Long loading times and poor internet connection – this should be improved by the Telecommunications Act passed by the Bundestag today. Other things are changing for consumers.
From Eva Lamby-Schmitt, ARD capital studio It’s done – one of the grand coalition’s biggest projects, summarizes Andreas Lämmel from the Union parliamentary group. In the reform of the Telecommunications Act, there is a legal right to fast Internet – everywhere, including in rural areas. For this purpose, all households in Germany are to be connected to high-speed internet, and network providers are to be encouraged through state subsidy programs to promote the expansion of the internet. Or as Falko Mohrs from the SPD describes it: “We are glass fiberising the country.” Not only fixed-line internet, but also the mobile network should be stable and uninterrupted across the board, 4G as the standard everywhere and as a preliminary stage for 5G.
If landlords provide a fiber optic connection, they can charge five euros per month for it. Image: picture alliance / Guido Kirchne
Fiber optic cables in many apartment buildings?
For consumers, the law also changes the terms of Internet contracts. In the future, they should not be automatically renewed for another year or two after the minimum term has expired. Users could then cancel it monthly. In addition, costs for TV cable contracts are no longer to be billed via the ancillary costs in the future. However, if the landlord has equipped the house with fiber optic cables, he can ask for money, capped at five euros per month. The federal government hopes that the fiber optic expansion will also make it into apartments in rental houses. After the vote in the Bundestag, the Bundesrat is still asked. The federal government wants the new telecommunications law to come into force this year.
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