I've just been looking at the movistar fusion package and it looks like it will fit our needs. Some kind forum members advised on another thread that it only usually takes a few days to get connected with them, but I have a few other queries:
1. They offer access to TV channels including Fox, Comedy Central, TNT and AXN. Are these dubbed into Spanish, or do they have subtitles in Spanish? (I'm looking for a package that will provide some English speaking TV)
2. Do they have English speaking customer service staff? (My Spanish is only currently elementary level so I might struggle with explaining a technical problem)
3. If I understand their website correctly, the packages include some free call time each month from a mobile phone. Would I have to purchase a Movistar mobile phone to get this?
4. Is it best to set up the contract in a Movistar shop? Is there one in Caleta, or will we have to go to Puerto?
5. Do you need a Spanish bank account to set it up and if so, can this be a non-resident's bank account?
6. If I decide that Movistar is not the best package for us, how easy is it to get a Movistar phone line transferred to one with say, Europa? Also, I wonder if this would this be permitted by the landlord if we're renting?
Sorry for asking so many questions - any advice would be much appreciated :)
Personally I think the Fusion offer is OTT. Depending on how long you intend to stay in Fuerteventura, investing in a Smart TV is a recommendation I would make. You would still need a basic internet connection, but assuming you will do that, then all UK TV channels will be available to you through the Smart TV web browser, as well as some Spanish channels and many other news channels. I find it very good. Yes, you'd need to have a Spanish mobile to take on that package, and in spite of the generous offer of zillions of free calls etc..........really, do you use your mob that much. For me a cheap Pay as you Go phone is plenty adequate. I do not know if the Fusion TV is dubbed into Spanish or not, someone else will have to help on that. Yes they do have English speaking staff, but it is hit and miss if you actually have one on duty when you go to the shop, and the level of English I found is not so good, so my Intermediate level Spanish comes into force!! There is a Movistar shop in the Atlantico centre Caleta from which I base my experience. Yes a non residents bank account will be enough to set up your DD payments. If your property already has a line albeit not activated, will take up to 15 days to set up. If you don't have a line, I have no idea. And I would think there would be some big charge to have a line installed.You should ask details
from the landlord or estate agency, I would think it differs between complexes, so only you can find this out when viewing properties. Hope that covers some of your queries. Currently for a land line and internet only with Movistar , I currently pay Euros 37 per month all taxes included.
Thanks for sharing your experience Emmi.
Can you access British TV using a web browser on a laptop then? When I've been in Fuerteventura or Ibiza and tried to access BBC, channel 4 etc. through a tablet PC it was blocked, saying that the service wasn't available outside the UK?
We'll have to get a new Spanish mobile phone anyway, and when I looked at the Movistar site again I saw an offer of a free phone when you sign up to Movistar and it says you can get the fusion package with 6 TV channels for 42 Euros a month including 100 call time minutes and 100MB internet data on the mobile, so I thought that was a pretty good deal.
I would just like to know that we can access some English speaking TV if we want to (a few basic entertainment channels, no sport or movie packages)
MaureenG, We watch all our British TV with our laptop. HDMI cable into TV.
With filmon.com you have HD with subscription of €14.99 per month. You can also record (in the cloud) and watch later.
Thanks Woe10. I know about linking a laptop to a TV with an HDMI cable as we sometimes do that in the UK to watch online "catchup" services.
I take it you need to pay this filmon.com subscription to access UK TV then? also, which internet service do you use and how much does it cost? (including the landline)
No if you are not bothered about HD you do not need to pay for FILMON.
I bought an LG Smart TV from Electron and it works fine with FILMON through its browser and saves you having to use your laptop/tablet.
That's great - do you need broadband to watch TV through the filmon website or can you use a WiFi hotspot (or does it depend on the signal strength you get via a hotspot?)
Their prices are coming down - we have fusion without TV and they've offered us TV for free, which of course we'll be taking up ;).
(1) Don't know yet but I very much doubt you won't be able to select original language version.
(2) English is limited in the shops I know of but normally quite good by phone - dial 1004 and keep saying English or Inglès until the recorded message switches and an English-speaking operator replies. They all speak fluently but some have an appalling accent. Their technicians don't normally come bilingual but I've had highly successful 3-way conversations.
(3) mobile to mobile is always free; plus some mobile to fixed line. You don't have to buy the phone from them, just the service (ours came from France).
(4) I'm not 100% sure but there's a chance you'll get loaded with VAT if you buy online, so maybe best to go to a shop. If you want the free phone (why not? ;)), I advise you to find out all the details in the shop then order on-line if VAT turns out not to be a problem.
(5) you need a Spanish bank account for all services here - water, electricity...phone; nobody will care if you're residents or not - that only concerns the banks
(6) you'll be tied in for a year. You can never get the line transferred - you'll still have to pay them for the line rental (a hidden extra that other companies forget to mention in normal-sized letters). But don't expect any more helpful service from them if anything goes wrong.
For HD and for recording on Filmon, you need to subscribe, €14.95 per month through Paypal.
I have no landline, like a lot of places here, so I use wifi. 6 mb from JRM in El Matorral.
Where on the Island are you going.
We're going to be in Caleta De Fuste initially (may move later but that depends on various things)
What is this "JRM" WiFi service? Is it like Canary Net? I used "Cheapnet" when we were over there last because that was the hotspot on the complex and we got the password for free with the holiday apartment rental - it was OK for e-mails, browsing etc, and I even downloaded a couple of films through Google Play, but obviously it was slower than broadband. However when we're living there I may be doing some work over the internet, so I'll need a reliable connection.
If you're going to live somewhere with a telephone line, (lucky person) then you'll better off with Movistar Broadband.
JRM have their office on the main road in El Matorral, opposite the airport. Their Antenna is the big one on top of Chipmunk Mt, which connects to their network covering most of the Island. They have various speed options, obviously various prices. I have 6 mb.
With Canary Net you have one option. Slow.
http://www.telecomunicacionesjrm.es/internet-rural/cobertura (http://www.telecomunicacionesjrm.es/internet-rural/cobertura)
Quote from: emmi on May 24, 2014, 10:52:32 AM
Personally I think the Fusion offer is OTT. Depending on how long you intend to stay in Fuerteventura, investing in a Smart TV is a recommendation I would make. You would still need a basic internet connection, but assuming you will do that, then all UK TV channels will be available to you through the Smart TV web browser, as well as some Spanish channels and many other news channels. I find it very good. Yes, you'd need to have a Spanish mobile to take on that package, and in spite of the generous offer of zillions of free calls etc..........really, do you use your mob that much. For me a cheap Pay as you Go phone is plenty adequate. I do not know if the Fusion TV is dubbed into Spanish or not, someone else will have to help on that. Yes they do have English speaking staff, but it is hit and miss if you actually have one on duty when you go to the shop, and the level of English I found is not so good, so my Intermediate level Spanish comes into force!! There is a Movistar shop in the Atlantico centre Caleta from which I base my experience. Yes a non residents bank account will be enough to set up your DD payments. If your property already has a line albeit not activated, will take up to 15 days to set up. If you don't have a line, I have no idea. And I would think there would be some big charge to have a line installed.You should ask details
from the landlord or estate agency, I would think it differs between complexes, so only you can find this out when viewing properties. Hope that covers some of your queries. Currently for a land line and internet only with Movistar , I currently pay Euros 37 per month all taxes included.
Hi Emmi
Hope you both are well and look forward to seeing you on the walk soon,
Are you saying your are getting all Uk TV via the browser if so what site are you using and what speed are you paying for with Movistar?
Regards
Andy
Hi Andy, hope to see you soon. Through the Smart TV web browser we get Film On. Standard definition ( free) is a good quality on the Smart TV. All the UK channels available + loads more. We get 10mg though the Movistar package I mentioned above but we are very close to a Telefonica base which does help. Give me a call if you need more info...
Just to clarify something with Movistar Fusion, you will need to sign up for a minimum 12 months, which may be a problem if you are renting and don't want to stay where you are for that long.
Now the good news, for the Fusion Mini it is €37.99 a month including tax in the Canaries. The prices you see on the website are for the mainland where the 'IVA' as they call it is 21%. On the Canaries it will be 'IGIC' which is only 7% ;D :P
We had it installed in November, went to Movistar shop in the Atlantico on Tuesday, and we were up and running on Friday morning. :D
I thought that there would be a 12 month contract for Movistar - this is the same for most providers in the UK, however they usually let you transfer your service to a new address if you move. Does anyone know if this is the case for Movistar contracts?
Hi
On the subject of TV. We are buying a new house, no one has lived in it before. It has tv aerial points in all the rooms. If we just plug it in will we get any english speaking programmes or do we have to sign up to one of the tv companies i.e. sky etc to get anything. Just wondered if we can watch anything till we get connected to the internet.
Thanks
Quote from: MaureenG on May 28, 2014, 14:13:50 PM
they usually let you transfer your service to a new address if you move. Does anyone know if this is the case for Movistar contracts?
Certainly is true. The first move in any year is free, and they'll come out and connect things and set up your box etc. I don't know how much they charge after that. You can also keep your phone number in some cases, which is a real boon.
Quote from: charlotteandphil on May 28, 2014, 16:32:30 PM
Hi
On the subject of TV. We are buying a new house, no one has lived in it before. It has tv aerial points in all the rooms. If we just plug it in will we get any english speaking programmes or do we have to sign up to one of the tv companies i.e. sky etc to get anything. Just wondered if we can watch anything till we get connected to the internet.
Thanks
The sockets have to be connected to an Aerial. You will only get Spanish TV, but if you have a modern TV, it can convert the signals to Digital, (or you can buy a small box that does it), where you have some English speaking films. Other than that, you'll need a satelite dish to receive Sky, BBC, ITV etc. There are many English installers here.
Quote from: charlotteandphil on May 28, 2014, 16:32:30 PM
We are buying a new house, no one has lived in it before. It has tv aerial points in all the rooms. If we just plug it in will we get any english speaking programmes
I can't imagine you'll get anything in English but you could have the terrestrial Spanish channels, which I think will include Canarian ones (so at least you'll recognise some of the pictures ;)). BUT, it depends on where you are. Here on Tamaragua, all the houses can get them because there's an aerial somewhere. If your house is in the back of beyond behind a volcano, then I doubt you'll get anything at all until you put up your own aerial.
Just thought I'd mention that a friend who signed up with Movistar last Thursday, had his internet and phone line connected yesterday - 6 days . He did already have a land line to the house, so no laying of cables etc.
Just another query about JRM, are you bound by a yearly contract or can you pay as you go like Canarynet. Thanks.
thanks decho,
i am now watching BBC1 through the smart tv browser using filmon. better quality than linking from the laptop or smartphone.
now what do I do with the samsung phone to hdmi dongle lol.
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