Internet connection prices for householders soared in the last year, way beyond those for land-line, mobile or satellite TV costs. Charges for connecting to the net now represent a staggering 70 per cent of the monthly landline telephone bill, having soared in price by 39 per cent. Along with the constantly rising number of households connected – a million more in 2006 than in 2005 - Spain as a whole spent 1.49 million euros on net access last year. This is only partly due to price hikes. The rocketing figures are also attributable to many private users’ decision to switch from dial-up to broadband connections.

Including IVA (VAT), the average monthly cost of being on-line is 26.70 euros, some 15.5 per cent more than a year ago. Around 5.5 million homes are on broadband, more than a third of the total number of households with an internet connection. Around 36 per cent of homes are online.

This said, mobile phone connection costs also account for a significant amount of the money private individuals spend on new technology. For the first time ever last year, the money spent on mobile phone line rental exceeded that of landline costs (4.87 million euros compared to 4.48 million) representing a rise of 22 per cent in the last year.

The average household spent 35.80 euros a month on their mobile phones and around 30 euros on their landlines. More than 84 per cent of homes have a mobile phone, compared just under 83 per cent which have a landline telephone.

Furthermore, the price of satellite or cable TV has risen by 1.5 per cent to an average of 33 euros a month. The greatest increases were seen in packages offered by telephone companies such as Telefónica, Jazztel, Ya.com and Orange. Nearly 20 per cent of households have paid-for television channel packages.

A typical household in Spain pays an aggregate 125 euros a month for their television packages, internet connections, landline and mobile telephone line rental and calls.