Internet services

The Internet on Crete is growing as fast as everywhere else, at least in the cities. There are Internet cafes all over Chania and other cities where you can surf for around € 3 to 6 per hour. Chania has one of the highest percentage of Internet users in the whole of Greece. But bear in mind that internet use is a long long way behind mayn other places in the world.

Do not expect the same in smaller places, especially on the South coast where things are quite behind. New places are opening all the time though.

Internet Service Providers

A question often asked by visitors wanting to come to Crete for a longer stay is which ISP to use in Crete. Since OTE (Greek telephone company) introduced its EPAK national single access rates (see below) you are not limited to choosing a provider right next to where you are staying in order to keep charges low.
The 89625 phone numbers offer the same charge throughout Greece at night but if you want to use your connection during the day, you are better off choosing a provider with a local (meaning the administrative prefecture in which you will be staying) Point of Presence.

The two main Internet Service Providers on Crete (and in Greece) are forthnet and otenet and their charges are similar.
There are other providers sprouting up all the time but they do not seem to be any cheaper or to offer a better service (backbones and line speeds).

.It is now possible to get a broadband service in Crete in city areas but it is still expensive and comparatively slow.

All ISPs offer flat rates only (plus telephone charges) and the minimum contract time seems to be 3 months, meaning that if you want to use an ISP for a few weeks only, it works out quite expensive at around € 52 for Dialup (ISDN costing more).

If you are coming for a short time and need to use your laptop you can also buy pre-paid internet cards that enable you to connect to the internet without the need of a subscription. I know of two such services: Netkey and ACN Netcarta.

ADSL services are still in their infancy, not available in all places and quite expensive compared to the rest of Europe.

EPAK (Unified Panhellenic Call Number) Telephone Charges