Job Discussion Forums

[travellingscot]

Soon to be arriving in the South East,i want to be contactable asap for job hunting,so i will buy a sim card on arrival.I wanted to know if any of you have reasons for choosing a particular network,or for avoiding an operator-are there any special deals i should hunt around for ?
I will probably use a pre-pay voucher system at first,so does anyone have any comments or advice please ?

[Moore]

Choose Vodafone: Amena and Movistar (Telefonica) are not very good, and you�ll find that as most people have Vodafone then your calls to their mobiles are cheaper from one of the same network. That said, I live in Madrid, perhaps out in the sticks the reception is better with Movistar.

I switched to a Movistar subscription last year to get a free phone but I really regret it and am counting the weeks until I can switch back again due to dodgy recpetion and actually being more expensive than Vodafone pay-as-you-go as you don�t get the free minutes you get with them with every four or five recharges you make.

[lozwich]

Hi,

I lived "out in the sticks" and had a pay as you go Movistar account, which I loved! Excellent reception, great deals, and even people calling me to help me get a better deal after a while. That was in the north, in Pais Vasco...

Good to know choosing a mobile company is just as confusing in Spain as everywhere else, no?

[lastmanineurope]

I had Movistar twice - in Madrid and then in Seville. They were fine. You can top them up from bank machines if you want. If you bring an unlocked mobile phone with you, then you can just buy a SIM card in a Movistar shop. I bought one in Seville in January 2004 and got tons of free credit with it (can't remember the exact amount but it was about �70 for the card and it came with about �60 free calls included).

[CharlesTESOL]

I have dealt with all three companies. I believe they all have disadvantages and offer poor customer service. I use Telefonica, primarily because it is the largest company so has the most coverage and is perhaps the lesser of three evils.

Cheers,

[Spainish]

[CharlesTESOL]

I have indeed heard several nightmare stories about trying to cancel Telefonica service. Maybe I should cancel the order for wireless ADSL I have with Telefonica! (I've been waiting for over amonth!) However, what concerns me are things like what I was recently told by a Spaniard who works with computers when I asked about other service providers. He essentially said, hombre, as bad as they are, all the others are much worse.

Spainish, am I right in understanding that you use Vodafone for ADSL, too? If so, would you mind PMing or emailing with me to discuss further before I get my ADSL set up?

Chao,

[Jyulee]

I am no phones expert, but am told that Amena works out the best value for money, but is also the worst for coverage. So, I went for Amena - it works OK here in Madrid, though.