Rural Phone and Internet Access
Phone and broadband internet connection is commonplace in the large cities and in the highly populated coasted areas of Andalucia. There are still a few far-flung rural areas where internet and even land line connection is not guaranteed. Movistar, the previously state owned monopoly provider is still main national land line provider (with around 80% of the market share in Spain). They may be unwilling to provide a phone line in certain isolated regions where there is a lack of infrastructure. Furthermore, in many rural regions, although there may be land lines, there might still be problems with broadband internet connections. This situation has improved greatly but there are still sometimes problem areas.
When Movistar, then called Telefónica was a state-owned monopoly, it was bound by law to provide a line for any member of the public who applied for phone connection. This is no longer so and now land lines are provided subject to local availability. This is an important point to bear in mind if you are considering living, working, or setting up a business in a remote part of Andalucia. Contact one of the telephone operators to check it out the phone line and internet connection status before you buy.
There are other ways of staying in contact, via WiFi, 3G, 4G and satellite links. Read the page on Internet Connections.