Can You Hear Me Now? Purchasing a Local Cell Phone

     It’s incredible that I have made it this long without a functioning cell phone.  Even though my iPhone has no service except when connected to wifi in my house, I’m in denial that, like wearing Uggs this year, it just won’t work (according to my dad UGG© sales decreased 80% this year because we all finally realized that the brand is in fact an abbreviation for ugly.)  It provides a sense of comfort because it represents a connection to my American friends and family, and if I was really desperate for interaction I could easily step in a wifi café.  However, today is the day that my classmates and I chose moviles for local calls/texts. 

     After a quick tour of the city, our assistant program director, Carlos, dropped us off at the corner of the block where the 3 major Spanish cell phone providers are located,Vodafone, Movistar, and Yoigi.  The group split up, my group entered Movistar, according to Carlos the cheapest, and the other girls went into Yoigo to inquire about plans.  Most international students purchase a cheap phone, and a cheap SIM card with pay as you go minutes/texts.  Caution: buying a phone plan is like trying to buy a car, each dealership has different promotions meant to confuse the customer so that it is harder to comparison shop and find the best deal.

Movistar was the most confusing; from what I gathered they had 3 SIM plan options…

• Tarifa Hable Movistar: 15 cents to establish every call + 25cents/minute to non-movistar users, but 0 cents/minute to all movistarusers.  15 cents/text.  This is appealing because if the entire group gets movistar, we can talk extensively with each other.
• Tarifa Habla Ocio: Carrier does not matter.   M-F 4pm-8am & S-Su 24h; 3 cents/minute.  15 cents/call + M-F mornings 8am-4pm 25 cents/minute.  15 cents/text.
• Tarifa Habla 24h: Anytime calls 15 cents/call + 8 cents/minute on any carrier.  15 cents/text.

Supplemental Movistar texting plans…

• Tarifa Plana Mensajes a Movistar: 6 euros/month + 15 cents/textto non-Movistar users.  BUT 0 cents/text to Movistar customers. 
• Mensajes al 50%: 3 euros/month + 7.5 cent/text to anycarrier.

Vodafone was more straightforward...

• Llamadas Gatuitas: 100 free minutes to Vodafone mobiles and fixed.  Refill the card with € 10 or two refills of 5 €, you receive 100 free minutes per month to call Vodafone mobiles and landlines, 24 hours and dial fee included. Refills the card with € 20 and recieve 300 free minutes per month to call Vodafone mobiles and landlines, 24 hours and dial fee included.  These free minutes accumulate even after 30 days from purchase.  Calls to all other carriers are 15 cent dial fee + 24 cents/minute 24/7.
• Tarifa XS8: Refill € 5 or more and national calls cost 8 cents/minute 24/7.  SMS cost 8 cents/text to domestic cell phones.  Value of card refill is only valid for 30 days.  In other words, the money on the card expires after a month.

Supplemental Vodafone texting plans are more confusing.  They include national SMS and MMS to Vodafone mobiles, including Qtal and a2.  They do not include the Group Qtal messages, landline, roaming, international or premium services....

• Tarifa Plana SMS: With the flat rate you can send up to 1000 SMS/day and 100 MMS/day to Vodafone numbers and 500 SMS/week to other mobile operators, for 3 €/week (12 €/month.)
• Tarifa Plana SMS Vodafone: Flat Rate With Vodafone you can send SMS to 1000 SMS and 100 MMS per day to Vodafone numbers, any day of the week, for a weekly 2 €/week (8 €/month.)
• Tarifa Plana SMS Finde: There is a flat rate for your SMS and MMS. Send up to 1,000 SMS and 100 MMS to Vodafone numbers daily, (only?) Saturday and Sunday, for 1 €/week.  Texts to other carriers remain 15 cents/text.

We did not investigate Yoigo because our director said the service was spotty, not to mention deciding between only TWO is overwhelming.  Like I said to my host mother, all of these phone companies are thieves, its just a matter of choosing which one you prefer to steal from you.

If you REALLY wanted to get technical (and since I'm a business major studying at a Spanish liberal arts university why not?)... With a few estimates or the first month's data of how many minutes/texts you make in a month, you can use some simple algebra to figure out what plan is best for you/the group.

• x= # minutes to same carrier
• y= # minutes to other carriers
• a = # texts to same carrier
• b= # texts to other carriers

Assuming each call lasts 2 minutes and 70% of call are btw M-F 4pm-8am & S-Su 24h we can calculate our Usage Cost(UC) just for cell use NOT including cost of phone/phone card(PC.)  You could even go crazy and set them equal to each other to find the break even point.

Movistar...

• Tarifa Hable Movistar: .15((x+y)/2)+.25y= UC
• Tarifa Habla Ocio: .15(.3(x+y)/2)+(.7*.3(x+y))+(.3*.25(x+y))= UC
• Tarifa Habla 24h: .15(x+y/2)+.8(x+y)= UC
• UC+PC=TC

Vodafone...

• Llamadas Gatuitas: UC=€10+.15y+.24y.  € 10 or two refills of 5 € & UC= € 20+.15y+.24y € 20 refill
• Tarifa XS8: UC=€ 5+.8(x+y) Refill € 5 *Keep in mind the money on this card expires after a month.

     In reality, not many people would go this far and ACTUALLY do these calculations for a few reasons: a. opportunity cost b. they don't know how c. they're spending their parents money and don't care.

      My friends and I decided on Vodafone's most basic Tarifa XS8.  I am also considering purchasing the supplemental Tarifa Plana SMS so that I can text my new Spanish friends that I (hopefully) meet!