In favour of Bigastel

I understand that Bigastel are in the process of preparing to install wi-fi connections here at Villas Andrea.

You may remember that I'd reported a comment on this blog from the United Left party in Bigastro. They were denouncing Bigastel as a "FRAUDE y una ESTAFA" - their words not mine. On Izquierda Unida's web site they complain that the service is still not available to everyone and that Phase 2 is more expensive than Phase 1.

IU are correct on both counts but of course there are very good reasons why this should be the case. You only have to examine the topography of Bigastro to understand the problems that Bigastro Telecomunicaciones S.L. face in providing wi-fi access to everybody. Wi-fi over short distances on the flat is relatively easy to achieve hence the extremely competitive price of Phase 1. When there are hills and other obstacles to overcome it is a different ball game.

Nether-the-less there are ways of overcoming the problems and Phase 2 is now imminent. However, the technology required to overcome the topography is going to be more expensive than that used for Phase 1, hence the elevated price. What Bigastro Telecomunicaciones S.L have sought to do is provide a good reliable service at the most competitive price they could achieve.

Consider the alternatives. ADSL via Telefónica is very expensive. The cheapest Duo package (phone line, local and national calls and ADSL) costs about 74€ per month. You can, of course opt just to have just a phone line and use dial up. That would reduce the cost to 18€ per month for the line rental plus the cost of the calls whilst you are on the Internet but it is going to be disastrously slow*.

Going to a different provider for ADSL can shave a few euros of the price. Sadly the market for ADSL is no where near as competitive as it is in the UK where there are some exceptional deals to be had.

Having said all that, at 29€ per month for a 2Mb connection, Bigastel provides a very attractive way to get a broadband connection especially for those who don't have a Telefónica line.

If that is the case, then why do I pay 78€ per month for my ADSL package ?

Experts agree that ADSL via cable is superior to any wi-fi solution**. I use my Internet connection A LOT and I was used to a good ADSL service back in the UK. If we had a fibre optic cable e.g. via ONO I'd be even happier because those support speeds up to 50Mbs at a much lower price (e.g. 12Mb/500Kbs for 60€ per month including phone connection).

So, if you live more than 4km from the exchange, are in an area where there is no telephone cable infrastructure or want to keep costs down then Bigastel seems to me a perfectly useable and cost effective solution. For people at Villas Andrea , it should work well because there will be relatively few people sharing the connection.

As I said to George, the installer, "if Bigastel had come before Telefónica, I would have jumped at it".

* Dial up is at best 52Kb per second that is almost 40 times slower than the 2Mb that Bigastel are offering you and a whopping 160 times slower than my Telefónica connection.

** It isn't just a difference in speed of the connection between the two. The quality of a wi-fi connection is subject to atmospheric conditions and even when conditions are good they can vary in quality. Try a simple ping test to a wi-fi server and you will see what I mean. Even if none of the pings are dropped they will vary in speed.