My first tries to get mobile broadband in France was a fiasco. I just took my Vodaphone dongle with me and hoped to connect it to local SFR (Vodaphone) network. First they demanded that I must have permanent address in France and a French bank account!!! What the use of me to have French bank account if there wont be any money coming to it and if I will have a permanent address, why I need to pay so much extra just not having simple ADSL connection there? I can get cash out from every ATM and pay on every supermarket with my Visa card. Why suddenly I cant do it in the mobile shop?

And finally when we find out that the place where we lived didnt had even simple GPRS connections not talking about 3G, so I just went to Spain where mobile world is much more developed. They even have mobile world congress here in Barclelona.

But here we have exactly same problem getting mobile broadband. As I stay with Kate on her boat, we cant get ADSL line to the boat so mobile broadband is the only solution getting Internet at the sea. However, Telefonica refused to sell it to us?

I may not be authorised without a local adress, but Kate having lived in Spain over four years, previous customer to Telefonica with local bank account and tax obligations must have been an authorised customer?

How the person who sells the apartment to live more convenient way in the sailing boat suddenly is refused to use telecommunication services?

And you do not need a mobile broadband if you are not living a mobile lifestyle!!! How those companies do not understand it!!! Are they really thinking that people are willing to pay five times more to get limited Internet access just that its new "cool" thing to have?