According to a study carried out by the Organization for Consumers and Users (OCU) the prices paid in Spain for ‘Triple Pay’ (landline telephone, broadband and pay view television) are double those paid in other European states.

The study compares the best offers by 47 operators of ‘Triple Pay’ in Spain, Germany, Belgium, France, Holland, Italy, Portugal and the United Kingdom. The OCU found that a client in Spain pays 94.39 euros a month for a basic package while consumers in France pay 47.90 euros for the same product which means that even with the cheapest offer Spanish consumers are obliged to pay 67% more than their French neighbours.

In the package including films Spanish consumers pay the highest price. The study found that the cheapest operator in Spain costs 31% more than the cheapest options available in other countries while the most popular operator in Spain charges double the amount paid in other countries.

The study found that French television viewers who wanted to watch football on television at home pay just 53.

90 euros a month compared to Spanish viewers who pay up to 90 euros a month to see their favourite teams on TV.

According to the OCU Spanish operators do not offer anything special in their ‘Triple Pay’ packages to justify the difference in price compared to other countries. In fact it found that consumers abroad enjoy better quality service with faster internet speeds at a cheaper price and with the same download capacity and the same number of channels as those offered in Spain.

As a result of the findings of the study the OCU has asked the Secretary of State for Telecommunications and the Association of Information to look for a way of offering a high quality service at a better price.

It has also asked operators to compete more in their offers to consumers and not to act in a way that might raise the suspicions of the National Commission for Competition in relation to the universal high prices charged in their flat rate packages.