This news will catch many cellphone customers off guard. Telefónica Deutschland has announced that it will increase prices for brands such as O2 and Blau by up to ten percent. Other providers could follow suit in a timely manner.
Attention everyone: Mobile communications are becoming more expensive! The head of Telefónica Germany, Markus Haas, has now announced this to the “Handelsblatt” . The reason given by the manager is the high inflation and the costs that are rising across the board in this context in Germany. Added to this are rising wage and energy costs. Among other things, the network expansion is associated with ever higher investments. “More performance at the same price is – unlike in the past – no longer possible,” Haas is quoted as saying by the business newspaper.
TELEFÓNICA: BASIC CHARGES WILL INCREASE BY UP TO 10 PERCENT
As early as spring, the basic prices for brands such as O2 or Blau are expected to rise by up to ten percent. A popular mobile phone tariff such as the O2 Free M offer with triple flat rate and 20 GB monthly data volume would then no longer cost 29.99 euros per month, but up to just under 33 euros per month. For premium tariffs such as O2 Free Unlimited Max with unlimited data volume, instead of just under 60 euros, up to 66 euros would be due per month.
In a first step, however, the new, higher prices should only affect new customers. Telefónica Deutschland will probably avoid the risk of losing customers through price increases by having to grant them a special right of termination. In the course of a contract extension, however, existing customers will also have to adjust to higher costs in the future. However, discounts are still possible.
IN RETURN, THERE ARE 5G IN MORE TARIFFS
But there is also good news. Because unlike before, 5G will be activated at least at O2 in all contract tariffs. It’s not “about flat surcharges,” Haas told the “Handelsblatt”. Inexpensive contract tariffs such as the O2 Free S or the O2 Free S Boost with 3 or 6 GB of data volume per month previously only received access to Telefónica Deutschland’s LTE network. That should change in the future. Should O2 also increase the basic prices for its prepaid packages, access to 5G could also be activated there. Meanwhile, it is less likely that this will also happen with mobile phone discount brands like Blau.
ARE TELEKOM AND VODAFONE FOLLOWING SUIT?
It remains to be seen how the competition will react to the new development. So far, prices in German mobile communications have almost only gone in one direction: downwards. Or the conditions were not touched, but the inclusive services were improved. Against this background, the move by Telefónica Deutschland is a kind of trend reversal. It is not unlikely that Deutsche Telekom and Vodafone will also take the opportunity to push through price increases on the German mobile communications market.
