Mr Grumpy

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By Mr Grumpy - Fri 5th Nov 2010

 

Before I go any further I should perhaps point out that I am not what you may call a ‘Tecchie’. I am confident that I can master my DVD player, I can even send text messages (not bad for a 37 year old), and admittedly I struggle when it comes to downloading films or music from the net.

So why on earth would I need ADSL Broadband at 1 Gazillion Megabites, or whatever it is that the providers in the UK are offering these days? Does it mean that I will be able to download my Spam e mails even quick more quickly? – Thousand of their clients in the UK must now be able to place their orders for Viagra at break-neck speed.

I had lived in my rural finca, about 2kms out of town but not ridiculously remote, for about 3 years, surviving off mobile phones etc... when I decided to look into getting a landline (and from then on, ADSL) .My neighbour had about 4 lines with Telefonica, and as their line ran across the foot of my garden – about 30 foot from the end of my Finca itself, I was confident that this wouldn’t be a problem.

This isn’t the time or place for me to spell out exactly how things panned out for me, but those of you who have ever had the misfortune to have had dealings with Telefonica will not need me to go any further.... let’s just say it wasn’t exactly quick or easy.

(This is perhaps where I should plug my previous Blog The Joys of dealing with Telefonica.)

Once I eventually managed to secure my 1 Meg connection (or at least that’s what it was sold as) and connected my router I found that the walls of my Finca were too robust for the WIFI signal to work through. So with the aid and advice from one of my Techno-geek friends I bought and (he) installed some kind of booster-thingy which worked perfectly.

Now, the fact that the bodge-job of my set up, combined with the distance that my line ran from the post, combined with the distance that my post was from the main exchange, combined with the fact that we are in fact living in Spain, all meant that my 1 meg connection was in fact closer to about .1 of a Meg. Which naturally means that my internet speed is painfully slow.

Only yesterday we had a downpour, which for some unknown reason meant that my ADSL (but not the telephones, oddly) went down for about 8 hours – bit of a problem when you work from home – so I had to de-camp to the local bar and set up office there. In the Town they have a 6 Meg connection, which apparently means that on a good day, and when there is no rain and the wind is blowing in the right direction, they can expect 3 Meg, and I must admit that the speed is noticeably better.

Apart from the obvious benefit of being able to place their orders for Viagra much quicker, this means that they can also get Live British TV streamed!

All this for ‘just’ 60 Euros (Plus calls, Plus IVA, Plus Window tax etc...) per month.

the hell does that compare to service providers in the UK who are offering ‘bundles’ of 20 –odd TV High Definition TV Channels, Telephone Landline, Mobile, 20 Meg ADSL etc... All for about 40 Quid per Month?

I appreciate that Spain’s Infrastructure isn’t as advanced as the UK and all the other stuff, but when the likes of Telefonica are investing in other companies in other countries (Such as the UK’s O2), why can’t they get the basics right in their own country?

I look forward to full de-regulation, if and when that ever happens, until then I will be posting my orders for Viagra to China.