SO YOU THINK YOU’VE GOT A BETTER DEAL? Discover the truth.

June 13th, 2008

It’s amazing how many times our clients call us up saying that they’ve seen a better offer for “cheaper” calls, “unlimited” minutes, “everything all on one bill” etc. Direct Telecom keeps a close eye on the “competition”, and we feel it’s about time we blew the top off some of the offers available on TV, in newspapers and from companies who cold call the unsuspecting client.

 

Offer 1. 3MB ADSL + National land line calls + Line rental for 29.95€. Sound’s too good to be true? Well, it is. The 29.95€ is for the first month only, then the price increases to 36.95€. The line rental offer is subject to geographic location, and – surprise, surprise – extremely restricted. If you live next to the telephone exchange in Madrid or Barcelona, you may be in with a shout. Oh yes, and this offer is only available to the first 10,000 applicants daft enough not to read the small print! Oh, and be sure to check out their international call rates too.

 

Offer 2. Up to 20MB ADSL + Line rental + National Calls for just 9.90€ a month (until October). Admittedly, the small print does say that after that time, the price will be 39.90€ per month. Follow the link and you’ll see that in many areas, the maximum speed available is 3MB, and in so-called “rural” areas, you may get no coverage at all. That’s not all – To use your ADSL, you will be expected to pay 2€ per day where your account shows internet traffic, yes! 2€ PER DAY, up to a maximum of 28€ in the month. This means that should you connect daily, your bill will approach 50€ per month. You are also tied to an 18 month agreement, and pay for your router too! And then let’s look at the call charges. Remember, no VoIP here. Connection charges of 11.9 cent, then Europe, the USA and Canada at 8 cent a minute, and a staggering 54 cent a minute for “the rest of the world”. So yes, you probably could save if you never used your internet and never made international calls, but then life would be just boring!

 

Offer 3. 3MB ADSL + National land line calls for a whole 12 months for just 25.90€ per month. This is a good one – it is ONLY for brand new land line applications. If you already have a land line, you don’t qualify, and your price for the same deal will be 40.90€ per month, just the same as it always was! And again, no super low international call rates.

 

Offer 4. Unlimited calls to the UK for just 12.99€ per month. Once again, if you sign up online and simply tick the “I have read and understand the terms and conditions” box, you won’t realize that you have just limited your calls to 350 minutes a month, land lines only. Now, let’s do the sums:
12.99€ / 350 = 3.7 cent a minute

almost half a cent per minute more than Direct Telecom’s traditional telephone rate, where you only pay for the minutes you use.

 

Offer 5. Unlimited internet access for 4.50€ a month. We love this one! Of course it’s unlimited – they want you to be dialing the internet all day every day, thinking it’s only costing you 4.50€ a month. It’s not! You pay a local call charge and a connection fee every time you log on. Let’s say you are online for half an hour a day (praying that your favourite pages will load up in time, and that the email attachment of 5MB you were looking forward to doesn’t take too long to open!). You’ve paid 4.50€ already, plus 30 calls of 30 minutes duration, that’s 30 connection fees of 6 cent and 900 minutes costing around 1 cent a minute. Suddenly your 4.50 becomes 15.30€ - not so attractive now, is it? With Direct Telecom’s dial up internet, there really is no limit to how long you can be online, so for 19.50€ you can rest assured that’s all you’ll pay, even if you stay logged on all day.

 

If you’re tempted by the tantalizing offers, remember:

 

READ THE SMALL PRINT!

 

If you simply can’t resist:

 

READ THE SMALL PRINT AGAIN!

 

And if you still have to try, we’ll be glad to have your business back when your bills go through the roof!

 

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GlobalFone.es - Llamadas Internacionales de bajo coste ¡desde su Móvil!

June 6th, 2008

Es un placer para nosotros poder anunciar el lanzamiento de nuestro nuevo servicio GlobalFone que por fin le da la oportunidad al usuario móvil para realizar llamadas internacionales a bajo coste desde su propio teléfono móvil.
En España reside y trabaja una gran cantidad y variedad de extranjeros que necesitan contactar con sus amigos y familiares en sus países de origen. Asimismo, hay personas que por motivos de su trabajo necesitan poder realizar llamadas internacionales desde su propio móvil. Esta claro que actualmente nos cuesta una fortuna y todos buscamos una solución.
Afortunadamente, el equipo de desarrollo de Direct Telecom (Powered by VoIP Direct) ha creado el servicio GlobalFone.  Gracias a GlobalFone, ahora es posible realizar llamadas prácticamente a precio de locutorio desde nuestro móvil actual, sea del operador que sea (operador móvil en España).
Al registrar su número móvil con GlobalFone será posible por ejemplo llamar a la gran mayorí­a de Europa por sólo 0.033 €/min, Argentina y Venezuela por 0.039 €/min, Colombia por 0.055 €/min, Brasil 0.049 €/min, Paraguay y Uruguay por 0.088 €/min y todo SIN establecimiento de llamada.


¿Como funciona? Una vez registrado su numero móvil, llamara a un numero de conexión en Madrid.  Nuestro sistema reconoce su número y le dará tono de llamada con el cual podrá realizar su llamada internacional.
¿Mi operador Móvil que me cobra?  Aquí­ esta la clave para que este sistema le sea lo más barato posible ya que su operador móvil le cobrará la llamada nacional al número nuestro en Madrid.  Lo ideal es conseguir contratar un plan y/o asignar nuestro número de conexión como un número “favorito” para que la llamada desde su móvil a nuestro número de conexión le cueste el mí­nimo.  Por ejemplo, con Vodafone podemos contratar el plan Vitamina 60×1, con el cual pagamos por 1 minuto y hablamos 60.  Esto funciona perfectamente con GlobalFone ya que sólo pagar a Vodafone 0.35 € para hablar la hora completa, y GlobalFone le cobrará únicamente la cantidad de minutos que ha hablado con su destino.  Para hablar 50 minutos con muchos países Europeos tendr­á un coste TOTAL de sólo 1.99‚€.

En resumen, tenemos a su disposición una solución para ahorrar mucho dinero a la hora de realizar llamadas internacionales desde su propio móvil.  Ahora podrá realizar llamadas con tarifas de locutorio ¡desde su móvil y en cualquier parte!

¿Que tengo que hacer para utilizar GlobalFone?
Muy sencillo.  Visite http://direct.online-manager.co.uk/NewCustomer.asp?lang=espanol y regí­strese como cliente gratis.  Registre su número móvil y agrega crédito mediante tarjeta de débito, crédito y/o Pay Pal.

Una vez esta registrado como cliente, podrá entrar en su cuenta online y añadir más móviles a su cuenta (utilizarán su crédito) o podrá agregar más saldo a su cuenta cuando le haga falta.

¿Donde puedo ver una lista completa de tarifas internacionales?
Visite http://direct.online-manager.co.uk/callrates.asp

¿Donde puedo encontrar más información sobre GlobaFone?
Visite http://castellano.direct-telecom.es/llamadas-internacionales-desde-su-movile.asp
También nos puede llamar al 902 51 28 30 para cualquier duda o aclaración.
¡Que lo disfruten!

 

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Telefonica’s fixed line monopoly in Spain finally shattered

May 27th, 2008

Exciting news on the horizon for current and future Direct Telecom clients!

Years of perseverance have now paid off and we will very soon be in a position to offer you the possibility to completely migrate your Spanish fixed telephone line and related services to Direct Telecom. This means that you will finally have a choice and a say about which telecommunications company you want to choose something long overdue, as anyone living in Spain will surely agree.

All you will have to do is authorise us to make the switch and Direct Telecom will take charge of your phone line so that you won’t have to deal with Telefonica again or receive any more bills from them. In fact, we will be able to provide you with everything you need as regards fixed telephony, ADSL and mobile services , with everything combined into a single bill to make it easier for you to keep track.

So, when exactly will you be able to say goodbye to Telefonica and switch over completely to Direct Telecom? That must be the obvious question on your mind and the answer is hopefully around September 2008! Our new clients can already check the appropriate box in the sign-up agreement if they want their phone line to be automatically transferred when the time comes. We know that many of you can’t wait, but, of course, this does not depend entirely on us.

As many of you already know, we have been fighting for a very long time to break Telefonica’s monopoly on fixed phone lines in Spain, in order to offer our clients and the Spanish public at large a competitive and viable alternative. The situation that has prevailed so far is totally unacceptable, especially in a modern European country and has proven to be highly detrimental to the consumer in more ways than one. At long last, things are about to change!

Posted in Telefónica | 7 Comments »

Thousands sign up for our Low-Cost Mobile Call Service in just over 2 months

May 12th, 2008

Literally thousands of people have signed up for our Mobile Call-Through Service since we launched it just over 2 months ago. The incredible success of this service, which allows you to make very low-cost international calls from your Spanish mobile phone, is hardly surprising when you consider that just about everyone in Spain owns a mobile and that not everyone can wait to get back home to make a low-cost call from their landline.

In a nutshell, the way this service works is that you use your mobile operator’s preferential calling rate (such as ‘favourite numbers’ or ‘friends and family’ packages) to contact Direct Telecom’s system from your mobile phone, and this allows you to access our Low Cost Overseas Calls service at the same prices we offer to our landline clients. In other words, you can enjoy the convenience of Direct Telecom’s rock-bottom international call rates (PDF) while on the move, from wherever you are in Spain, with just a tiny overhead (typically a couple of cents a minute) that you pay your mobile operator for the call to us.

“The success of this service is due to the high demand for consumers to drastically reduce the costs of communicating from their mobile phone, combined with the easy-to-use, high quality service we offer,” says Mike Broeckaert, Direct Telecom’s Commercial Director. Mike adds, “We are constantly working to find new communications solutions, which drastically save our clients money without jeopardizing quality.”

Save still more with BT Mobile from Direct Telecom
As another example of Direct Telecom’s commitment to bringing our clients the best prices, we have recently teamed up with British Telecom to distribute the new BT Mobile service in Spain. Spanish mobile phone users finally have a real, cost-effective alternative to the exorbitant mobile call rates they have had to pay over the years.

Everyone knows that the big mobile phone operators in Spain spend ludicrous amounts of money on colossal advertising campaigns – for example Vodafone spends millions of Euros a year on Formula 1 sponsorships alone. It goes without saying whose pocket all that money ultimately comes from, and it is no surprise that mobile phone calls have always been so expensive until now.

On the other hand, BT España has chosen the prudent route, preferring to pass on the savings to its clients – just one of the many reasons why it makes so much sense to switch to BT in Spain.

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New BT Mobile service in Spain with Direct Telecom as authorised agents

April 11th, 2008

The moment we’ve all been waiting for has finally arrived!

Direct Telecom is now proud to offer you the new BT Mobile service in Spain, as one of the very few authorised agents chosen to represent BT in the country. Needless to say, we are delighted to add this exciting, new mobile phone service to our range of value-for-money telecommunications deals – another big step in our ongoing quest to offer you the best communications alternatives at the best prices.

According to Spanish law, mobile operators must share their infrastructure and the BT Mobile service in Spain runs on the Vodafone network, which has the most powerful and extensive coverage in the country. This makes BT Mobile in Spain a powerful mobile phone operator in its own right, and means that you can now enjoy a top quality mobile phone service in Spain at very competitive rates.

FREE mobile phones for our BT Mobile clients

But there’s more good news in store! All our new mobile phone clients and those of you who switch to BT Mobile from another operator will get a FREE new mobile phone courtesy of Direct Telecom. And, of course, you can keep your old mobile number when you switch to BT Mobile in Spain.

Still, the best part of the BT Mobile deal has to be the exceptionally low across-the-board rates of 10 Euro cents per minute, together with the BT 10 choice of call plans that will allow you to save even more by enjoying a mobile phone service tailored to your needs. There are special calling plans covering internal calls to phones on the same contract, national landlines, and more, even including international calls.

With your BT Mobile subscription from Direct Telecom, you can also browse the Internet while on the move, thanks to the two great data packages on offer. The standard Internet price plan is activated by default for all BT Mobile clients and is ideal for occasional mobile Internet browsing, while regular data users can enjoy the best rates with the Internet Premium package.

Click here for full information and prices of our mobile calling plans and mobile Internet service (PDF).

Make the change – Enjoy the difference!

If you’re tired of the same old mobile phone operators in Spain and think that there ought to be something better out there, the new BT Mobile service is just the alternative you’ve been waiting for.

Get ready to enjoy the difference in both quality of service and substantial savings on your mobile calls month after month. Contact Direct Telecom now for full details and information and to sign up to this exciting brand new BT Mobile service.

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NEW Service! Make Low Cost Calls from your MOBILE!

February 25th, 2008

 


DIRECT TELECOM INTRODUCE
INTERNATIONAL MOBILE SERVICES!!

Low cost calls from Spanish Mobiles

Save thousands a year with Direct Telecom (Mobile).
From March 1st you will be able to call most of Europe and the World from your mobile from an amazing 3.3 cents per minute.  CEO, Barrie Wainwright, states “The company has been inundated for years with requests to break the monopoly of Vodafone/Movistar/Orange etc, and, at last, with much research and thanks to the technical department of Direct Telecom, we have cracked it.  This is not some unrealistic Mickey Mouse service and hype.  It seriously works – quickly and efficiently.”
“Originally, mainly businesses requested the service, but now almost everyone is spending absolute fortunes per month using their mobile phones,” says Barrie.
“The system works simply and efficiently by directing your call from your provider to Direct Telecom (mobile) systems platform, and you get an instant connection.  In all cases there will be a minimum charge by your own provider, but even with that in mind the rates remain spectacularly low.  You can sign up and top up online, and be activated within minutes, with easy, no-fuss systems for all.  Another great saving is that there are no connection charges for follow-up calls.”
Imagine being anywhere in Spain and being able to phone the UK or other international destinations for only 3.3 c/min plus your local call charge. “This is an amazing opportunity for all to save hundreds of Euro a year, especially businessmen and women on the move,” says Barrie. “Don’t forget Direct Telecom’s motto – Communication for Life,” he adds. “This means we can bundle any combination of services for our clients; low cost calls, low cost mobile calls, ADSL with VoIP, the fantastic Fritz!Box router with live UK TV streaming, and we are now distributors for BT’s new mobile phone service.”
For more details, contact Direct Telecom on 902 107 111 or sign up at 
http://www.direct-telecom.es/mobile-service-overview.asp

 

 

  

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Telefonica Movistar triples MMS prices in Spain in a blatant display of corporate greed

February 7th, 2008

If you thought the price of technology is getting cheaper all the time as new stuff becomes more popular, think again! At least as far as Telefonica’s Movistar is concerned that’s not the case at all.

From next month, the increasingly common practise of sending Multimedia Messages (MMS), consisting of photos or video, from Movistar’s mobile network is about to become a real and true luxury for consumers.

Roll up! Roll up! Movistar MMS messages now only 1 Euro each (+VAT)

As El País reports, the number of MMS messages sent in Spain has doubled last year to 279 million, compared to 143 million messages in 2005. Common economic sense would predict that the more popular a technology becomes, the cheaper it gets. But in a blatant display of corporate greed, Telefonica Movistar has just announced that from 1st March 2008 they are raising their prices for sending MMS messages in Spain to a whopping 1€ + VAT!

Movistar’s increased MMS price will apply regardless of destination network

Movistar said it will apply this new price equally to MMS messages sent to all networks, making it three and a half times the current Movistar-Movistar MMS price of 28 cents, and almost double the cost of sending an MMS to another operator - currently 55cents.

Needless to say, consumers won’t be happy at all about this very hefty price indeed for what amounts to a paltry few kilobytes of data zipping through a mobile phone network!

And in other news…

Direct Telecom promises amazing rates with the coming launch of BT Mobile in Spain!

It’s not all bleak news for mobile phone users! Direct Telecom is happy to announce that we are one of the very few distributors chosen by British Telecom to launch the BT Mobile service in Spain in the very near future. Soon, you will be able to enjoy a reliable mobile phone service at amazingly competitive rates!

“About time!” you say? Well, keep your eyes peeled for more information available soon on this blog and on the Direct Telecom website!

Posted in Telefónica | 3 Comments »

Unjust ‘canon digital’ tax extended to mobile phones in 2008

January 15th, 2008

It’s just as easy to fall head-over-heels in love with Spain as it is to be stunned by some of the country’s peculiarities. The bone of contention this time is nothing to do with bullfighting, but is the so-called canon digital, a controversial tax on any media and gadgets that can be used to make copies of intellectual property. Since the 1st of January 2008 this tax is also applicable to the purchase of new mobile phones, mp3 players and other digital hardware.

The canon digital came into being in 1987 as a way to collect money that is then used to compensate authors, editors, songwriters, musicians and so on for private copies people make of their intellectual property. This money goes to the General Society of Authors and Editors, (Sociedad General de Autores y Editores in Spanish) and other Spanish intellectual property owners’ organisations for distribution to its members.

However, this unjust tax has many vociferous opponents, which include consumer organisations and manufacturers. These are quick to point out that the tax is most because the equipment being taxed is not necessarily used to make copies of copyrighted works, but is often used by both private individuals and companies to store their own personal data. After all, why should you be taxed on the CDs you will use to save your holiday snapshots on?

While the latest revision of the law that took effect on the 1st  Jan 2008 has actually reduced the canon digital on CDs and DVDs, this tax has started to be levied on other digital hardware. For example, there is now an applicable tax of €1.50 on mobile phones and €3.15 on MP3 players, VAT not included. That’s right! Consumers must pay VAT on their unjust tax too!

All this sounds even more bizarre in the light of the fact that just over a year ago, a Spanish judge controversially ruled that downloading music from the Internet is legal as long as you do not make money from it.

No wonder the pro-canon digital lobbyists keep pushing for the tax to be extended to ADSL connections too! Luckily for all of us, so far the title of this article which appeared in El Pais in 2005 still holds true: Hard disks and ADSL excluded from the canon digital! (article in Spanish)

While Spain’s politicians battle over this issue as the forthcoming elections approach, many consumers have decided to take action. Visit www.TodosContraElCanon.es for more information in Spanish.

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PDF-Formular of “Agreement English Dec 07 with Conditions”

January 13th, 2008

A editable version of the file “Agreement English Dec 07 with Conditions.pdf” is available. It cannot be saved with the entered informations but printed very well.

Posted in Support | No Comments »

NEW Rate reduction for the NEW YEAR from Direct Telecom!

December 31st, 2007

Down yet again? Yes, Direct Telecom has slashed their normal phone rates from 3.9 cents a minute to an incredibly low rate of 3.3 cents a minute.

Commercial Director Mike Broeckaert reports “after the most successful year ever our national Telecoms company Direct Telecom has been able to reduce its international rates once again. At 3.3 cents a minute you can dial most of Europe and many parts of the world; – at our rates that is 1 whole hour for less than 2 Euros! And still no connection charge. All Direct Telecom clients will start saving even more on their phone bills as from January the 1st 2008, and new clients can jump on board right away to take advantage of the new rate reduction for calls made from your ordinary landline.
Although the technology race continues unabated, Direct Telecom keep their nose ahead of the pack. While giants like Telefónica are putting up their rates, charging connection fees and offering a second class service we are not surprised people are turning to us. Direct Telecom’s rates are valid all day - every day of the week, so be aware of the small print with other firms who offer reduced rates only on certain days and charge high rates outside this time period.

ADSL – FREE 1st month promotion EXTENDED until 31st of January 08.
Due to the high demand and success of the ADSL promotion, Direct Telecom has decided to extend the offer. If you thought you have missed out, call now to sign up to Direct Telecom’s ADSL service and get your 1st month subscription for FREE!
The technology provided allows our clients to make even cheaper calls using their ordinary phones to make international VoIP calls from as little as 1.48 cts/min! These prices beat Skype’s or MSN’s rates hands down and there is even no need to turn on the PC to use our VoIP.


Faster ADSL – Up to 20MB
Even our ADSL service is at full stretch with the demand” says Mike, with up to 20Mb speed now available (subject to availability) and with free national calls included.

Swallows? Yes, we can cater for swallows – connecting and disconnecting their Internet connection on request giving an additional money saving services to clients using the Direct Dial UP 24/7 Internet connection.
“2008 is already looking good” says Mike “we are constantly increasing our staffing levels to keep up with customer demand and service. We have several new exciting projects on the drawing board” he says “but we are focused on customer demand and service at all times. This is our main strength. We also offer businesses the latest technology in telephone services with our ‘Virtual Receptionist’ and Business VoIP Solutions – but more about that on request”. Direct Telecoms can also provide customers with low cost calls FROM the UK to Spain, your family and friends in the UK can dial you from as little as 3 pence/min. Another way to save!

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