Tech History Moves Backwards In Impoverished Spain As Fewer People Use Mobile Phones

Something very strange is happening in the mobile phone market there: It's regressing, due to the protracted recession there.

Nearly 160,000 Spaniards cut their mobile phone service in June, according to CMT, the Spanish regulatory body. It was the 10th straight month in which Spanish mobile phone use declined, except for May 2013, the lone month of mobile growth in that period.

Spanish unemployment is 26%, and has been high since the 2009 real-estate crash. Now, only 51.9 million Spaniards have mobile services, down from 54.6 million a year earlier.

There has been a small uptick in broadband web subscriptions, but not enough to offset the number of people taking their mobile devices offline completely.

What seems to be happening is that the Spanish are downgrading to cheaper services, and getting by on WiFi service – either their own or that which they can get for free from neighbors and cafes.