# FreedomPop arrives in Spain



## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

The US service FreedomPop was launched in Spain today. Free texts and phone calls, free internet and unlimited Whatsapp which doesn't use your data allowance. You just pay €10 for the SIM and put it into any unlocked phone or tablet. Sounds too good to be true. Has anyone used it in other countries?

FreedomPop to Launch in Spain with Free Calls and Free Internet | Spanish News in English - On The Pulse of Spain

Hoy llega FreedomPop, con llamadas y WhatsApp gratis â€œpara siempreâ€� | EconomÃ*a | EL PAÃ�S


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

Alcalaina said:


> The US service FreedomPop was launched in Spain today. Free texts and phone calls, free internet and unlimited Whatsapp which doesn't use your data allowance. You just pay €10 for the SIM and put it into any unlocked phone or tablet. Sounds too good to be true. Has anyone used it in other countries?
> 
> FreedomPop to Launch in Spain with Free Calls and Free Internet | Spanish News in English - On The Pulse of Spain
> 
> Hoy llega FreedomPop, con llamadas y WhatsApp gratis â€œpara siempreâ€� | EconomÃ*a | EL PAÃ�S


It's even better - it's 5€ isn't it?


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## Overandout (Nov 10, 2012)

I am struggling to find more information about this, despite reading several articles online about the launch.

I find it difficult to believe that Freedompop have made the huge investment required to build its own hardware network in all of Spain, so whose network are they using?
If you look online it is easy to find out whose networks the other "alternative" operators use such as Ybarra and Carrefour Mobile, but for Freedompop I can-t find any info??

Also, what connectivity are they offering? Its all very well that it is cheap and has a given data quantity, but what level of connectivity are they giving? 2G, 3G, 4G?? and on what frequencies?

Their website is very basic and lacking any detail....


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## kalohi (May 6, 2012)

It doesn't say it on the company website, but I've read on other newsites (including in the El Pais article Alcalaina linked to) that Freedompop will be using the Orange network. 

No idea about the speed, though. I haven't seen anyone mention it. If it doesn't say 4G somehow I doubt it is.

At the moment Freedompop aren't porting in existing numbers, which is a deal-breaker for me. 

I think it will take a few months for them to iron things out - but hopefully it will shake up the industry and bring down prices.


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## Overandout (Nov 10, 2012)

kalohi said:


> It doesn't say it on the company website, but I've read on other newsites (including in the El Pais article Alcalaina linked to) that Freedompop will be using the Orange network.


Ooops! I went straight to Google and didn't even look at Alcalaina's links!!


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## Simon22 (May 22, 2015)

I know I am a little odd but for me it is 4c dearer than Orange.

2GB Premium
Price: Free for the first month + 8,99 € / subsequent months 
This service includes the following:

Minutes Unlimited 
SMS Unlimited 
2 GB Data 
Whatsapp Unlimited

I currently use no voice calls or texts because I whatsapp everthing. I pay €8.95 for 2Gb.


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## Overandout (Nov 10, 2012)

kalohi said:


> It doesn't say it on the company website, but I've read on other newsites (including in the El Pais article Alcalaina linked to) that Freedompop will be using the Orange network.
> 
> No idea about the speed, though. I haven't seen anyone mention it. If it doesn't say 4G somehow I doubt it is.
> 
> ...


You are right (if this site is to be believed: Misterio resuelto: FreedomPop usa la cobertura de Orange en España )

FreedomPop do NOT currently offer 4G mobile data connection. I know its free, but as the old adage goes, you get what you pay for....


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## Desiato (Jun 1, 2015)

Simon22 said:


> I know I am a little odd but for me it is 4c dearer than Orange.
> 
> 2GB Premium
> Price: Free for the first month + 8,99 € / subsequent months
> ...


If I'm reading it right, this is a one off €5 for the sim and so long as you don't go over the 300mb of data per month (who texts and spends hours chatting on their phone any more?) then that's it....forever! This sounds like a good idea for the kids so long as you set the data limit on the phone. Then again, it's the kids who watch the videos when the shouldn't (when they aren't connected to the wifi) and I've managed to stick to 250mb of data in the past, think I'll get one of these.


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## Desiato (Jun 1, 2015)

Just went to sign up and it's not quite as its been described. It's now 100 minutes, 300 texts and 200mb of data. The price is back to €9.99 + €1.99 postage. 

200 meg is borderline for me, I struggled to keep below 250mb some years back and after having a quick google (https://www.uswitch.com/mobiles/news/2015/09/freedompop-five-things-you-need-to-know/) I've decided to give it a miss for now. I then logged into my Simyo account, changed my old 700mb data and cheap calls to 500mb and pay through the nose for calls (I don't call much if at all) and I'm now paying €3 a month + IVA, that'll do for me.


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

I don't want to change the SIM in my phone, which is on a Yoigo contract for €6 a month - I rarely turn on the 3G and just use WIFI for Whatsapp (most places round here have free WIFI). But I thought it might be handy to have a FreedomPop SIM in the iPad for when I'm travelling, especially overseas. I don't have a SIM card in the iPad at the moment. Any thoughts? Would I gain anything, apart from being able to use Whatsapp on theiPad?


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## kalohi (May 6, 2012)

What I wonder is what the minimum usage is before they cancel your free account. They must require some type of usage, or else they could end up with all kinds of dead accounts on their hands. 

It sounds like something I might be interested in as a second SIM card (my phone has two SIM card slots) for when I travel outside of Spain, since roaming with Freedompop is free. But if they require me to actually use it on a regular basis then I don't think that would work for me.


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## bob_bob (Jan 5, 2011)

€5 for the simm then you get

"it is expected that users will be given 300 free minutes-worth of calls, 300 SMS messages and 300MBs of data each month"

After using that you pay...how much I wonder, 300mbs is nothing now, watch youtube for a couple of hours and your out.

That said, Whatsapp is free and does not count toward your data use.

Just looked at the UK operation and its expensive when you use up your small limit

https://www.uswitch.com/mobiles/news/2015/09/freedompop-five-things-you-need-to-know/

and it uses the Three network.

If you have an old phone then get the simm and keep it for back up.


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## Tom1957 (May 1, 2016)

I ordered a SIM in the UK because it seemed to good to be true.. free sim and 99p delivery.

You know what they say about if it seems to good to be true?

the SIM seems to use the internet (VOIP protocol ) rather than normal voice calls. You will need a fairly modern smartphone as it works through an app (android or IOS) not the phone's native software.


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## kalohi (May 6, 2012)

They don't hide the fact the calls use VOIP protocol, and that you have to download their app and use that to make calls.

My home phone uses VOIP protocol and has for years, with no problems. Of course it's a hardwired connection so I'm guaranteed internet access, unlike when you're traveling around and have to depend on picking up a signal. But then any mobile phone has to depend on picking up a signal, so I can't see that mobile VOIP phone is much different. What is true is that you'd need an android or iOS phone, as you said.


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## Desiato (Jun 1, 2015)

I just went back to have another look at FreedomPop and did a bit more digging around the web and I came across a post that said there was a monthly fee after the first month. Sure enough, in the small print it says:

Al pulsar Activar, estás de acuerdo con el importe a pagar hoy. El servicio de FreedomPop no comenzará hasta que se envíe tu dispositivo. Tu suscripción incluye un periodo de prueba gratuito de 30-días. Cuando termine el periodo de prueba gratuito, tu servicio se renovará automáticamente con el plan proporcionado. También autorizas a FreedomPop a realizar un cargo 2,98 € mes para continuar con el servicio. Puedes cancelar o reducir tu tarifa en cualquier momento.

I'm confused, when did FREE become the same as charging €2.98 a month? 

Did anyone sign up to this and can confirm the monthly charges?
Is the service as bad as people say on the internet?
Does cancelling mean phoning a premium rate phone number, going straight to hold so you end up paying an extortionate phone bill to cancel?

Just curious


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## kalohi (May 6, 2012)

Desiato said:


> I just went back to have another look at FreedomPop and did a bit more digging around the web and I came across a post that said there was a monthly fee after the first month. Sure enough, in the small print it says:
> 
> Al pulsar Activar, estás de acuerdo con el importe a pagar hoy. El servicio de FreedomPop no comenzará hasta que se envíe tu dispositivo. Tu suscripción incluye un periodo de prueba gratuito de 30-días. Cuando termine el periodo de prueba gratuito, tu servicio se renovará automáticamente con el plan proporcionado. También autorizas a FreedomPop a realizar un cargo 2,98 € mes para continuar con el servicio. Puedes cancelar o reducir tu tarifa en cualquier momento.
> 
> ...


I've signed up but I haven't received my SIM card yet. (It was just sent 2 days ago.) So I can't comment on the service. At any rate I only want to have it as a second line and to use for when we travel to the States so I'm not that hung up on it working perfectly. 

I can comment on the monthly charge bit. Freedompop obviously exists to make money. So when you sign up, if you want the free account you have to uncheck a bunch of of boxes saying you don't want the 2GB plan and you don't want any extra services which are not free (for instance, voicemail, data rollover or usage alerts for when you're nearing your free limit). If you leave something checked you're signing up for that service and you'll be charged for it. 
I made sure to uncheck the box to get the first month free for a bunch of services, because that meant automatically signing up for those (pay) services after the first month. 

It sounds like what you quoted might be the charge for voicemail and data rollover, because together that comes to 2.98€/month. If you leave them checked in error or if you change your mind about wanting them you can always go into your account on the Freedompop webpage and unsubscribe to them (as the last sentence you quoted indicates). I've checked my account on the webpage and it shows that my monthly charge will be 0€.

I've read on the forum that to cancel an account you can write a message on the forum and they will take it to private message. Either that, or you can send a message through their support link. 

I'll update when I get my SIM card and let you know how it works.


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## Desiato (Jun 1, 2015)

If you go through the process here https://www.freedompop.com/es you'll see that the €2.98 is in the small print and there's nothing to untick to do away with this charge. I looked pretty closely at what I was agreeing to and even unticked "Buzón de Voz Visual Prueba (0,99 €/mes) --- GRATIS" just to see if this gratis item was actually chargeable but as I say, it's in the small print which doesn't change no matter what you tick. 

I've attached a screen shot for all to see.


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## kalohi (May 6, 2012)

I suspect that the place you need to look is previous to the page that you've copied here. It's where you have to check that you don't want data rollover. (ie, click the blue _No Gracias_ on the Acumula Data page.)

Then if you uncheck voicemail (Buzon de Voz), that would add up to the 2.98€. 

As I said before, you can always go into your account on the webpage and unsubscribe to any services you don't want. It's easy to do. You can also check to make sure your monthly charge is 0€.


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## Desiato (Jun 1, 2015)

kalohi said:


> I suspect that the place you need to look is previous to the page that you've copied here. It's where you have to check that you don't want data rollover. (ie, click the blue _No Gracias_ on the Acumula Data page.)
> 
> Then if you uncheck voicemail (Buzon de Voz), that would add up to the 2.98€.
> 
> As I said before, you can always go into your account on the webpage and unsubscribe to any services you don't want. It's easy to do. You can also check to make sure your monthly charge is 0€.


Ah yes, despite my attempts to read the small print, I just skimmed over that page thinking it was just stating all the details about the package again. I stand corrected, 

Shame as the ability to rollover the unused data was one of the things I was hoping to make use of, Oh well.


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## xgarb (May 6, 2011)

My opinion the best value tariffs (depending on your usage) in spain: Amena, así de claro. Sin permanencia. Descubre los mandamientos Amena


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