Fiber Optics in Granada - Does anyone Know when this will be ?
 

Hi all,

I have just renewed my ADSL with Telefonica/Movistar - not cheap at 46 euros all in , excluding certain numbers ( of course ) , bumps the price up to around 50 euros, I`d suspect. I pay around the 52-54 mark at the moment and waiting for my first new bill.

On topic now , the line is a copper one so it tops out at 10 mega . Would anyone here living in/or near Granada know when fiber optics will be installed.

Thanks.:)

Re: Fiber Optics in Granada - Does anyone Know when this will be ?
 

If we could get 10mgbs here in the campo of Alora I'd be over the moon even at that price! :nod:

We have only recently been able to get 3mg when they upgraded the exchange, before that we were paying the same as you are for 1mg.

Re: Fiber Optics in Granada - Does anyone Know when this will be ?
 

There are other suppliers, such as ONO and Jazztel available in Granada.
We used to live in a block of flats with a computer company below us, they had the same flaky Telefonica infrastructure we had. Wires keep popping out of boxes for no reason, service switches itself off for no reason - just like the electricity.

There is a very large exchange building in the Calle Acera de Canasteros but that looks to be all copper from peeking through the windows.

They are carrying out tests in that area
http://www.litsanleandro.com/blog/20...big-fiber.html
and the railway people ADIF are planning a large investment on fibre
http://www.rad.com/11/4315/

the telecoms industry have what is known as the Granada Strategy - a google will flood you with responses - but that was due to start in 2010-2015 and with the "sudden" realisation the country is broke I doubt it is moving as fast as a copper signal. There are interesting proposals and ideals but getting all the interested parties with their vested interest to play ball is another matter.

So I should imagine it will be some years before the ordinary man in the street will be seeing any major changes to quality, prices or bandwidth without paying through the nose for it - definitely long after you have renewed your contract again and again and again.

rgds

Re: Fiber Optics in Granada - Does anyone Know when this will be ?
 

If we could have paid the saem as OP with Movistar we would have stayed with them, we changed in Sept 2011 to Jazztell, with both companys we had free national calls etc, but with Movistar 9 euros a month for 15 mins a day to UK. we got 6meg and also get very close to what we pay for. but each month our bill was about 95€, went to jazztell, we get 500 mins a month to uk thrown in anytime of day any duration, 10meg we get about 9 delivered. and comes out at 43€ all in.

Optic fibre lol sorry but do they know what that is lol maybe long after we have gone methinks:eek:

Re: Fiber Optics in Granada - Does anyone Know when this will be ?
 

:lol:

Thanks for the giggle of the day pwwm.

Domino, I too saw that Telefonica were testing a fiber link between Granada and Jaen. Next day , I saw 2 Telefonica workmen installing some cable were I live and asked them. One was half serious , while the other one said it would take years for FO cable to arrive were I live, which is the Albaicin area of Granada.

I phoned ONO and they said nothing is planned for my area either. While Jazztel, well I wouldn`t trust them as far as I can throw my fridge !

I did some poking around yesterday on the net and found out some interesting things.

- Seems that if you live 2 km or less from you local exchange then no fiber for you. Why ? Telefonica want there Imagenio package to function, which it does if you live within the 2 km limit.

- Over 2km limit, you can qualify for FO because there is too much signal loss with copper !

Doesn`t help folks like me much though. Good news is all you good folk living in the middle of no where will be looking at FO soon.:lol:

I don`t believe I just said that. That`s the theory.

I also did a check on Telefonica/Movistar`s home page by introducing my phone number to see if FO was here or not. There are 6 stages and we were at the very first stage i.e. Nothing Planned yet.:blink:

Great !! Coupled with the current mess Spain is in I really can`t see much progress as the government likes bailing banks out with public money.

Disgraceful !:thumbdown:

Re: Fiber Optics in Granada - Does anyone Know when this will be ?
 

We use wireless internet with a small square aerial on the roof with line of sight to a transmitter. It has been extremely reliable and we pay 29€ per month including IVA, get around 5mbps. We don't have a landline (we could have, but don't see the point of paying line rental for a service we don't use much).

The initial payment was 270€ which included the equipment and installation charge, we then pay nothing more for 6 months after which we start paying the 29€ per month.

If we wanted to go away for a few weeks or months we could just let the company know and they disconnect the service so we don't pay when we are not there, then reconnect without any charge when we return. Good for people who divide their time between Spain and UK.

We're not in Granada, but maybe there are companies in that area offering a similar service?

Re: Fiber Optics in Granada - Does anyone Know when this will be ?
 

Hi Lynn R, is that 5 mbps tops for you or can you get more speed ?

Is that company Telefonica ? To be honest , I really don`t trust these net companies that spring up with all the hype they give and in reality you don`t get what they promised ! Seems familiar !!

Course living far from a city your option seems good but 5 megas is low nowadays, especially if you want to watch something you missed , you get constant freezes.

I get 10 megas and it is tops for Telefonica with copper. My tip , always go for a company with a physical store so you can pop in and talk face to face with whoever`s there.:fingerscrossed:

Your doing well to get 5 megas ! Would be interested in the company though.

Thanks for the info. :)

Re: Fiber Optics in Granada - Does anyone Know when this will be ?
 

The company we use is called Broadband4Spain - they advertise up to 6mbps but around 5 is what we actually get (not unusual, I think, a lot of companies advertise speeds 'up to' a certain level but what you will actually get is anybody's guess. You get the BBCiplayer proxy as part of the service and we have used it to view programmes and haven't experienced any problems with freezes as yet. We can also now use Skype to talk to friends in the Netherlands and relatives in the UK - we couldn't do this previously when we used a Vodaphone dongle for our internet access as the video quality was hopeless.

The company is based in Competa I think, and the guy who came to install our system lives about 5 minutes' walk from my house, so we know where he is in case of any problems!

The speed is low compared to what you can get nowadays from Telefonica and lower still compared to what's available in the UK for much lower prices, but for us it's a good balance of cost/benefit, and we especially like the fact that we wouldn't have to pay anything if not here for a month or more.

Re: Fiber Optics in Granada - Does anyone Know when this will be ?
 

The Skype bit is good , together with BBCiplayer. You can only use Skype if the other person has it too ,so I understand. Special software is needed. The audio quality is it good ? but you can not call a Spanish land line !

I`m not on the ball with Skype as when I heard that the other person needs Skype, well it put me off . Goggle has a new app out installing a webcam you can talk and see your friends. I don`t have a webcam and don`t know if a subscription is required. Seems OK in theory. I think some techy know how is required though so any 10 year old would do the job. :lol:

Thanks. Some good info there.:)

Re: Fiber Optics in Granada - Does anyone Know when this will be ?
 

You can call someone on a landline via Skype if they don't have computer access - we used to do it in reverse, call friends from the UK on their Spanish landline. I don't know if you could call a Spanish landline from within Spain, but I don't see why not. The sound quality was OK but there used to be a delay after each party had spoken which was a bit weird and I found it annoying. That doesn't happen when we talk face to face via the laptop.

I am no techy by any stretch of the imagination - it is my OH who sorts out all the telecommunications issues in our house!:lol: He always says he doesn't know how I used to manage at work, and I tell him I just picked up the phone to the IT Department and said it's broken, fix it - now he is the IT Department!:rofl:

As we are too mean to pay the Telefonica line rental, we just use a Vodafone PAYG mobile on the AmiAire tariff (talk for 90 minutes, pay for 1) to make international calls, used in conjunction with either Voipcheap or Localphone. You pay a Vodafone connection charge of 70c per call, then ring the Voipcheap number which is a Madrid one so you're only paying for a Spanish call, enter the UK number you want and talk away for up to 90 minutes. You need to register online with Voipcheap and put some money in your account (just like Skype) but you get 90 days' worth of free calls to start with and it's 1c a minute to a landline thereafter. Localphone is what we use if we need to call a mobile in the UK, thats 5.5c per minute. We have to put 15€ per month on the mobile to keep the AmiAire tariff operational but we never manage to use it all up.

As that works out expensive for making local calls I have a separate bog standard PAYG Vodafone for those - I put 5€ credit on it about twice a year, if that.

Re: Fiber Optics in Granada - Does anyone Know when this will be ?
 

Lynne R, for someone who say`s there not techy, you sure know your stuff.:thumb:

I think I`ll stick to what I`ve got. Simple is best for me !!:)

Cheers !

Re: Fiber Optics in Granada - Does anyone Know when this will be ?
 

I use skype every day for private and business calls to EU landlines for abt £5 per month, all landline calls are free, even an SMS is half the Vodafone tariff. you can use a relatively low cost computer interface to allow use of your UK phones with a BT plug - got mine from Maplin for abt £10 last Christmas.
have found that the voice can be a bit iffy with some cameras, remember the cheaper they are the more they cut on something, so i use the telephone when visual not needed.
when I was in UK and BH on her own in Granada we had full audio-visual every night with few problems.

also have an online service where I have ported my UK numbers (private and business) - cost £20 per number then £2 each per month - knocks BT into a hat at £15, but there is no landline to pay rental on as it is hitching a ride on my radio broadband (see other thread as to why I have to have radio in the middle of the village/town) and I have no problems.

if you are looking for AVE speeds on your broadband then Granada doesnt appear to be the place to be. Perhaps Malaga has better, but we do know you can get 50mb + in Madrid
see http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...roadband+speed

Re: Fiber Optics in Granada - Does anyone Know when this will be ?
 

@Domino, my living quarters for the moment and has been for 19 years is Granada. For me , simply the best place in Spain. If 10 megas is the best then that`ll have to do.

If I need to talk to someone by video, Skype would be an option but I would consider googles video link which sounds interesting. Course the other person needs that functionality too. On top of that they need to download a program to install.

That`s enough from me on this. Granada is a big NO for Fiber Optics. Damn Shame ! Then again you can`t have everything ! :lol:

Re: Fiber Optics in Granada - Does anyone Know when this will be ?
 

Robt - fully understand that.
been to Barcelona, Salou, Seville, and many other places around the world but arriving in Granada I felt at home, an affinity with the old place, like a used slipper. The only place where I have felt the same was Singapore.

I really enjoy going down the back streets, finding things I would imagine not many people get to see.

But as you say, shame about the broadband, it is really holding the place back.