The Federal Network Agency makes it easier for affected people to submit applications to exercise the “right to faster internet”. She has posted a revised contact form online in which she provides information about the process and its requirements. Furthermore, the tool now makes it possible to apply with just a few clicks. The Bundestag’s Digital Committee had previously called for relevant resources on the regulatory authority’s website to be made more “user-oriented”.
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About this newly designed look For example, the Network Agency provides information to support those affected “when there is a shortage or inadequate supply of telecommunications services”. Applicants must confirm under the “Requirements” tab that they wish to receive a current minimum coverage of 10 Mbit/s for download and 1.7 Mbit/s for upload with a delay (latency) of 150 milliseconds. You must agree that the Potential Service is “provided independently of any particular technical solution.” Therefore there is no right to fiber optic connection. Rather, coverage through mobile communications or satellite Internet is also an option.
Interested parties must also confirm that they have “already thoroughly checked” whether they cannot conclude a contract with the telecommunications provider for regular Internet and telephone coverage. They must agree to an “affordable price of 30 euros” per month when using the minimum offer at their place of residence. However, the law does not provide a price limit for commercial use, it further said. The Federal Network Agency reserves the right “to request appropriate evidence at the appropriate time or to obtain it from responsible authorities within the scope of its official investigative powers”, while complying with data protection rules.
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Minimum bandwidth expected to increase soon
Chair of the Digital Committee, Tabia Rosner from the Greens, welcomed this move“Bandwidth is going to increase very soon,” he said. In the future, 15 Mbit/s download and 5 Mbit/s upload should be possible. This change is scheduled to come into effect at the end of this year or early 2025. The decision was taken before the traffic lights were extinguished. At the same time, Rosner complained: “There is still a lack of information content for offline people who want to go online.”
Many citizens have not yet benefited from the entitlements created in 2021. It was only in March that the Federal Network Agency intervened for the first time and in May obliged a provider to provide Internet to a home in Germany on the basis of the relevant regulation. The regulatory authority initially imposed a cap size of 330,000 households potentially affected by the short supply. According to the federal government, this number has now “reduced due to improvements in the fixed network”. Many submissions have so far not survived scrutiny of the basis of the claim by the regulator.
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