Internet via Spanish providers can ruin you (slowly!)
A Horror Story 2.0. Internet access in Spain has been the focus for media attention this summer and not precisely for supplying positive headlines. Following on from the news that the country was "lucky" enough to have the most expensive charges in Europe and the second slowest network, the Consumers Association has warned of another problem: a post-holiday surprise in the shape of heart-attack inducing bills. Get this: up to 58 euros for opening an email containing two photos or 3,500 for viewing an on-line series.
Snared by roaming fees
That is the conclusión of the Association Facua - Consumers in Action in a recent report in which they uncover the disagreeable surprise tourists and those who travel abroad may have if they decided to use their mobile phone or internet during their holidays.
Following their analysis of the fees for internet access of 13 mobile phone companies in Spain, France, Italy and the United Kingdom, they conclude that some companies charge Spanish customers up to three times more for connecting to internet from other countries in the European Union. As much as 11.60 euros per megabyte.
Added to the problems of speed (and price) of Internet in Spain over the summer, we can now add post-holiday bills of stratospheric values. The examples are as surprising as they are diverse: Up to 58 euros for opening an e-mail with a couple of photos or downloading a song or 3,500 euros for watching an episode of an on-line series.
What does the law say?
According to the Consumers organization, in July 2009 a ruling of the European Parliament came into effect to impose maximum fee levels in the data supply market, for which the phone companies only have to pay the operators of the country where the service is rendered 1 euro plus indirect taxes for each megabyte of data transmitted. That equates to between five and ten times less than the amount charged now by the three main operators. Besides which, each company must inform their customers of the prices in each country via an email, text-message or similar form of communication.
From next year onwards they will be unable to repeat this summer’s gigantic bills as all of the companies will be obliged to fix a maximum amount of 50 euros plus taxes per month when they are connected outside their country and within the EU. The problem being that once they consume that (50 euro) limit, the service will be cut off.
