a brand of dog food in Spain," she says.

"Many of them want to live in a traditional Spanish property and have high-speed internet connection, but the further inland you go, the harder it becomes," says Carmichael.

"A rule of thumb is if your neighbour can't have a landline, it's unlikely you'll be able to, especially if getting to your house means going down dirt tracks and across streams.

"If you can find a neighbour with a landline, get their number and call Telefonica and they'll try to connect you. But if a landline is crucial to your business, you would be wise to buy a house where one is already installed."

Costa del Sol Online says it can provide broadband access anywhere in Andalucia, with no location too remote to receive high-speed business broadband internet access – including the Alpujarras mountains.

The system, developed by Madrid-based company Iberbanda, uses a wireless broadband network uses high frequency radio waves.

"There are currently 300 antennae around Andalucia with new ones being installed every week so no area of Andalucia need go without," says spokesperson Sacha Masand.

Costa del Sol Online will install this wireless system for free and charge from EUR 39 a month for broadband connection.

"It was designed primarily for people in the Spanish countryside who have so far been unable to have internet services," says Masand.

"The Andalucian government has received EU grants to subsidise the installation of antennae to serve everyone in the region."

Subsidised municipal wireless broadband networks have also taken off in the Girona province of Catalonia where 20 WiFi networks will soon be up and running.

Naturally, in the high-speed world of technology, WiFi is already old hat though.

"We’re gearing up for WiMax, which is like WiFi on steroids," says Sasha Masand.

"It will cover entire cities with umbrella coverage, so from the end of this year you’ll be able to log onto internet absolutely anywhere in Spain, even while you’re sitting at a traffic light."

More information

• Ethnet (www.ethnetuk.com), tel. +44 1763 250418
• Costa del Sol Online (www.wireless4spain.com) Tel.+44 0871 871 4296

[June 2005]

[Copyright Expatica]

Subject: Spain; telephone, internet problems