# Free wifi stymied by commercial providers



## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Cities like Málaga who want to offer free wifi internet to all residents will be allowed to do so, but only under certain conditions - download speeds too slow to be of any real use (a quarter of a megabyte), and with reception only available in educational and cultural buildings, not residential areas.

This is the outcome of a High Court Ruling following protests by commercial internet providers like Telefonica and Orange, who say it is unfair competition.

Málaga was fined €300,000 because its Biznaga network was freely available yet did not meet the conditions imposed on commercial providers.

I remember when we bought our house here we were told there would be free internet access across the whole town by 2010. Now I know why this never happened.

Anyone who thinks the country is run by elected representatives rather than big business, dream on.

WiFi: Public and free, but limited · ELPAÍS.com in English


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

Alcalaina said:


> Cities like Málaga who want to offer free wifi internet to all residents will be allowed to do so, but only under certain conditions - download speeds too slow to be of any real use (a quarter of a megabyte), and with reception only available in educational and cultural buildings, not residential areas.
> 
> This is the outcome of a High Court Ruling following protests by commercial internet providers like Telefonica and Orange, who say it is unfair competition.
> 
> ...


Easy to overcome. Just register & charge everyone 1€ a year added to the council tax.


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

gus-lopez said:


> Easy to overcome. Just register & charge everyone 1€ a year added to the council tax.


Oh dear oh dear oh dear Gus-lopez. That simply won't do at all. You see, what you've come up with there is an excellent idea but you seem to have missed the vital point that we live in Spain.....


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## jimenato (Nov 21, 2009)

In our village they used to put on a free bus at fiesta times. They were going to extend it to all year - it would have been a valuable service to the old dears going shopping or to the medical centre in our hilly village. It was stopped by the three village taxi drivers - would have reduced their income. Same sort of thing really.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Alcalaina said:


> Cities like Málaga who want to offer free wifi internet to all residents will be allowed to do so, but only under certain conditions - download speeds too slow to be of any real use (a quarter of a megabyte), and with reception only available in educational and cultural buildings, not residential areas.
> 
> This is the outcome of a High Court Ruling following protests by commercial internet providers like Telefonica and Orange, who say it is unfair competition.
> 
> ...


But it's the courts who made the ruling not elected representatives. 
I'm not defending this particular instance -I think it's rather amusing when those who defend 'free enterprise' are the first to claim 'unfair competition'.
But very often it's not that straightforward and can't be turned into a principle.
If I give people free lifts to the airport at my expense I take from taxi-drivers who rely on that work to make a living..
There are a wide variety of services which, if provided 'free' would put working people out of a job.
Malaga Council is 'big business 'too, in its own way..
Out of interest: why should a state-provided service NOT comply with the rules set for commercial business?
Why should a state service undercut private business?
What's the principle behind this belief?
Spain like the UK has a mixed economy. People seem to like this way of running things.
Some services should be state or local government provided, I agree. Health, education, transport, police, street lights etc. etc. definitely.
But internet access? How about tv? Or newspapers? Or radio?
These are up for debate.
Incidentally, such is the disillusion with politics that many people might prefer to have the country run by 'big business'.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

gus-lopez said:


> Easy to overcome. Just register & charge everyone 1€ a year added to the council tax.


But we are overlooking the fact that this proposed council-provided service isn't 'free'. Payment would be deducted at source from all tax payers, whether they want the service or not. They have no choice.
Movistar etc. may not be great companies but hey, you don't like them....so don't use them.
We need to examine this term 'big business' which is often used in a 'bad' sense.
In Spain and the UK the state, whether local, regional or national is the biggest business of all. It is the largest employer and often (rightly imo ) has a monopoly on many services.
Commercial big businesses can be good or bad, depending on the regulations which any state applies to them. But they are not owned by wicked capitalists in fur coats smoking fat cigars. They are owned by their shareholderrs amongst which are our pension funds and other savings.
Big business provides many of the products and services which have made the lives of working people more pleasant and comfortable and as I said before in a post have probably contributed more to the liberation of women via vacuum cleaners, fridge-freezers, dishwashers and all the cleaning products than any Act of Parliament.
In the Malaga case, the courts decided that state run companies must abide by the same laws as commercial ones. And why not?
Presumably the judges were applying laws drawn up by a branch of the elected legislature.
So elected governments do make decisions...
It's just that we don't always agree with them.
Like many other Brits I was not happy with the years of Tory rule 1979 - 1997. I thought most of the legislation enacted in that time was dreadful.
But the people spoke....and thankfully we live in a pluralist society.


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