I plan to be in Seville next spring for several month and will be renting an apartment there. Can anyone tell me how I go about getting a telephone connection to the WWW there? ...wdc

I saw several Internet Cafés in Sevilla, one adjacent to the Cathedral (on the pedestrian walk). I have heard horror stories about people waiting more than 3-months to get a phone line in Spain, so that might be some-thing you want to consider.

Eddie, that was in the past. Since Telefonica became a private company, they are working hard to reduce the time needed to get a line installed. I think they have a compromise of 10-15 days maximum, which should be much faster in Seville.

Anyway, he didn't say the apartment didn't have a phone line. In case it has one, the cheapest choice would be to buy a modem and get connected using the "Tarifa Plana" (flat rate) which costs 2750 pesetas + 16% VAT per month and gives you "unlimited" access from 18:00 to 08:00 weekdays and the whole day on Saturdays, Sundays and national public holidays. This is a dial-up connection up to 56 Kbps (don't think you'll ever reach that speed).

In case you are not the bearer of the telephone contract, you can buy a pre-paid "tarifa plana" card from Telefónica.

Eddie and Antonio: Thanks you so much for your help.

I too saw a WWW shop, across from the University.

But I expect I will have a telephone connection ... so the Tarifa Plana that Antonio mentions would fit my needs perfectly. Two questions, if you know: will the same modem found in a US laptop pc also work in Spain?; whom do I contact in Seville to arange the Tarifa Plana service?

... wdc

Hi.

"will the same modem found in a US laptop pc also work in Spain?"

Probably not since the telephone standards are not the same. I will suggest to buy one in Spain.

"whom do I contact in Seville to arange the Tarifa Plana service?"

You may contract your tarifa plana service through different companies:
Terra: www.terra.es
Wanadoo: www.wanadoo.es (this is my preferred one)
EresMas: www.eresmas.com

Or contract it calling 1004 (the company in this case would be Telefónica) from any telephone in Spain.

You have other choices, but for sure they are not as reliable as the ones before.

You may contract an ADSL connection (256Kbps) for 6.500 (+ 16% taxes) per month, 24h unlimited access. But they may last up to three months to install it.

You may also contract an internet connection via cable: www.supercable.es but I don't know nothing about the conditions, the time they take to install it or how well it goes (it is cable, so it is obviously a broadband connection).

Hi wdc202, I beg to differ with Fernando above.

I work in the Internet field here in Madrid and have hooked up many a tourist/ex-pat who rolled into Spain with his/her laptop. These days 99.9% of all laptops have internal modems (I assume yours does) and even the power supplies are also built for world voltage (110-220 V) because they are made to travel with ! Your modem will work perfectly here!!! Even if it is an external modem, as long as it is world voltage or you have a transformer, you need not worry. The phone jacks here are the same as they are there! If you do not have a modem yet and are going to buy one, do it here so you will not need a transformer.

So, if you have a laptop with an internal modem and are formn the USA (your profile does not say where you are from), all you will need is an adapter to get the PC into the wall socket which is indeed different here,

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ADAPTER!!!

Then, the connection is as easy as:

1) Getting the service - I recommend the Terra Tarifa Plana on reduced schedule for 2,750 ptas./month. I used this connection for about 6 months here in Madrid before moving to DSL. More info in Spanish at www.terra.es/usuarios/productos/tplana.htm

2) Configuring your Dial-up Networking for the connection - When you sign up with Terra, they give you the oportunity to download a easy connection kit from their website. If you have trouble feel free to e-mail me and I can send one to you.

That's all folks!!!

Saludos,
jer...

p.d. Antonio is right in his post above, no matter what you do you will NEVER get near the 56 KB speed. This is a universal fact!!!

Woops! One last note.

BIG thumbs down on the eresmas.com connection. They offer a tarifa plana as well but read the fine print, they reserve the right to cut the connection after 15 minutes of inactivity and it is not alway so easy to get back online.

Ooooh the stories I could tell about clients that I have changed from Eresmas to Terrra!

Saludos,
jer...

[ 08-30-2001: Message edited by: MadridMan ]

Jer and others: Thanks so much. ... wdc (in Washington DC)

Well, I'm sure that many people already know this, but just for the ones that don't: it's 56 k BITS ps, not BYTES.

i.e. you could get a theorical maximum of 56 / 8= 7 KBytes per second (which you won't reach either )