New Year, Same Old, 22. Jumping Out of the Nineteenth Century.

My internet odyssey might be coming to an end, but not the way I had planned it. 

Yesterday morning, I went to the bank to pick up a paper that certified my account was mine. That was the easy part. Since it was such a wet, miserable morning, there was only one other person inside, so I just stepped in and was attended fast. I thought that it might all go smoothly, after all.

My thoughts were stopped in my tracks at the computer store. The shop assistant, on the phone with the technician from the company R, began expressing concern in his monosyllabic answers. After about fifteen minutes, he explained the situation to me. It seemed that my house not being "normalized" was more of a problem than anticipated. To "normalize" it, a petition would have to be sent to the central office. Because I live where I live, the response would most likely take at least a month. After that, I might have to wait another month or two to be hooked up. 

So, the only thing to do was to contract with Telefónica/Movistar, but the only available way for me to have fiber, was to contract the package with a landline, since I have no cell phone coverage for Movistar. I had to accept a landline I would not use and did not want, but I had no other choice.

We began the process. Because Movistar is special, it won't accept a photocopy of my ID, but a photo of it taken through a link they sent to my phone by mail. But, when the assistant went to open it, it wouldn't open. He tried it ten different ways, through my phone browser, through Chrome, through a QR app, through everything. It wouldn't open. He even opened my mail with my permission on his computer and tried it through there. Nothing. 

At this point, I was getting used to the idea that I could not have a decent internet service in the near future. Maybe within ten years' time, I could be able to look for something. Then, the assistant remembered something a representative from Lowi (a low-cost company allied with Vodafone and Movistar) had told him. Their company offered an only internet package, but with a seventy euro charge for first time hook up. The other offer was internet and cell phone, but we don't have Vodafone coverage, either. But, I could contract the second offer, using a new SIM card that I didn't have to insert in any phone. After three months I could cancel the cell phone and remain with the internet. I would save the seventy euros, get internet at a decent price, and even have it go down after the cell phone cancellation. I just wish the assistant had remembered earlier. 

I went with that possibility. This morning, I got a call from Lowi, saying that the technician would come around on Thursday at midday for the installation. 

It's no wonder that most consumer complaints are about the telecom industry. Big, bad Movistar/Telefónica doesn't want to let go of the monopoly it once enjoyed. All the others would love to control as much of the market as Movistar, and are as aggressive as possible. No one remembers the rural communities, always promising updates to infrastructure "proximately." I've been hearing "proximately" from Movistar and Vodafone for at least fifteen years, but the only cell coverage I have is Orange and the companies that rent from it. The surprise was when Movistar passed the fiber optic cable along our road a couple of summers ago. Even so, it is difficult to get internet service from any provider that doesn't have an explicit agreement with them, like Lowi does.

I've read that in the next three years, all students from 10 to 16 years of age will have electronic textbooks. This year, 10 year old fifth graders already have it. Two of my students sometimes bring their loaned laptops to do their English homework. I hate it. I accept that using computers to learn is good, but the emphasis should not be on doing most of the work on the computer. A study some years ago found that college students that took notes by hand had better memory of them than students that took their laptops to class to take notes. Writing by hand what one learns helps to cement it in the memory by creating pathways, matching hand movement and sight to memory. Keystrokes on the computer don't do the same job, especially when touch typing is not taught, and students use the hunt-and-peck method. 

The other problem with computers for textbooks is the connectivity. Those textbooks are not physically downloaded into the laptops. They are accessed through an internet connection. One of my students has to use her grandmother's cell phone as a hotspot to do her homework because there isn't internet at her grandmother's, where she spends the afternoon while her parents work. These days that I've had problems with my connection (it seems to be back up), she also had problems opening up her English book here. Before the regional government makes online learning permanent for everyone, it should oblige the telecom companies to offer decent and accessible internet coverage everywhere. But, of course, that would go against the free market, and our conservative regional government is against telling private businesses what to do.

Here's to a decent connection to the rest of the world, someday.

Life continues.