back to article Spaniards Joyn together to hunt and kill the Skype monster

Three Spanish operators have launched interoperable Joyn services, providing VoIP and IP messaging between networks in a belated attempt to take on the plethora of internet services stealing their customers. Movistar, Orange and Vodafone have all signed up to support Joyn, the latest innovation from the GSMA which provides a …

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  1. Grifter

    Mmhmm

    "where user are just get billed"

    Tell the truth now, you just lifted this article from a spanish place and ran it through google-translate, didn't you?

  2. hitmouse

    I thought it was the necessity to stand in Spanish telco offices all morning filling out volumes of paperwork just to buy a SIM card that was robbing them of customers.

    1. James Micallef Silver badge
      WTF?

      Huh?

      I remember buying a SIM card at FNAC a couple of years ago when I was on an extended visit. It took 1 form and maybe 10-15 minutes

    2. Robin

      @hitmouse Paperwork

      I've been living over here for almost four years now, so have had to visit telco offices several times. While I understand that "all morning" was probably an exaggeration, these trips are rarely smooth experiences. The paperwork is due to the fact that they changed the rules to require ID to purchase anything phone-related after the Madrid bombings, by the way.

      Ranging from being told that they don't sell things which are on display in the window to attempted fob-offs using "I don't speak English" (well, we shall have to make do with my moderate Spanish then shan't we?!), I'd summarise that most things involving telcos here are expensive and drawn-out. Even purchasing a SIM card on its own involved about 15 minutes of keyboard-tapping.

      Being a Johnny Foreigner* doesn't help sometimes, although generally staff are quite pleasant with the delays and fob-offs!

      * Juanito Extranjero?

      1. hitmouse

        Re: @hitmouse Paperwork

        I was in Spain in September, and went through this in five cities from top to bottom of Spain trying to get just a SIM card for my vacation. I tried 3 or 4 different telcos and CarPhone Warehouse.

        The queues start forming outside the telco doors at 10am, and then it's telenovella discussions between most of the staff and customers (up to 10 in a conversation). While they tried to be helpful, it was at least an hour of copying details from passports, filling out form after form, getting approval numbers and then being told it would take 2 days before activation!!! At about that point they'd discover they didn't have any SIMs in stock.

        When the doors close for lunch, there is still usually the end of the queue waiting inside from the 10am arrivals. after that you have to wait till they reopen at 4 or 5.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: @hitmouse Paperwork

          God knows where you must have been, but it doesn't work like that. User Robin above gives a much more accurate description.

          Next time try "El Corte Inglés", FNAC, or one of the many call shops run by Pakistanis, which will also sidestep nicely any language issues.

          1. hitmouse

            Re: @hitmouse Paperwork

            San Sebastian, Seville, Salamanca, Cadiz, and some other city. Visiting Orange, movistar, CarPhone warehouse and another telco whose name I forget.

            And that's how it worked. My memories are very fresh.

            I tried to buy books and CDs from FNAC in Spain last year and they wouldn't allow my visa card without my passport.

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: @hitmouse Paperwork

              If your card is not chip & pin they will always ask for an official (looking) ID in order to avoid fraud--not a bad thing IMO.

              If it's chip & pin, then they normally won't ask, but still may if they suspect the card might not be yours (or are simply told to by their bosses).

              Took me a while to get used to this but I learned to appreciate it in the end.

              1. hitmouse

                Re: @hitmouse Paperwork

                My French photo-ID driver's license for an address within a few hours drive of the store was not enough to back up my Chip-and-pin card in Spain.

                Carrying around a passport for simple shopping everyday is a sure fire way to get it damaged or stolen.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Flame

        Re: @hitmouse Paperwork

        "attempted fob-offs using "I don't speak English" "

        People who have english as their mother tongue must start considering that people speaks english as a courtesy and not as an obligation. Wherever I go, i always try to make myself understandable in the local language and learn about local culture. Foreigners entering the US have a 5 minutes paperwork experience right? Foreigners with dark skin entering the UK always get a warm welcome from the truly polite policemen at the airport right? And guess what, all the tight policies result from the terrorist attacks, which are not related with the political and military interventions by the US and the UK right?

        You must live in a paradise, where every service works just wonderfully. If not, just go roaming and don't complaint how hard it's to get a SIM card in another country.

        1. Robin

          @JahBless Re: @hitmouse Paperwork

          I didn't say that I expected people to speak English with me; I said it's used as an excuse to try and get rid of me. Sometimes it seems like the places aren't interested in making any money.

          My Spanish is fairly decent these days, but of course people can still tell I'm not a local so assume I want to use English.

          Que será será!

  3. Joe Harrison

    Boot on the other foot

    "Android-only for the moment - iOS is promised soon"

    Traditionally the other way around so I think this is an interesting comment on global Android takeup.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Boot on the other foot

      Makes sense to satistfy the largest group of consumers first.

      I think we'll be seeing this more in future.

    2. El Richard Thomas

      Re: Boot on the other foot

      No idea about globally, but it's probably right for Spain. In my own entirely unscientific experience based on my friends I'd say Android devices outnumber iphones by around 10 to 1.

      1. Chris007

        Re: Boot on the other foot

        With the recent comments on Android / iPhone share I've been nosying around when in pubs / airports etc.

        The thing that has struck me is that the iPhone is used by more females than males (it's not a scientific study!!). And the Android phones were more the high end (SGS II/III, HTC thingy etc) with a smaller smattering of mid-level.

        Wonder if the reg would carry out a survey to see if this male = android , female = iphone holds true anywhere else

    3. Gene Cash Silver badge

      Re: Boot on the other foot

      Either than or Apple told them "not interested" or the app is stuck in approval.

    4. hitmouse

      Re: Boot on the other foot

      From my travels I would say that outside of the Anglosphere, Android devices vastly outnumber iPhones. They don't get drowned in Apple's reality distortion field so easily.

  4. petur
    Meh

    Yesssss! Another voip/im system!

    Just what the world needed.... not.

  5. TeeCee Gold badge
    FAIL

    "just get billed for the local data as long as the other party is part of Joyn."

    Or just add the Skype app and just get billed for local data regardless of whether or not the other party is in some local clique.

    At the end of the day, you can either use Joyn for those on it and Skype for everyone else, or just use Skype for everyone. Given those two choices, it's not hard to see which one wins.

    1. Irongut
      FAIL

      Re: "just get billed for the local data as long as the other party is part of Joyn."

      If Joyn is "some local clique" then surely that makes Skype a clique as well. Not everyone is on Skype.

      A service provided by mobile operators stands a better chance than most at building a bigger user base than Skype provided they charge appropriately.

  6. Test Man
    Meh

    Is this similar to what T-Mobile are currently offering? I seem to remember getting an e-mail from them about some VoIP client.

  7. Pete 2 Silver badge

    ¿Cuánto?

    With the recession ravaged spanish economy, this whole initiative will depend on price, Given that data services in Spain are still killingly expensive (8 EUR buys you 500MB/month on Yoigo) this service sounds like a way to INCREASE telco income, rather that compete with Skype.

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