With the help of you good folks we are moving along nicely and have to sign tomorrow the lease looks as though the removal guys are in line etc. So a few other issues including pet transport. However.

We have quite obviously French contracts for everything and that means our both mobiles. We will be cancelling all connections with the 'utilities' in France but keeping bank accounts.

Is there please (and here forgive us) an English speaking helpline for Telefonica so we could establish both a phone line/internet ahead of arrival for I tend to send large documents back to the UK by internet and almost daily.

Finally if we input the address is there please a web site that could report upon the bandwidth that is available. Our package here is about 38 euros per month + line rental but includes voip.

Or is there an organisation for a fee that could put in place Telefonica for us. Here in France the agency that we rent from organised that but not sure if the same system applies in Spain.

Once more our sincere thanks for all of your help an input

Do not get involved with TelefoicainEnglish. They are not agents of Telefonica although they purport to be and they charge an overhead for what you can get free with the genuine Telefonica SA.

Others will be along with advice on providers and speeds but be aware Spain is light years behind in BB provision compared with other EU countries such as Holland France Germany and UK. You will need to say where your house is for best advice.

When you are here if you dial 1004 and ask for the english department you will get through to them. You'll find many negative comments about TF, but in 6 years I never had a problem with them.

http://www.movistar.es/

Telefonica is now branded under the name 'Movistar'.

They have English speakings reps if you ring up and ask for one. However, if you ever need to speak to anyone about engineering matters, then their technicians do NOT speak English.

Depending where you are moving to, there may be better options.

In the countryside, you'de be hard pushed to get better than 1Mb ADSL. In towns this can rise up to 20Mb (or more?) if you are cabled for fibre optic.

Sometimes there will be a local company offering WiMax and good prices but, as I say, it all depends where you are going to be.

Thanks we are going to be in Javea on La Guardia. thanks once again

May I suggest you keep your French mobile connections for several months, as it will take time for your friends and relatives to get used to your move ?

Basic mobiles are "relatively" cheap in Spain, or you can buy just the chip to put into a spare mobile which is what we did when we first moved.

when coming out here it is a good idea to someone like Telefonica/Movistar to connect you up and make a move a year or so later once you feel comfortable with the alternatives. But you may just want to stay, as T/M have become more and more competitive, but like the UK you have to give them a dig and threaten to move elsewhere to get the discounts.

The last time we had a problem i found their engineering had someone available with English, sometimes it is a little bit difficult, but quite honestly the telecoms business like IT is relatively common worldwide. It only takes a couple of words on each side to get it across that the line is down.

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Only from an existing Movistar 'phone of course.

We just used to ring 1004 and simply say, when they answered, 'Inglese por favor'. I suspect that you do get a slightly better response when you do ask for them in Spanish. You can, if your landline is totally u/s ring from one of the many phone boxes or telephone shops.

Thanks but of course I am in Spain and not sure if 1004 if available here in France and would like everything set up before we arrive. Will try some friends who live locally and see if they can help.

As to Bournemouth used to work and live there but such a long time ago.

Sorry mean to say I am currently in France! Sorry

have a Movistar mobile and went and lost it

BH went out in her lunchtime to one of their showrooms in town and got them to transfer the number and any money left to a new chip which took about 70secs.
The new chip has a number of contact details I haven't explored yet but if you punch in *#133# it will display your balance

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I am in the countryside 3 km from a transmitter and I get 6 Mb ADSL. It was a long haul to get Telefonica to repair the infrastructure (we lost everything whenever it rained because some of the cabling was exposed) but it's fine now.

perhaps they should have used good quality insulation tape instead of the stuff from the local Chinese Shop

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Which is why I included the site link

Has there previously been a telephone line at the property you are leasing?

Here we have a line but on the main drag on the other side of the road there are no lines at all and I don´t think there ever will be. Telefonica/Movistar are not interested in putting in any more equipment to allow people to access a landline. When we moved we just assumed that we would get one the same as in the UK but we were lucky and had to go and ask various neighbours if they would have a pole in their garden. Now even that is not allowed.