Gibtelecom launches English mobile service in Spain

Gibtelecom will be launching a new all English mobile service in Spain in the coming weeks.

The service, called Lobster, is expected to meet the needs of many English-speaking people in Spain, offering competitive prices on voice and data deals.

The group has invested nearly £4m to date in systems and infrastructure through its subsidiary company in Spain, Zinniatel.

Jansen Reyes, Gibtelecom Director of Technology and project founder, said: “This new mobile operator, which is expected to start trading in December, has been branded ‘Lobster’ following extensive market research.”

“Under its motto of ‘English, easy and effortless’, Lobster is targeting its services at the English-speaking communities across Spain.”

Mr Reyes added that Lobster will partly run on the back of a mobile network in Spain but in all other respects will leverage on existing Gibtelecom technology infrastructure which is engineered to serve many more customers than are available to Gibtel mobile locally.

Gabriel Miguez, Zinniatel’s managing director, based in north-east Madrid where many telecommunications companies are located, said he is really excited to be working on a business venture which is tapping into a niche in the Spanish telecommunications market that can be served so much better than is the case now.

Mr Miguez added: “With our team based in Spain, combined with the wherewithal of Gibtelecom and an English-speaking contact centre, it makes Lobster a winning proposition.”

Mr Miguez explained that the Lobster service will initially be available through online purchases.

In the new year, the service will be available via hundreds of points of sale across southern Spain, the Balearic and Canary Islands.

The Lobster packages and prices will be announced shortly before the launch, and would be available to all potential customers who can register for the service in Spain.

Tim Bristow, CEO of Gibtelecom Group and chair of the investing subsidiary company, said: “Lobster mobile presents a great opportunity and makes so much commercial sense.”

“Launching a mobile operation in Spain has been an immensely complex undertaking, which has been well over two years in the making and taken considerable effort way and beyond the call of duty of all the staff involved.”

“Gibraltar’s communications market is limited in size, and what with increasing local competition in such circumstances it is only natural for a business to look to expand its services to other territories.”

“This has been the case over the last decade with Gibtelecom building a niche global communications business, primarily through submarine cable and other European fixed network investments.”