Andorra now a no-go area for mobile data users?

[DRNewcomb]

A few WiFi hotspots should be able to cover most of Andorra, no?

[Donal]

As a tourist, I wouldn't use free wifi in Andorra.

I just read this on telegeography:

Andorra Telecom (STA) has deployed a Wi-Fi network that offers two levels of service for visitors and residents in Andorra, using Cisco’s Service Provider (SP) Wi-Fi platform, the vendor announced in a press release. The network provides a free basic connection for access to local, commercial and tourist data as well as a Premium Internet option, for accessing other web pages and applications. The network covers the central areas of Escaldes-Engordany and Andorra La Vella, which see the highest density of tourists. Cisco’s SP platform consists of Cisco ASR1000 access router, the Cisco Wireless LAN Controller and the Cisco Mobility Services Engine, which captures contextual information provided by Cisco Aironet Access Points. The Wi-Fi network also includes the Cisco Conencted Mobile Experience (CMX) platform with ThinkSmart, which the vendor claims provides greater intelligence and analytical capacity to offer customised services based on location: ‘This functionality makes it possible to offer contextual data about network usage to the Ministry of Tourism, with the aim of optimising the information and services for users, and it will also be possible for shops in the area to use it in the future, while safeguarding identity and privacy.’ TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database notes that STA has raised the possibility of selling anonymised data gathered through its ‘Smart Country’ programme and is currently investigating ways to ensure that such data could not be abused to glean personal information. The Smart Country programme looks to partner STA with players from a range of sectors to make use of the availability of high-speed broadband connectivity to launch new and innovative services.

http://www.telegeography.com/product...orm/index.html

[f300]

Originally Posted by Donal

As a tourist, I wouldn't use free wifi in Andorra.

Many are tracking you and sell your data in aggregate; sometimes they are even going inside your connection messing with it, (nastily) re-compressing pictures and videos, etc (yes, Vodafone, I'm looking at you).

As my permanent connection I would probably object but right now just by looking at my mobile usage there isn't much they can gather from here, yea I'm using gmail and skype and google drive and download updates for apps from play store. All those connections are encrypted so anybody in between will only know when I connect and how much traffic I do, that's all. If I start doing a lot of random browsing yes, that might be worse but not much - for any "free wifi" not only the provider but also anyone in range can sniff your traffic. If I would be concerned about this I would use something like opera mini that does tunneling to their server or some normal VPN service (you can even use your home router for this, there are many cheap routers that support VPN).