iPhones in Spain

Telefónica negotiating with Apple to sell iPhones in Spain

César Alierta, President of Telefónica the Spanish multinational telecommunications company has admitted that the company has been holding talks with Apple in order to gain exclusive rights to sell iPhones in Spain.

Following meetings in London Alierta told reporters that the rights to distribute the iPhone in Spain would be a fantastic business opportunity for Telefónica. Apple seems to have decided to sign exclusive contracts with just one operator in each country where the iPhone will be distributed. The phone is expected to become available in Spain in the middle of 2008.

The iPhone was launched in the US at the end of June under an exclusive contract with AT&T. According to official sources the iPhone will be available in the UK from the 1st November and it is rumoured that O2 will be the distributer there. It is thought that Orange will have exclusive sale rights in France while T-Moblie will sell the iPhone in Germany.

The Managing Director of Teléfonica O2 Europe, Peter Erskine, who was also present during the press conference played down the significance of the fact that the iphone had been liberated in the US and Israel by pirate computer experts enabling it to be used with other rival mobile operators. He said that only a very small number of iPhones had been liberated and that gaining the contract to sell them in Spain would be a wonderful business opportunity.

It certainly would help to further boost Telefonica's dominance in the Spanish phone market as demand for the iPhone is expected to exceed all expectations.

Spanish villagers to vote on rural mobile phone access

Village in Granada to hold a referendum on mobile telephone coverage

The inhabitants of Los Villares, in La Peza in the province of Granada will decide today by referendum whether they want to have mobile telephone coverage in their vicinity which only has around 120 inhabitants. The initiative for the referendum came from La Peza's Mayoress, Celia Santiago (PP).

Los Villares is one of many rural communities in Spain without a mobile phone signal and, according to Celia Santiago, a lot of locals have expressed interest in having the option of using mobile phones. Most of the population of Los Villares are over 60 years old and, according to their Mayoress, they worry about needing to contact someone urgently. Locals who work in the countryside have also expressed interest in being contactable by mobile phone.

However, in order to put Los Villares on the mobile network, an antenna would have to be installed in the village centre next to the social club which is why the Mayoress decided to call a referendum. She claims that there are no definite findings over whether this type of antenna is damaging to health or not, but prefers for the locals to make their own decision about installing one so near.

The referendum is being held today between 10.00 and 20.00 hours in the locality’s Cultural Centre. It will be controlled by the Town Council’s secretary along with 3 other Council officials. The local police from La Peza are in charge of security with back up from police in Darro. The result of the referendum will be known this evening.

Related: Guide to Granada

Mobile TV channels in Spain

Spanish Government to pass legislation which will give permission for 20 mobile television channels

The Spanish government is planning to take advantage of the Bill on New Technology and Society (LISI) in order to regulate ‘mobile television’ and digital satellite radio. It plans to amend the current bill in order to achieve this objective.

One of the channels destined for digital terrestrial television will be available for viewing on mobile telephones, laptops and electronic diaries. In other words viewers won’t need to be connected to an aerial. The government plans for fixed digital terrestrial television (TDT) to exist alongside mobile TDT. It is expected that 20 channels will be broadcast in this way during first introductory phase.

Results of pilot projects on mobile television in Spain carried out by national and private channels, operators dedicated to transmitting television signals (Abertis, Axión, Castilla-La Mancha Telecom) together with mobile telephone companies (Telefónica, Vodafone and Orange) found that users spent between 16 and 25 minutes a day using this service although a fifth used it for between 30 and 60 minutes. Users tended to opt principally for conventional television programmes and music. A large majority asked for specific contents to be included in mobile channels.

Private television companies including Antena 3, Tele 5, Sogecable, La Sexta, Net TV and Veo TV don’t want to lose out on the opportunity to participate in new technological developments concerning digital television and have asked the government for the right to transmit via mobile TDT. In fact they claim that they could act as catalysts for further technological advances regarding digital television.

The government plans to introduce mobile TDT in Spanish cities, including Madrid and Barcelona by 2009. However, before this it plans to impose regulatory controls to separate TV operators and those in charge of managing internet connections.

Viewers will be able to watch mobile television via satellite or TDT. The latter consists of 2 methods; Unicast and Broadcast. Unicast uses mobile telephone frequencies. Only a limited number of people can use this method at the same time to avoid a collapse in the network. The second method called Broadcast uses television frequencies which means that there wouldn’t need to be any limits placed on the number of users.

According to predictions made by the Spanish government the market in mobile television will be worth around 20,000 million euros by 2015 and will be used by approximately 200 million people in Europe.

Related: Television in Spain

Price of mobile calls from Spain to Europe

Last month the European Parliament passed new laws on the cost of using mobiles abroad which will in theory make using your mobile abroad around 70% cheaper than before this law was passed. Under the new law calling an EU country from any country with the EU should not cost more than 49 cents per minute (this includes the charge for establishing the call) and receiving calls from within the EU should cost no more than 24 cents per minute.

The new charges were supposed to come into effect on 30th June 2007. However, the EU gave mobile phone operators 2 months grace to adapt to the new charges and (surprise surprise) all of them with no exceptions have decided to take this time in full before applying the new tariffs. Clients of Movistar, Vodafone and Orange will all have to wait until the 1st September before they can begin to enjoy cheaper mobile calls while elsewhere in the EU.

Sending text messages while abroad is a good option when you are on holiday abroad, although you also need to be aware that they cost more to send, receiving texts costs you nothing. For example the standard charge for sending a text message in Spain is 17 cents but this can rise to 52 cents if you are sending a text message to someone in Spain from another EU member state.

So it is still best to be cautious when using your mobile while on holiday abroad, at least until September when the phone operators will be forced to drop their prices dramatically in accordance with the new Eurotariff terms.

Related: Mobile phone operators in Spain ## Mobile phone operators in Spain

Spain falls further behind in new technologies

Spain falling behind technological advances

According to a study carried out over the last 7 years aimed at finding out which countries in the world are the most innovative in terms of adopting new technologies, the present Spanish government has failed in its pledge to get Spain out of the rut it has occupied in innovation and new technology.

The study, carried out by The Economist, analyses almost 100 quantitative and qualitative parameters. This year Spain comes just 26th out of a total of 69 countries included in the study. The country which tops the list is Denmark for the second time running while he US and Sweden share second place.

The study looked at the infrastructure of information technologies in each country, its use by citizens, companies and the government and its involvement in the development of these technologies. According to the report their classifications allow each government to judge its technological initiatives against that of other countries.

The study also analysed 6 categories under the principle that digital development of a country affected its social, cultural and political structure, technological infrastructure and communications, the business, social and legal setting and the vision of the government and the adoption of new technologies both by companies and individuals. Spain does not make it into the top ten in any of the above concepts and its overall classification is just 7.29 out of 10.

According to the study the quantity and quality of Spain’s infrastructure appears to be its worst category with a ranking of just 6.70 out of 10 - one of the lowest rankings for all the EU countries in the study. This concept looks at the opportunity for individuals to connect to the internet and the availability of broadband internet connection as well as the number of mobile phones. In statistics published in the Eurobarometer Spain is just above the average of 25% of homes with mobile telephones and land lines but below figures for households with computers and access to broad band internet connection.

In terms of government vision and policies in new technologies, Spain earns a mark of 7.25 which is also below other Western European countries, including Malta and Italy, and extremely low when compared with Denmark (9.85).

Spain also ranks badly in the categories of business environment, which analyses the facilities for the creation and development of high-tech companies, and adopting new technologies in a social-cultural setting.

Related:
Domestic use of new technology in Spain
Online shopping in Spain
E-commerce in Spain
E-commerce sector in Spain
Online shops in Spain

This year tax payers in Spain can declare taxes via txt messages

Tax-payers in Spain will be able to make the annual tax declaration by text message or TDT interactive digital television

Tax declarations can be submitted as from the 2nd April for those people who accept their calculations sent by the Tax office. Confirmation of tax calculations can only be made when they are negative or result in zero.

For the first time tax declarations will be available using TDT interactive digital television using a decodifier and a telephone connection to be able to send information to the Tax Office using the TDT remote control. For example to apply for your tax calculation you would need to press in your national identity document number (DNI) together with the information from the box marked 681 from your last tax declaration – the same method as via the internet. Information will be sent in coded language directly between the person making the tax declaration and the Tax Office.

Tax declarations can also be made by sending a text message to 5025 with the message RENTA space the number of the form space Company Number (NIF). If making a joint declaration then you will need to leave a space between the first and the second NIF.

The reference number and the form number are those which appear in the tax calculation. Using this information together with your NIF is all you need to process your declaration.

As usual you can make your tax declaration via the internet with a reference number or by telephone by calling 901 121 224 (automatic - 24 hours) or 901 200 345 (with assistance), using electronic or telephone banking or by going to the Tax Office in person. As well as confirmation of tax calculations you can also obtain information on tax and property values.

Related:
Property taxes in Spain
Lower taxes for non-residents in Spain

Mobile phone operators in Spain

Mobile phone users in Spain will be able to end contracts without being penalized

According to a press release from the National Consumers Institute mobile phone users in Spain will be able to end their contracts without being penalized if they decide not to accept price rises or changes to tariffs imposed by their phone company.

From the 1st March mobile phone operators will no longer be allowed to round up call charges to the nearest minute and consumers will only be charged for the exact time of their calls.

As a consequence of this new law some mobile phone operators have announced modifications to their tariffs.

The National Consumers Institute has pointed out that mobile phone users have the right to be informed of any price changes one month in advance and that phone operators can only prevent their clients form changing phone operator and using the same number if they have not paid their bills.

In addition, closure clauses in mobile phone contracts will no longer be an obstacle to changing companies given that users will be protect by law from penalization.
Mobile phone users with any queries can contact the ‘Oficina de Atención al Usuario de Telecomunicaciones’ by phone on 901336699 or by internet by going to www.usuarios.es. or go to their nearest ‘ Oficina de Consumidores’.

The new law passed on 29th December 2006 which prohibits rounding up phone prices gives phone operators two months to inform their clients of any changes to their contracts. This period runs out on 1st March this year.

New Spanish TV channel in USA

New Hispanic public TV channel for the US

Hispanic residents in the US, estimated to number around 30 million, will soon have their own TV channel. Until now the only Spanish TV channels available were not very high quality consisting mainly of sensationalist news, game shows and poor quality soap operas.

However it is hoped that V-me (pronounced Véme), which will start emitting from the 5th March this year, will provide programmes of a higher quality. The channel is a result of collaboration between public and private companies.

According to Carmen DiRienzo, president of the new channel, V-me will offer intelligent programmes that explore issues facing Latin Americans today and help link the diverse Hispanic groups that live in the US. The channel will broadcast 24 hours a day and will include programmes for children such as classics like Sesame Street, documentaries and Latin American films. A quarter of programmes broadcast will be their own productions and the only soap opera will be Nuestro barrio (Our Neighbourhood) which will aim to not only be entertaining but also educative showing how to deal with US bureaucracy for example.

It is hoped that V-me will be seen by at least 60% of the Hispanic population in cities like New York, Los Angeles or Miami. The channel will be available on both cable and digital TV.

Television in Spain

Spanish banks affected by hackers

People who receive and send emails are used to receiving fraudulent emails claiming to be from a financial institution asking for personal information regarding bank accounts.

In January hacking into banks and building societies in Spain resulted in fraud totalling 9 million euros according to the Spanish ‘Asociación de Internautas’. Banesto, Santander and La Caixa suffered the most attacks from hackers.

Víctor Domingo the president of the ‘Asociación de Internautas’ said that other institutions such as the National Statistics Institute were also under attack, something which hasn’t happened before.

It is believed that the hackers who carry out these attacks come from European countries such as Rumania or Bulgaria which makes it almost impossible to prosecute the perpetrators.

Related:
Spanish banks
Spanish savings banks

Open source software in Spain

Badajoz will become the world capital for free software by hosting the third international conference for free software this week (8th – 9th February). The conference which has been organized by the governments of Extremadura and Andalucia will bring together leaders in the movement for free software such as Miguel de Icaza and Richard Stallman, who will be presented with the Extremaduran International Prize for Open Knowledge.

Luis Millán Vázquez de Miguel, who is in charge of Infrastructure and Development for the government in Extremadura, talked about the responsibility of making computer applications free and the importance of sharing knowledge. He also added that it was important for people to be conscious of the international movement in favour of the use of free software.

Extremadura has been one of Spain’s first regions to officially adopt the use of free software (in local government offices, the town hall, schools etc...). Later Andalucia followed in its footsteps. Now free software is being used more and more throughout the rest of Spain.

Extremadura adopted a free software policy some years ago in order to try and bridge the digital gap that existed in the region. Now Extremadura is one of the most important users of this type of software in Spain.

Online shopping in Spain

68% of internet users in Spain shop online according to a study carried out by the Interactive European Advertising Association on European consumer habits and the internet.

France and Italy were also included in the study. The results showed that Spain occupies a middle position with France coming above Spain with 75% of internet users buying online. Italy came below Spain with 54% of users shopping online.
According to the results of the study the Spanish spend around 452 euros online, the French 509 euros and the Italians 454 euros. The study also showed that on average the Spanish buy around 5 different products online whereas the French buy 8 and the Italians 7.

The most popular products bought online were tickets for travelling (83% searches resulting in 55% purchases), followed by package holidays (77% searches resulting in 36% purchases) and music downloads (62% searches and 25% resulting in purchases).
The purchase of concert and festival tickets online was shown to have risen from 56% in 2005 to over 63% in 2006 and the legal downloading of music accounted for 37% of online purchases.

According to the study the purchase of mobile telephones has gone up by 23% followed by a 16% increase in music downloads. The purchase of car accessories increased by 15% and furniture sales by 14%.

The most noticeable increase was in concert and festival tickets with an increase of 75% bought online. The purchase of holidays rose by 72%, books by 71% and clothes by 70%.

The studied was based on telephone interviews in the United Kingdom Germany, France, Spain, Italy, the Nordic countries, Belgium and Holland.

Online shops in Spain
Shopping in Spain

Spain's best website 2006

Euroresidentes among the nominations for Spain's Portal Website of the Year.

Euroresidentes has been nominated for this year's edition of the best webs awards. This is the first time we have been nominated for the award.

Websites are classified in different categories and rated on three qualities: navigation, content and design. The site with the highest rankings will be judged to be Spain's best website in that category. Euroresidentes has been nominated in the category Portal.

Voting is easy. Step 1 is mark how you rate Euroresidentes in each of the three categories from five to one by clicking on the stars. Step 2 is for you to vote other webs in other categories if you want to. And Step 3 is to put your name and an email address in the boxes provided and then click on Enviar sus votos (Send your votes). Voters receive a confirmation message in the email account provided with a link which they have to click on to validate their vote.

Last year Miarroba won the award for Spain's most popular Portal and Forocoches for Spain's best Portal. If anyone wants to vote for us, click on this link.

And Thank you!

Telefonica broadband users advised to claim compensation

The Ministry for Commerce and Industry has today advised those affected by last Tuesday's broadband connection problems with Telefonica to claim compensation.

From the early hours of Tuesday morning thousands of Telefonica's broadband clients throughout Spain were left without connection. At first Telefonica blamed the problems on software failures but then later on attributed them to a massive electrical storm in Barcelona.

The National Consumers Association (FACUA) has requested that the government open an investigaton into the incident. It has also requested that all broadband clients who were affected receive automatic compensation. FACUA has also complained that Telefonica did not make the problems public until the media demanded clarification.

Ya.com and Wanadoo users were also affected given that these companies rely on Telefonica in order to provide their broadband services.

Mijas pioneers wireless Internet connection in Spain

The town of Mijas in Malaga has just launched a project which is the first of its kind in Spain: free, wireless WIMAX Internet connection for anyone living in the town and surrounding rural areas, as well as a new system of e-government with the launch of a web that will offer inhabitants of Mijas the possibility of carrying out all sorts of official transactions online.

Mijas Digital was launched a year ago with the following core objectives: To make new technologies available to all citizens of Mijas; to create a municipal telecommunications network to give support to new services offered; to facilitate the extension and incorporation of new technologies into all social and economic sectors of the town; and to reduce the digital divide that currently exists at different levels of society.

It is an admirable effort in a country which still occupies one of the bottom places in rankings of Internet use among EU member states despite attempts (generally rather feeble and lacking in terms of vision and practical policies it has to be said) of the present and former Spanish governments to encourage domestic and commercial use of new technologies and e-commerce in Spain.

Yesterday the Mayor of Mijas used a video conference with an neighbours' association in Valtocado and the Deputy Mayor of nearby Las Lagunas to officially launch the new wireless WIMAX network which already links up 70 percent of the area of Mijas, including three rural areas ( Osunillas, Valtocado and Entrerríos with a capacity for 60 connections in each case) and 20 different municipal spots. The project integrages WIMAX, WIFI and PLC technologies and the authorities have been carrying out tests with 70 local volunteers to test the speed and conexion of the new network.

According to a press release sent out by Mijas Town Hall today, the service represents a revolution for the rural areas of Mijas, and the extension and capacity of the new wireless network will be steadily increased over the coming months.

Related:

• Domestic use of new technologies in Spain
• E-commerce in Spain
• Spanish Telefonica's Internet services

Mobile phone virus detected in Spain

The Spanish company Hispasec Sistemas has detected an "epidemic" of a virus called Commwarrior, a worm which affects mobile phones and is transmitted from phone to phone in public places. So far the virus has been detected in Madrid Barajas Airport, a clinic in Malaga, academies, bars and restaurants all over Spain.

The worm uses Bluetooth short-reach wireless technology to jump from one mobile phone to another, affecting phones that have Symbian Series 60 operating system (various Nokia, Panasonic, Sendo and Siemens models).

The virus Commwarrior appeared in 2005 and is transmitted via Bluetooth aswell as multimedia messages which send images, sound and video. When a telephone gets infected, it automatically sends messages to all the number in its directory. The virus affects the phone when the message is opened. Otherwise, it does not get infected.

Mobile users in Spain who receive a message with a .sis file are advised to erase it straight away without opening it.

It is possible to erase the worm manually, although to avoid having to do so, mobile users in Spain are advised to install an anti-virus which can be downloaded onto a computer with infrared or Bluetooth connection and then be installed into the phone.

More information on the virus here: http://www.f-secure.com/v-descs/commwarrior.shtml

Computer keyboard in braille

Researchers of Barcelona's Autonoma University (UAB) and the ONCE (Spanish Organization for the Blind) have developed the world's first braille computer keyboard, and they presented it to the media yesterday in Barcelona. UAB Professor Jordi Roig, himself blind, told the press that the keyboard was especially useful for people who experienced difficulties in coordinating hand and arm movements.

This new keyboard for the blind connects to the computer with a USB key, so that it isn't necessary to re-start the computer every time it is connected. The keyboard makes it easier for visually and handicapped people to carry out tasks involving mathematical operations, chemical equations and even musical notes without needing the help of another person.

In developing this new tool, which will hopefully encourage the participation of handicapped people who until now have been unable to share fully in the advantages of new technologies, the researchers combined the function and movement keys of conventional keyboards and substituted the number keys for 8 braille keys which enable users to write in any language. for new keyboard has combined the function and movement keys, and applied braille keys instead of the alphanumerical ones so that users can write in any language.

The keyboard will be marketed by ONCE and is expected to cost between 600 and 800 euros.

Online shops in Spain

According to a report released yesterday by WatchMouse, a Dutch consulting company, only a few Spanish online shops are ready for the pre-Christmas rush of online shopping. Most of them take ages to load, often users lose the connection inexplicably and in general the quality of online services is low.

Watchmouse has published its result after a detailed analysis of 10 online shops carried out over the past 38 days. The report concludes that during this period, performance of 9 out of 10 online shops was below required standards.

Out of all the 10 sites analyzed, only Carrefour offered 99.9% availability, which is considered to be the minimum standard. The online services of Spanish supermarket Mercadona and computer store AreaPC were the worst. The study was carried out by entering the homepage of each online shop every five minutes between 25th October and 2nd December and checking that it downloaded in 8 minutes or less without error.

Despite increased public investment in the e-commerce sector in Spain in recent years, this government and the last have ultimately failed to substantially boost use of the Internet in this country. Despite growing optimism in the sector last year, Spain continues to languish at the rear end of all EU rankings related to e-commerce and Internet usage among member states. According to a recent survey in El País, over 63 percent of Spaniards still don't use Internet. And most sectors are struggling to put together an efficient online service.

Even though most supermarkets offer online shopping, airlines and other transport services offer online booking and most Spanish banks offer electronic banking, the vast majority of Spaniards still tend to do the weekly shop at the supermarket, book their holidays at the local travel agent, and visit their bank to do transactions. Judging by the results of the recent WatchMouse survey, retailers in Spain still have a long way to go if they are to pursuade an Internet-reticent population to embrace online services.

Related:
A list of where to shop online in Spain
Ecommerce in Spain

Spain wires up Parliament

This week the new-look Spanish congress was unveiled to the media to coincide with the start of the new parliamentary session. The technicians and maintenance workers at Congress have certainly been busy over the Summer break. Each MP has returned to find a brand new computer in his or her seat with full Internet access, email and a new automatic voting system.



All 350 members of congress and government were able to try out the new system yesterday, and most seemed very satisfied according to declarations made afterwards. The whole process of wiring up parliament and installing the computers is part of the plan of Spain's flamboyant President of Congress (a role similar to that of Speaker of the House in the UK), Manuel Marín, to introduce technology and modernise the Spanish parliamentary system. Marin aims to improve working conditions for MPs, reduce the amount of paper they continue to use and introduce Congress to the information society.

In an interview published by El Pais this Summer, Manuel Marin said he wanted to put an end to the continual races along corridors to hand in papers to the General Register - "For God's sake! All this can be done via Intranet! Why are we still running along corridors?"

The computers are equipped with an internal chat system, enabling members to talk with other members of their parliamentary group and other MPs. Each terminal also has access to ADSL so that MPs can plug in their own laptops if they prefer. They also have screens to display videos or documents as required.

Super computer in Barcelona

Europe's fastest computer was booted up for the first time yesterday in Barcelona, Spain. The computer is called Marenostrum and is the fourth most powerful supercomputer in the world.

Marenostrum is an IBM computer and can make a mind-boggling 40 trillion calculations per second. It has a memory the size of about 20.000 normal personal computers and 233 terabytes storage space which means, apparantly, that it is capable of storing as much information as that contained in 29 million books.

The computer is owned by the Barcelona Supercomputing Center-Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC-CNS), a consortium created by the national and regional governments' respective research and education departments and the Polytechnic University of Barcelona.

Marenostrum is housed in what used to be the University's chapel and is the fastest computer in the world to be owned by a public research center and available to outside teams of researchers. According to information published on the BSC-CNS website yesterday, the new super computer will be used for research in computer architecture, aerodynamics, biology and genetics, and also has industrial applications.

MareNostrum is unique among super computers because it was built entirely with components available on the open market and uses a Linux operating system and took just a year to create.

For further information consult the Barcelona Supercomputing Center

Broadband Internet in Spain

The European Commission has approved the plan proposed by the Spanish government to encourage the provision of broad band Internet conexion in some of Spain's remote rural areas. Brussels has even agreed to help finance the scheme.

Spain's socialist government wants broadband Internet access to be available in rural communities regarded as too remote to be profitable by Spanish telephone companies and internet providers. State subsidies of up to 26.3 million euros and 120 million euros of interest-free loans will be offered in an attempt to extend the availability of fast Internet access all over Spain.

After studying the plan to ensure that the subsidies would not represent a violation of the principle of fair competition within the telecommunications industry, the European Commission has decided that the subsidies offered within the "national plan to extend broad band access to rural and isolated areas" will only be used to finance the introduction of broadband in those places considered to be at a technological disadvantage because of their location or low population.

The call for tender was published on 22nd March and extends to all kinds of internet provider companies and technology (ADSL, cable, wireless, satellite...). Applications will be accepted until 23rd April.

More information here (in Spanish).

Domestic use of new technology in Spain

Spanish households are amongst the most reluctant in Europe to incorporate new technologies into their daily lives according to the latest report published by Red.es, a state-owned company whose role is to encourage and monitor the use of technology in Spain. According to the results of this report, 45 percent of Spanish homes are resistant to introducing the latest technology into their domestic life.

The report studies the use in Spanish homes of the four main communication technology services: Internet, mobile phones, landline phones and digital or satellite television.

According to the results, 23 percent of Spanish households are on the fringe of the digital age and have "emotional barrier" to new technologies. They only have on average 1.3 services in their homes and they reject services such as Internet because they believe that the advantages do not outweigh the difficulties and risks involved in installing systems and learning how to use them. These families tend to live in small towns or villages at the lower end of the socioeconomic scale and most of them do not have children living with them. A further 22 percent of Spanish families have telephone services but tend to reject paying for Internet access, or pay for the most basic conexion via modem.

Just over 16 percent of Spanish households have a positive view of information technology, but tend to relate the benefits of Internet to work rather than to domestic life. These families tend to come from the upper-middle classes and have children. The majority of them (70 percent) have a PC computer at home with broad band Internet.

According to the report, only 5 percent of the population shows real enthusiasm towards integrating communication technologies into their home, with an average of 3.7 of the 4 services studied. Almost all of these families (98 percent) have a computer at home and over half have cable television. Many of these homes also use other hi-tech devices such as DVD players, scanners, webcams, digital camaras etc.

Related:
Spanish Telefonica Internet Services
E-commerce in Spain