You will notice that in our property descriptions we always indicate whether the property has a telephone line. We know that this is crucial to some buyers, especially those who intend to work from home and need access to the internet. For others it is an important way of keeping in touch with friends and family at home. In the villages it is generally not a problem to have a fixed line installed. However, out in the countryside it can be a different story. Although many people get by using just a mobile phone, the costs can be high and in some areas there is no reception.

Thankfully, there is now a wide range of services available that can help to overcome the problem. Here in the Axarquia we have several options that you can consider to meet your particular needs and geographical situation. So, even if a property description states that there is no telephone you may still be able to have a broadband internet connection and therefore make telephone calls via the internet.

These are some of the options:

Fixed landline telephone

In and close to the villages and towns you should be able to have a landline installed by Telefonica who currently have the monopoly for this. The cost will be around 150 euros for the installation and then you will pay a standing monthly charge for use of the line but can buy your calls from any provider. There are many companies offering cheap calls and so by dialing a prefix you can expect the cost of a call to the UK to be the region of 4 cents per minute.

Once you have a landline then in most places it is now possible to have broadband internet connection (1Mg in the mountains and more on the coast) and again there is no shortage of providers. Monthly subscription costs have not fallen as much as they have recently in the UK so for a basic service you will pay approximately 35 euros per month.

Radio phone

This is an old technology sometimes still found in country houses. With this technology you cannot access the internet but you can make phone calls. It is possible to change from a radio phone to:

Digital TRAC phone

This is also radio technology but can give you internet connection at 56Kb speed. This can be improved by contracting with Telefonica for GPS connection.

Satellite internet connection

This can be expensive to install and run and so for most people in most areas this has been superceded by:

Wireless internet connection

There are a number of companies offering this service in and around the Competa area and access to it is improving all the time. The usual cost for installation is approximately 300-400€ with an onging cost of about 40€ per month.

VOIP - using the internet to make telephone calls

You can use the internet to make telephone calls at a fraction of the cost of the traditional fixed telephone line. This is called VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol). A search on Yahoo or Google will take you to any number of companies who offer this service. The most well known is skype. For more information see http://www.skype.com or download the software now at http://www.skype.com/download/skype/windows/ ) Once you have the software you can to either speak to another person who also has skype entirely free of charge or you can call landlines in most countries for 1.7 cents per minute. Calls to mobiles cost more but are still often cheaper than other providers. With skype and other similar sytems you also have the facility for instant messaging, SMS texting, conference calls and video calls.

Mobile phones

You can of course use your UK mobile phone here in Spain . However, for calls within Spain it is cheaper to just buy a Spanish SIM card to use in your existing phone whilst you are here. These are readily available everywhere and you will have the usual range of providers, contracts and special deals to choose from.