Exploring spanish 'prepaygo' mobile internet
 

This is information I've posted elsewhere but the response was very positive so I'm posting it again as well.

I have recently been to Spain taking my T-Mobile dongle and, surprise, surpise, it turned out very expensive to use despite their £1.50 per MB price being lower than most. So I researched the local equivalent and the information below may be helpful, although it specifically relates to the Moriara area (Costa Blanca, north of Benidorm and Calpe).

For PAYG internet, what I discovered was the following. The pay as you go option is called PREPAYGO in Spain.

Movistar has best coverage in Spain and is priced at 3 euros per day of use for unlimited MBs but I don't have any more info as I didn't find anywhere selling the Movistar dongles or SIMS. If anyone can give a detailed breakdown of the Movistar prepaygo costs, I'm sure forum members would find it useful information to add to what I have written here.

We went into a huge nationwide electronics superstore in Elche (forget the name of it) but it was very close to a Carrefour supermarket (maybe next door). Although they had brochures for the internet suppliers, they didn't sell any prepaygo dongles for any provider.

BUT, for anyone living in Spain, in this huge electronics store mentioned above, and at the Movistar desk (where the girl spoke good English), they did do a great Movistar deal which wasn't PAYG but was a 30 day contract which can be cancelled at any time after 30 days. You buy the dongle, and then signed up for the SIM/data deal. I seem to recall it was a very good price at about 1 euro per day of usage. Anyway it wasn't any use to us as it involved paperwork delays and phone calls and bank info, etc. For a short stay such as ours, it wasn't worth it.

The cheapest prepaygo providers apparently, are SIMYO and YOIGO, but their signals only cover highly populated areas, and they only supply to an applicant with a Spanish address and will only deliver to the person buying the SIM, who must sign for it.

I looked at Orange and Vodaphone by Googling them and finding their shop addresses in my area.

Although the Orange coverage map online looked good for the area I was going to (Moriara) the guy in the Orange shop in the town said that in the same way that some phones have better reception than others, the Orange PAYG dongle itself didn't have a good internal antenna for reception so he advised going with another provider! Great sales technique! Probably in other areas Orange works fine but for parts of Moraira, apparently not.

INFO FROM RETAILER SUPPLYING VODAPHONE DONGLES IN MORIARA, JUNE 2009. Don't remember its name but the shop was near the harbour area. It was also a currency exchange place. It had Telefonica written on its green hoarding, was to the left of a camera shop and to the right of a bar with WiFi connections for their customers. There was a blond Polish woman working in the retailers and she spoke fluent English.

You buy a Vodaphone dongle and SIM for 90 euros. Or you supply your own unlocked dongle and just buy a Vodaphone SIM for 30 euros.

Top-up data packages are available at price Options A or B

COST OPTION A:-
Basic - 19 euros for 150 MB data total, valid for 3 months
Advanced - 29 euros for 400 MB data total, valid for 3 months
Premium - 59 euros for 1 GB data total, valid for 3 months

COST OPTION B:-
ONE WEEK USAGE - 29 euros for UNLIMITED DATA AND USAGE
TWO WEEKS USAGE - 39 euros for UNLIMITED DATA AND USAGE
ONE MONTH USAGE - 59 euros for UNLIMITED DATA AND USAGE

THEREAFTER: If there is no top-up bought after either Option A or Option B has expired (and I forget how many days grace you get after expiry) then the SIM is redundant and so next visit, the SIM must be replaced with a new one and then the top ups bought as well.

SO ...MINIMUM SPEND PER TRIP ON OPTION A, INCLUDING A NEW SIM, IS 49 euros, 59 euros OR 89 euros
MINIMUM SPEND PER TRIP ON OPTION B IS 59 euros, 69 euros OR 89 euros

In the event, I stuck with my T-Mobile for this last trip but have now bought an unlocked USB dongle in the UK. Next year, if I am in the same part of Spain, I will just buy the SIM and UNLIMITED MB package as shown in Option B above.

Incidentally if you (or someone you know) lives in the UK, at the moment (July 2009) you can get a free PAYG dongle from Welcome to 3 Dongle 4 Free and then unlock it (for free) with software from RapidShare: 1-CLICK Web hosting - Easy Filehosting

Then just buy a SIM and MB package in your part of Spain and pop it in - Bob's your uncle!

Hopefully someone going to Spain will find this helpful. Obviously as it's info dated July 2009, if you're reading this in 2010 or later, deals may well have changed if their marketing is anything like as aggressive it is in the UK.

Interesting post! 59 Euros is a lot to pay for a months Internet though! (or for 1GB). A couple of Simyo cards would get you 1GB for 10 Euros!

Agreed!

Sort of true, but not really! When there is no Yoigo signal it uses Movistar. Simyo uses Orange all the time. Signal on Simyo is decent (3G) even where I am which is a village with 300 people in the middle of the Mountains 50km out of Madrid. I get 3.5G here with Yoigo and Movistar. You can easily see coverage maps online. e.g. Yoigo: Yoigo - Tenemos cobertura nacional. Míralo en el mapa. (select Datos from Servicios)

True for Simyo, but not for Yoigo that you can pick up in a shop such as "The Phone House".

Simyo is cheapest which costs 5 Euros per month for upto 500MB of useage and 9c/MB thereafter.

Yoigo is 3 Euros per day for high speed internet upto 100MB/day. It can also cost 1.20 Euros per day for normal speed internet (upto 384kbps) for unlimited data , but if you look through this forum you will see some people have reported some problems with this.

Also, a further small point! There is a slight typo: It is "Prepago" (meaning Prepaid) not "Pre-pay-go". It changes the pronunciation significantly, and could perhaps cause frustrations especially for non-English speaking sales people.

Hi

Thanks for the correction in my spelling. I was doing it all from memory from back home, and now I see it written as prepago, I remember it was that!

Yes €59 is a lot for one month's internet BUT, for someone on holiday, the prices in Option B, compared to roaming with a UK dongle, aren't as high.

I spent ages in an internet cafe looking up all the info and you're right. I recall that I did discover I could get a YOIGO SIM at a Phone House but I couldn't find out about the dongle side of things with YOIGO. The closest Phone House to where we were was in Altea and so without driving, it wasn't easy to research. Mileage of course costs euros in fuel!! Now I have an unlocked dongle, I can be more flexible. I'd also heard that Carrefour sold YOIGO SIMS but they didn't have them when we went.

HOWEVER, although it's cheap to use, one of the things I found when researching YOIGO was that there's a €6.00/month minimum charge and some users were saying that there is a limit of 10-20 MB then the speed is limited to 10 kbps (not usable). With a mimimum spend, that makes it impractical for short-stay visitors - I go twice a year. So it would mean paying €72 per year minimum anyway and if I decided to go away somewhere else, I'm still committed to the €6 pm minimum charges.

Also at €3 per day for YOIGO, that's more expensive than the €39 for 2-weeks of unlimited usage on Vodaphone and the same price as Movistar prepago. In the Orange shop, the guy did mention YOIGO using the Movistar network but he said it 'roamed' on to the Movistar network, and that made me wonder if that meant additional cost?

Compared to the almost £100 I spent on using my T-Mobile roaming on movistar, €39 for Option B on Vodaphone will be a steal for unlimited MBs during my 2 week holiday periods in Moraira. (I would never go for Option A anyway)

PETKOW, it's great that you have put this aditional info down for people such as myself, and corrected my errors, as the database of information needs completing and Google does pick up on forum comments, which is useful. Very few people seem to know about the smaller providers it would appear.

What I really wanted to get was a SIMYO SIM but I knew I couldn't get it without being at a Spanish address to receive delivery, and without some form of acceptable ID. My mobile phone was able to pick up Movistar, Vodaphone and Amena signals where we stay, so presumably the Orange signal was available through Amena. However when I tried to connect to Amena with my T-Mobile dongle, it wouldn't connect, even though they are the preferred provider. It was fine on Movistar though.

QUESTIONS:

1) How much is the actual SIMYO SIM to buy? I know it's done online, but the timing would be crucial within a holiday period.

2) How quickly do they deliver? (timing is clearly crucial if I have to sign for it!)

3) If I can stay at my usual villa and have the SIM delivered during my stay and sign for it myself, would my UK passport be acceptable as ID?

4) Does the SIM become obsolete after several months of non-usage like with other providers?

5) Why does the SIMYO SIM have to be tied specifically to me anyway? Surely as a prepaid option, there is no financial risk to the providers so why this Spanish domicile thing, and ID, etc?

PETKOW, if you could answer the above questions and also list the pricings for unlimited usage with the SIMYO SIM for prepago usage, that would be great.

If there's someone out there with more Movistar prepago info, that would be helpful to add as well. I know the basic cost per MB but don't kmow about any minimum usage or if the SIM becomes obsolete after not being used for a while, etc.

I posted this once before at: http://www.prepaidgsm.net/forum/euro...html#post27579

Currently they have an offer selling the SIM at 1 euro plus 3.95 postage. The SIM comes with 5 euros credit, and you get a further 5 euros if you buy through someone who recommends you ... such as me ;) You also get another 5 after your first topup of 10 euros. Not a bad deal really. Basically, it comes down to for 14.95 you get 25 euros of credit.

Max 2 working days by express delivery by normal Spanish Post. They will try to deliver twice, and then they will leave a card telling you where to pick up the item.

Yes. Any form of photo ID (In my case my driving license was also valid, even though Simyo specifies only Spanish national ID or passport, but it is "Correos" (Spanish post) who checks at the end of the day.

The crucial difference between Simyo and Yoigo is no minimum monthly spend. Yes the credit does eventuallly expire (9 months from last topup). Just keep your card topped up every time you come. You can topup online which means you can even do it from the UK. You can topup with as little as 5 Euros. It can also be done at any petrol station, kiosk, newsagent, post office or even ATM.

This is the same with any Spanish prepaid SIM now. It is not a case of financial risk to the company. It is a governemnet stipulation. Quite a number of countries now require SIM cards to have a registered owner. One of the specific reasons here in Spain is its problems with terrorism. For example the bombs placed on backpacks on the Madrid trains were detonated via mobile phones and prepaid SIM cards. This is why it is generally also not a good idea to buy Spanish SIM cards in your name for other people, as you never know where those SIM cards might end up. A number of people here have asked me to do this in the past, and I do not want to offend anyone, but simply put it is contravening a Spanish anti-terrorism law.

The basic Internet package is 5 Euros a month which gives you upto 500MB. For normal surfing and emailing that is actually sufficient. For media surfing, you might get to your limit quite quick. You can track your useage online though.

If you need more you have a few options. Either get a few more SIM's, or get a "contract" which costs you 24,99/month for unlimited surfing. It's not really a contract though as it can be setup and cancelled at any time. Minimum term is 1 month. They call it unlimited but there is a 5GB fair use policy. After that the speed gets cut to 128kbps.
For the contract see: https://www.simyo.es/simyo/portal/st...data-priceplan

In my case, I have actually found 500MB/month is OK. I even use mine for SIP telephone calls at about 1MB/min. If you have a SIM dedicated to SIP traffic and use Betamax then 5 Euros a month for 500mins/month of free telephone calls around the world from your mobile is excellent value.


The Movistar prepago data package is a contender for the worlds worst value data package. It basically costs you 12 Euros per day for unlimited use, and they even limit your speed to 1MBps. If you use only a little data on that day, you can do it a bit cheaper. Basically they charge you at 3Euros per 30MB until you reach 12 Euros.

Movistar prpeago Internet information on their site (in Spanish)

If you want to go down the Movistar route, get a monthly contract that you can cancel at any time. This is called "Tarifa Plana Internet" but make sure it is "sin permanencia". However, my honest advice is stay clear of Movistar. They are a hassle to deal with, and if you are not a resident and do not have a NIE number you will struggle to setup a contract anyhow. The only good thing with them is that they have an international department at their call centre where they have English, German, French and Arabic speaking staff. Even Spanish friends of mine use the English speaking department in dealing with Movistar. If you call the normal Spanish speaking departments in an average call you will get shunted from department to department at least 10 times and often get cut off on route.

Of course there are also other options apart from Yoigo and Simyo. Do you know about BimGO? It is part of Blau and they do 'unlimited' monthly data at 21 Euros. You can buy their SIM's (and modems) in loads of places including El Corte Inglés, The Phone House, PC City, Worten etc. The good thing is you do not even need to setup a contract. You only pay the rate in the month that you use the service. Perfect for occasional visitors.
I think at the moment they will sell you a Modem for 49 Euros that includes 1 month for free.

blau - Qué es.

Brilliant stuff. Coverage depends on which network Bimgo uses I guess. Do you know? I assume that it's German?

Both Blau and Simyo use Orange here. They are both owned by E-Plus, which may exist in Germany too, but is actually a subsidiary of the Dutch group KPN. (Now the 4th biggest mobile operator in Europe).

Though under the same management, Blau and Simyo aim to attract different types of users. Blau hasn't really taken off that well here but I think ultimately aims to be more mainstream and therefore has a distribution network using big name chains of shops here. Simyo is aimed to be a smaller low-cost brand aimed at tech-savvy internet users. This is why it is only available online. It also has more limited customer service options, with an emphasis of doing things online.

There are also at least half a dozen other mobile brands run by KPN here in Spain which have the brand names of airlines, travel agents, banks etc. No time to list them all but most actually have half decent voice and data rates. As far as I recall one of them (Vueling Mobile) has a 1.20 Euro data cap per day (in competition to Yoigo).

To be honest, my take is that it is fairly easy to setup a new MVNO in Spain these days. For a start it doesn't cost much to do so, and secondly you can so easily poach half intelligent customers from Movistar and Vodafone Spain, as they are the biggest telecom rip-offs in Europe! These firms may still have customers for now, but only because they offer fancy SIM-locked phones for "free" and still have millions of people tied into extremely long 24 month contracts. Vodafone used to be a very professional company here with decent offers and freebies. They initially set themselves up as competition to Movistar but they have really slipped, and have just koined the same game.

petkow - you have exceeded all expections and between us, we have reached guru status hehe!

Account Blocked - 3G forum : your 3G community and resource.

I think you are now classified as a hero and I'm not far behind. And it all started with me moaning !!! haha

Excellent tip about Blau Petkow, thanks!

I just have a question about bimgo, which is can you put the SIM from the modem in your phone? As I would like to be able to use the sim for data on my phone or my laptop and also receive texts with it too. Not the end of the world if not, as I can carry a spare phone and sim I guess.

It sounds a great alternative to Yoigo.

Also one other question actually, if you use the Bimgo for one month, do you think you can come back a year later and re-activate it by just adding another 21.50 credit?

There is a monthly minimum spend of €2,00 on these blau.es SIMs.
But, my question:

Is the BimGo an option of any blau.es SIM or are there different SIMs?
As I can only guess what's written in Spanish, could some body please explain how to book the BimGo service, and please add the APN settings for my USB modem stick?
Is there an expiry date also if the monthly fee/minimum spend can be settled from the balance?

Thanks a lot!

I will try find out. I actually had similar questions but the info on the site is quite limited. I think it will be best to call them.

I presume apn is gprs-service.com username and password are blank. BIM is definately issued as a different sim as data rates are different and also voice and sms services are disabled as far as I know.

One big issue that others flag up is that on BIM, even though it is called unlimited, after 1GB, speeds are throttled to a ridiculous and practically unusable 32kbps!!!

I really am so grateful for this info Petkow. I've done some more research and the data rate on the regular Blau sim is only 0.19 Euro a megabyte, which compares well to the £1.50 I'd pay with T-mobile (UK) on roaming.

As I only need data in Spain while on holiday for checking email away from the hotel, I think I will get a regular blau sim for 5 Euros, which will equal 80mb of data. This should be enough for occasional web browsing and email for a week on my mobile.

Because you get 15 Euros credit when buying the 5 Euro sim, I might try and get three sims, so will have two spare for future holidays or if I use up the credit on the first. Is it likely to be a problem buying three sims, or will they limit it to 1 sim per customer do you think?

Edit: I've done some more translating and realised you don't get 15 euros credit automatically, only 5. Then you get an extra 5 if you register on the blau.es website and another 5 if you credit 20 euros twice. So maybe not so good after all.

As pointed out above the 2 euro per month min spend is a bit of a show stopper for occasional use. Unless of course you just pick up a new SIM everytime you come and let the old one die. They are easy enough to buy. I think you can actually "disactivate" them online. You can with Simyo at least and I notice that all the KPN MVNOs run the same website "engine".

Yoigo need to catch up. I am sure they are losing a lot of customers lately. They shouldn't have stopped tariffa 2 which didn't have the monthly minimum spend.

Small update on BIMGo. I still haven't been able to call them yet, but from what I understand from Blau lanza BIMgo, su tarifa plana de Internet móvil it really is a type of prepaid monthly internet plan. If you want to keep using it after a months useage, you just need to make sure you have the 21,50 in your prepaid account on the first day of the following month for them to debit. If it is not there, it will not work. Simple as that.

I'm still no wiser how you set one of these up. I presume any normal Blau SIM can be 'converted' to this tariff by calling customer services. Since it is prepaid, you just need to keep it topped up.

Also, in reply to the question above about APN: See: blau - Preguntas frecuentes

Will it be illegal for a spanish resident to buy a simyo sim and post it on? I was going to ask someone to do this but don't want them or me to be doing anything illegal.

This was my question to petkow on page 1 of this thread.

< Why does the SIMYO SIM have to be tied specifically to me anyway? Surely as a prepaid option, there is no financial risk to the providers so why this Spanish domicile thing, and ID, etc? >

This was the reply:

< This is the same with any Spanish prepaid SIM now. It is not a case of financial risk to the company. It is a government stipulation. Quite a number of countries now require SIM cards to have a registered owner. One of the specific reasons here in Spain is its problems with terrorism. For example the bombs placed on backpacks on the Madrid trains were detonated via mobile phones and prepaid SIM cards. This is why it is generally also not a good idea to buy Spanish SIM cards in your name for other people, as you never know where those SIM cards might end up. A number of people here have asked me to do this in the past, and I do not want to offend anyone, but simply put it is contravening a Spanish anti-terrorism law. >

So you're probably not going to get any volunteers to get your SIM for you Billbo!

Ahh I see, that's fair enough. I guess I'll have to make do with a Yoigo or Blau sim. Or buy a house in Spain. :)

I might have been wrong about something. As with SIM card in other parts of the world, it appears you can buy the Simyo SIM in somebodys name and then change these details later. I don´t know if that info helps anyone though! I suspect Billbo might be able to get his friend to buy one after all, as long as you change the details later.

Unfortunately I missed the 1 euro special though, as I was going to buy a few more. The current offer is 10 euros for 10 euros worth of credit, though this time with free postage.