Telephone & Internet
The Internet quality is excellent and the average price of the service providers is fairly good. An average of 35Euros bill can be expected for a broad-brand connection. Internet service providers in Germany all offer the same range of prices for equally good offers. Elements that will make a difference is often customer service and technical quality.
Contract and Cancellation
Many German phone and Internet plans are only available with an initial 2-year minimum contract, and also require that you cancel months in advance in order to avoid an automatic contract extension.
Package deals with free hardware and activation can save you money but most require a two-year minimum contract and early cancellation fees may apply.
The contract cancellation is not that easy in Germany.Usually the cancellation notice time is 3 months, so make sure to let your German internet provider know in good enough time. Concerning cancellation when moving back home away from Germany you are allowed legally to cancel your contract with a 3 months notice, provided the provider can not continue to give you a comparable service at the same price where you are moving.The internet providers in Germany don’t let go so easily.
The process to set up the internet connection is :
- Pick the suitable offer
- Enter Pincode in their website and Check the speed of the internet connection in your building
- Get contract confirmation
- Receive your modems – Wifi Routers
- Wait for technician to open your line (up to 14 days)
You may need to pay for a one-time fee for the price of the router or other equipment being provided, and fee for “processing your contract”to finally open your contract with a German internet provider.
A two weeks delay is generally expected for a technician to come and open the line for your connection.
The different internet service providers :
- 1&1
- O2
- T-Mobile
- Unity Media
- Vodafone
Role Of Deutsche Telekom
One important thing to understand is the role of Deutsche Telekom in setting up your internet in Germany.Deutsche Telekom was once owning the monopoly of the phone network,the company is still responsible today for keeping most of the network up to date. That’s the reason why that even if you sign up for another company than Deutsche Telekom, the company will still actually physically set your internet connection up if the network is its responsibility.
For short stay in Germany
If you need internet in Germany for only a few weeks or a few months, you should look for the keyword “Ohne Mindestlaufzeit” or “Ohne Mindestvertragslaufzeit” when looking at the different offers. This translates to “no minimum duration”. It means that you don’t commit to a yearly contract and you can cancel your contract at anytime.
If you are staying in country for under a month, the best solution might be to turn to prepaid SIM cards with generous data plans or so called”surf sticks” that let you know browse the internet via a USB dongle:
- Vodafone CallYa
- O2 Loop
- Blau Allnet L
- Edeka Mobil
Compare all available plans for your location in Preisvergleich or Check24 This website shows you to get the cheapest plan for your needs. Enter your postal code here to verify your DSL availability and pick a plan among the internet offered in Germany.
You can use the very handy Youth HotSpot app that lists all the places where there is free Wifi until you set up your own internet connection in Germany.
Mobile Phone Plan in Germany
Prepaid Mobile Phone cards
If you are staying only for only a few months here, it is wise to choose a prepaid one. You don't need any bank account or permanent address proof to get a prepaid sim card.It surely brings less perks but after all. Prepaid phone card has a phone number, calls and texts billed per min or per text.
In all cases, in Germany, SIM cards are sold separately from the phone, so be sure to have your phone “unlocked” before you come here. Otherwise, you won’t be able to use it with a German mobile phone plan.
The Prepaid SIM cards can be obtained from supermarkets, or local stores for around 10€. Generally it is limited and can be recharged once the data pack or call limit is over.
The different Prepaid SIM Cards available :
- Aldi Talk : can be purchased at Aldi Supermarkt
- O.Tel.O : can be purchased at Media Markt, Saturn, Euronics
- Congstar Prepaid : can be purchased in T-Stores , Kaufland, Real and Netto
- Lidl Mobile : canbe purchased at Lidl Supermarkt
- Blau : can be purchased at Aral, Netto, Real, Rossmann
- Edeka Mobile : to be purchased at Edeka only
- Tchibo Mobile : to be purchased at Tchibo only
- Lyca Mobile
There are even offers for pre-paid plans. DeinHandy is also a good site where you can also compare plans.
Overview on Contracts
There are SIM Card only contracts and Mobile Phone + SIM Card contracts. A bank account is compulsary to get any type of contract signed. Pick the best month-to-month plan and you can compare all the tarif in deinhandy. Most common smartphones can be used on European bands with no issues at all.
When you go in for a standard phone +SIM Card plan type contract. In this case, the phone will be yours at the end of the contract and you have every right to have it unlocked. You will need to enter a long series of numbers and characters to unlock it.
Buying a mobile phone with monthly installments will require you to have a good SCHUFA score, otherwise the operator will refuse your request. Find a cheap phone or find an offer with a one-off fee for the phone.
For short stay in Germany
In case you are only visiting the country for a few weeks, your needs are probably a little different as far as German mobile phone plans go. Although you can still go with prepaid options listed above, you might also consider Lycamobile which has the following advantages:
- You can order your SIM card for free and have it sent wherever you want
- No contracts attached
- Customer service in many different languages
- Good rates for national calls and data plans
- International bundles so you can call back home for very cheap