Bun­desnet­za­gen­tur launch­es con­sul­ta­tion on re­duc­tion rules for mo­bile-net­work in­ter­net access

Year of issue 2024
Date of issue 2024.06.12

The Bundesnetzagentur has today launched a consultation on the draft general administrative order regarding the planned reduction rules for mobile-network internet access and on the draft guidelines with specific requirements for proving reduced performance.

"Our proposals provide more details on the planned rules for the right of to reduce the fees paid in the mobile sector. With the planned measuring tool, consumers can check and prove whether the mobile network quality meets the standards agreed in the contract," said Klaus Müller, President of the Bundesnetzagentur.

Specific requirements for reduced performance

It is much more complicated to prove reduced performance in a mobile network than in a fixed one because the performance is not provided at a fixed location. The decisive factor is the capacity of provider networks in individual regions. In addition, mobile networks are a shared medium in which users share locally available capacity. The Bundesnetzagentur therefore considers it necessary to take a regionally differentiated approach to determining a deviation between the actual and contractually agreed performance warranting reduction. Only in this way can the specific characteristics of the mobile sector be taken into account.

The Bundesnetzagentur plans to base the determination of a deviation from the contractually agreed performance warranting reduction on different deductions. It is proposing a deduction of 75% in areas with a high density of households, 85% in areas with a medium density of households and 90% in areas with a low density of households. The division of areas is based on 300-metre grids in order to fully reflect local demographic factors and accurately represent network expansion. Given the maximum speeds of several hundred megabits per second often set out in contracts, most consumers still get high transmission rates even with the planned deductions.

The proof needed for a reduction should be based on 30 measurements spread out over five calendar days with six measurements per day. A substantial deviation in speed compared to the estimated maximum speed is assumed to exist if, on at least three of the five measurement days, the contractually cited estimated maximum speed reduced by the deductions mentioned above is not reached at least once.

On the basis of the consulted drafts, the Bundesnetzagentur will then produce and publish final rules for mobile-network internet access. At the same time, the Bundesnetzagentur will develop a mobile measuring tool for proving reduced performance.

Requirements for the right of reduction

The consumer rights enshrined in the Telecommunications Act (TKG) allow consumers, in the event of reduced performance, to reduce the monthly payment they make to their provider for their internet access or they can make use of their extraordinary right to terminate their contract. Consumers have recourse to these options in the case of substantial, continuous or regularly repeated discrepancies in speed between the actual performance of the internet access services and the performance cited by the provider. They have to supply proof using a monitoring mechanism provided by the Bundesnetzagentur.

To clarify the legal requirements for reduction for mobile-network internet access, the Bundesnetzagentur had already presented initial proposals on the key elements of the procedure for consultation. The resulting comments were taken into consideration in the draft general administrative order and guidelines that have now been presented.

Deadline for comments

All stakeholders have until 12 July 2024 to submit written comments on the current drafts of the general administrative order and guidelines. The drafts, further information, key elements and comments on these are available (in German) on the Bundesnetzagentur’s website at www.bundesnetzagentur.de/breitbandgeschwindigkeiten.