Mobile telephony in Germany is expensive – everyone has that feeling. Now the Federation of German Consumer Organizations has recalculated and compared the German prices with other European prices. The result seems clear, but it lags on one point.
The Federation of German Consumer Organizations (vzbv) compared the price structures for mobile data volume in Germany with other European countries. On the positive side: The prices for mobile communications services in Germany and Europe are falling. But if you compare Germany with the neighboring countries, the offers for mobile data volume without additional services are above average in Germany.
However, the vzbv does not give reasons for the comparatively high prices. The network operators repeatedly mention the high costs for the frequencies and licenses that the state achieves through regular auctions. According to the network operators, the expansion of the networks is also more expensive in a country with many low mountain ranges than in other countries.
The vzbv, on the other hand, criticizes the fact that home office users are also dependent on the mobile Internet in many regions of Germany. The reason: the fixed line broadband infrastructure is missing. In addition, 80 percent of the over 14-year-olds in Germany used the mobile Internet last year. “Consumer-friendly, Europe-wide competitive prices for mobile Internet therefore serve the general interest”, according to the vzbv.
ONLY DATA PLANS IN COMPARISON
But in 2019, German consumers paid an average of around three times as much as end customers in the particularly cheap European countries, according to consumer advocates. The comparison prices are not yet available for 2020. This can be seen from the average costs for one gigabyte of mobile data volume with pure data tariffs, which vary greatly in European countries. For example, in 2019 consumers in Poland paid 0.83 euros for one gigabyte of mobile data volume. In Germany the price for this was 3.35 euros.
Although the prices for mobile communications services are falling in Germany and Europe, Germany is consistently number one or two of the most expensive countries for mobile Internet compared to the countries examined. At least according to the numbers of the vzbv. Because the comparison only took data tariffs into account. Smartphone tariffs with a high data volume or even a flat rate were not taken into account. These tariffs can also be used for surfing on a tablet or laptop. Here, for example, you can find a telephone and data flat rate with up to 10 Mbit / s for 39.99 euros per month at O2 . If you only transfer 20 GB per month, your costs per gigabyte are less than 2 euros.
