Lame Mobile Internet: Up to 90% slower speed should be allowed

According to the latest amendment to the Telecommunications Act (TKG), consumers have the right to reduce monthly payments if internet performance is less than what is guaranteed under the contract. For the fixed network, the Federal Network Agency has set rules for this at the end of 2021. On Thursday, it published similar specifications for mobile Internet access and brought them up for discussion, giving network operators a lot of freedom.

90% acceptable deviation

According to the Federal Network Agency, demonstrating reduced performance in mobile communications is significantly more complex than in a fixed network. This is because the contract here is not fulfilled in a fixed place. The critical factor is how efficient the networks of service providers are in individual regions.

So the regulator wants to base its model on ‘divergent deductions’ to identify relevant deviation from contractually agreed service. In urban areas, a deviation of 75 percent from the promised maximum download and upload speed can be tolerated before compensation is due. In semi-urban areas, the deviation is likely to be 85 percent, in rural areas up to 90 percent.

“These discounts may seem high,” the network agency admits. Given the often-agreed maximum speeds of several hundreds of MB/s, this still results in “high data transfer rates” for most end customers.

The main points matched with the fixed network

According to the main points, the number of measurements required to prove the reduction should be 30 – as in the stationary network. However, the authority has a different distribution in mind: Surveys should span five calendar days in mobile communications, with six measurements on each calendar day. In parallel with the interested party participation process, which runs until September 30, the Federal Network Agency wants to work on a special verification tool. “The goal at the end of this process is to help consumers to be able to assert their rights to mobile communications in the future,” said the head of the authorities, Klaus Muller.

(BMI)