Germany mobile contracts are the shittiest in Europe

[yourkeau 7,719]

I don't think this is news, but I was a bit shocked to know what you get for the same money in Austria:

http://www.br.de/nachrichten/mobilfunk-tarife-vergleich-100.html

[Smaug 5,849]

I know that for example in Italy some contracts give you tens of GBs a month, but these come with some big "buts", e.g. all that data is only available between midnight and 7 am.

[yourkeau 7,719]

Well, and I pay 10 euro for 1 gb in Germany. But still the funniest thing is that they build LTE network to stream videos, but whatever tariff you have, it's not suitable for streaming. And the neighbors have it better :(

[Krieg 14,919]

While it is true the prices in Germany are still too high the article loses credibility when they chose the worst offer in Germany to compare it to the best ones in other countries just to make it look more dramatic.

 

You can easily find offers with 7 EUR for 1GB or 20 EUR for 5GB in Germany.  Still not good enough though.

[jeba 4,342]

I wish I could enjoy German rates. In Cyprus you pay €29 for 6GB (and that is a half price special)or 1.5 GB für €8 (valid for 10 days only).

[LeonG 14,796]

I currently have a SIM from my boss to use for mobile data but before when I was using my provider for it, I was paying 10€/month for 400 min/SMS and 200MB.  They've now upped that plan to include 700MB.  There is also a daily rate available 2€/day for up to 500MB per day with a kostenschutz of max 20€ month so that would be 15GB/month for 20€

[Ruhetag 197]

When roaming fees fall next summer-2017, we will probably see a lot more cross-border competition! This should equate to lower prices for everyone.

[Krieg 14,919]

I think the new rules say they can't charge for roaming, it does not say they have to provide free roaming. Knowing how German companies like to take advantage I wouldn't be surprised if they simple do not offer any data when you are out or Germany.

[MikeMelga 7,240]

German mobile contracts are crap not because of the price, but because of poor network coverage, no easy way to cancel them, auto renovation, etc.

[yourkeau 7,719]

24 minutes ago, Ruhetag said:

When roaming fees fall next summer-2017, we will probably see a lot more cross-border competition! This should equate to lower prices for everyone.

No. You have to be a resident of the country to use free roaming. Id est if you buy a SIM card from Austria, you can't use it in Germany permanently, you have to go back to Austria from time to time to be regarded as a resident. Which is ok if you live near the border. But I suspect those already have Austrian SIM cards for a long time.

 

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Knowing how German companies like to take advantage I wouldn't be surprised if they simple do not offer any data when you are out or Germany.

I didn't read the original directive, but it says something like you can use free roaming no longer than 3 months/year.

[Guest]

I have lived in Canada and will never complain about the cost of mobile plans in Germany, ever. I remember paying over 80$ for 100min, 50 txt messages and like a couple MBs. and when I canceled my contract 1.5 year before the end date due to moving in Germany, I paid a hefty early termination penalty fee of over 300$. I remember crying at the store because that was $$ I needed for my move here. 

 

[yourkeau 7,719]

In Americas there is even less competition, as far as I know.

 

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I didn't read the original directive, but it says something like you can use free roaming no longer than 3 months/year.

Bundesnetzagentur site says there will be limit for free roaming (fair use limit). I suspect that this limit will be very low.

http://www.bundesnetzagentur.de/DE/Sachgebiete/Telekommunikation/Verbraucher/WeitereThemen/InternRoaming/EURoaming/EURoaming-node.html

[Adem137 180]

I pay 14euro for 4gb from Winsim. But agree, Internet in general here is about 10 years behind.

[Guest]

True...

But if you dont like it... you could fuck off to a place where the intenet is up-to date!

 

 

[Adem137 180]

13 hours ago, SpiderPig said:

True...

But if you dont like it... you could fuck off to a place where the intenet is up-to date!

 

 

 

If only it was that easy! Have a good job here and if I was offered a job elsewhere I'd be gone tomorrow and not come back. 

[yourkeau 7,719]

There is LTE in my village. From yesterday!

Still useless with 1 G of data, but I don't think we have to wait 10 years. In 5 years everything will be ok, methinks.

 

 

[yourkeau 7,719]

Telekom introduced unlimited data plan. It costs however: 79,95 euro/month

 

Alternatives are still crappier than in neighbour countries 2 years ago: 6 gb for 48,11 euro, 2 gb for 30 euro.

[yourkeau 7,719]

An article in BR which compares this plan with what the neighbors have:

https://www.br.de/nachrichten/warum-handytarife-so-teuer-sind-100.html

 

Netherlands: 25 euro/month

Slovakia: 23 euro

Baltics: 22 euro

 

I did some research on Austria: one can find unlimited data plans with LTE speeds for 20 euro, but no EU roaming available (I wonder, how this is legally possible).

 

Chief editor of Chip magazine thinks that such prices are due to ridiculous licenses for frequencies in UMTS range. So, should we all thank the Schröder, our gas mafiosi?

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Experten begründen die Preisunterschiede ähnlich. Vor allem die UMTS-Frequenzversteigerung im Jahr 2000, bei der die Mobilfunkprovider insgesamt 50 Milliarden Euro zu bezahlen hatten, beeinflusst bis heute die Preise. „Das ist einfach eine Altlast und seit 2000 ist klar: Breitband über Mobilfunk ist etwas Teures“, sagt Josef Reitberger, Chefredakteur von Chip.

 

 

[Mackle 802]

This is why I am keeping my UK contract for now - £20 a month, 20GB of data, unlimited calls and texts, and a Spotify premium subscription.

[Mississippian 122]

If you're in a large city in Germany, is there free WiFi available? I can't imagine a 1GB plan being very useful unless there is a lot of WiFi in your area that you could use instead of cell data.