Anyone who lives in remote areas or in the country and has not yet surfed the Internet at all or only at a snail’s pace can complain to the Federal Network Agency about this from the middle of next year. The authority then examines the case and, if necessary, commissions a provider to relocate broadband access. The money for this comes from a financial pot that is filled by telecommunications companies.

How fast does “fast internet” have to be?

This regulation is part of the amendment to the Telecommunications Act (TKG), which the Bundestag has decided . The TKG reform for the first time legally stipulates a “right to fast Internet”. Until now, citizens were only entitled to functional Internet access at a speed of 56 kilobits (0.056 Mbit per second). This minimum speed is now to be increased significantly. However, it is still unclear how fast the Internet must be at least that the providers must make available to end customers. Because the law does not contain a specific number. Rather, the legally binding lower limit should still be calculated – presumably by the Federal Network Agency – and then published as part of an ordinance in a few months.

The reference is the range of the majority of the population

The legal requirements for the calculation take into account download and upload speeds as well as values ​​for the delay in data transmission (latency). The Federal Network Agency excludes the 20 percent of the population with the best Internet connections. For the remaining 80 percent, who have a slower network, the authorities look at their contractually guaranteed minimum download speed and determine an average value for this. According to expert estimates, the lower limit of the download is likely to be in the low double-digit megabits per second range, below 20 Mbit. These requirements should therefore only affect people who live in the countryside or on the outskirts. Better internet connections are already possible in larger cities.

Industry criticism

The mobile communications and Internet industries are critical of this universal service connection. In a letter to members of the Bundestag, the industry association Anga and other lobby associations warned that larger expansion projects could be delayed because the focus would now have to be on “particularly poorly supplied individual locations”. The network operators could be obliged to move fast internet lines to remote corners and to lonely farms.

Consumer advocates are also criticizing the right to fast internet. You are missing a legally stipulated minimum bandwidth. The regulation does not offer “more for consumers”, criticizes Susanne Blohm, consultant for telecommunications at the Federation of German Consumer Organizations (vzbv). According to projections by the Federal Statistical Office, there are still three million households in Germany without an Internet connection. “This problem will not be solved by the new law for the time being.” In contrast, the consumer advocates welcome innovations in customer protection. Customers can cancel their Internet contract or reduce the tariff if the bandwidth is lower than that specified in the contract. The users are also entitled to compensation if the failure of the Internet has not been remedied within two days. “These are great improvements for consumers,” says consumer advocate Blohm from the vzbv.

Cable TV could get more expensive

In contrast, the abolition of the so-called “additional cost privilege” is controversial. From 2024, landlords will no longer be allowed to pass on the costs of TV cable fees to tenants. So far, they have been able to conclude collective agreements with cable network operators at lower prices and charge tenants a flat rate of eight to ten euros over the ancillary costs. For the tenants it was cheaper than signing contracts themselves. On the other hand, they also had to pay the TV costs if they did not use the connection at all or preferred other TV providers. In future, landlords will only be able to pass the TV costs on to tenants when laying fiber optic cables. A maximum of five euros per month can then be charged for a slimmed-down “provision fee”. Separately, the tenants must conclude individual contracts with the TV providers.

Who profits, who loses?

Millions of tenants then face higher costs for their TV connection. The broadband association warns against a doubling of the connection fees. Around 12.5 million tenants in this country pay their television costs through the utility bill. The consumer advocates are in favor of the deletion of the “additional cost privilege”, but complain about the cross-subsidization through the expansion of fiber optics. The bottom line is that this increases the costs for tenants, says vzbv consultant Blohm. Vodafone is likely to suffer most from this new regulation. The cable network provider was previously the market leader in this segment and sold millions of collective agreements for TV cable connections. Deutsche Telekom, on the other hand, is likely to benefit from the reform. It has so far been lagging behind in the television market. From 2024, tenants could be inclined to choose a provider other than Vodafone if the TV costs are no longer fully included in the ancillary rental costs.

4G mandatory from 2026

For the first time, the new Telecommunications Act also specifies a mobile network expansion target. According to this, all users should be able to receive at least 4G on all roads and railways “if possible” by 2026. And that continuously and smoothly.

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.