Why have a picture of a manhole… read on and find out!

If you own a villa or just living in Lanzarote, having Internet / Wi-Fi is vital, so we thought we would give our views on what the options are

Telefonica

Historically it was Telefonica or Telefonica, even though it is now in the private sector it still feels like it has a monopoly

If you live inland, a speed of 2.0mb is the norm and if it rains this drops dramatically

In some areas there are still are shortage of telephone lines, so a waiting list exists and of course no telephone line… no Internet from Telefonica

Fibre

Very very slowly being rolled out in parts of the capital Arrecife and a recent announcement Tias is to follow

Unelco/BT

If you walk around the island and look down at the pavement you will still see numerous steel plates with the words “Unelco BT” – a failed JV between BT and Unelco, the local energy provider in Lanzarote, they spent enormous amounts on building their own infrastructure

More recently there are some other options

4G Option

A local company has begun to sell 4G routers with unlimited internet contracts, it is excellent that it is offering unlimited data but you still reliant on a good and stable 4G signal - It’s not a cheap service - the monthly payment is €59.99, more info can be found at 4G internet in Lanzarote

An authorised BT dealer – Fortec offers an Internet package, however you are relying on the Telefonica infrastructure as have the issue of responsibility of when you have an issue, more info can be found at BT Fortec

Satellite Internet

The same company offers Satellite Internet with free installation; unfortunately it is limited data allowance and is quite expensive

Internet through the air

Lastly there is Internet through the air, something we use at Villa Antonio Lanzarote, something we were dubious about but has provided to be excellent – we get a Wi-Fi speed between 10mb to 12mb

The company is JMA and they even have there own server on the Island, if you use Speedtest.net to check your Wi-Fi speed,  in Lanzaroteyou will see the JMA server is used

More info can be found at JMA Lanzarote Internet

We are not getting paid to say this;information, we just want to give our open and honest opinion

There you have it, a mixture of options, feel free to add your comments below