With the abolition of the utility bill privilege from July 2024, many landlords will allow collective contracts for cable TV to expire. Tenants should therefore inquire now about options to continue receiving live TV. What alternatives are there?
From July 2024, landlords will no longer be able to bill the costs of cable TV through tenants’ additional costs. Collective TV reception contracts that landlords have concluded for apartment buildings will expire on July 1st. Many tenants in Germany could therefore be left empty-handed from July onwards. Anyone who wants to continue watching live TV as usual should do a cable TV check.
Cable TV Check: How does it work?
Just because the utility bill privilege is no longer available does not mean that cable TV will no longer be available. Tenants can now sign their own contracts with cable providers to continue receiving TV from the box.
The easiest way for tenants is certainly the cable TV check. Vodafone has been the largest cable network operator in Germany since its merger with Unitymedia in 2018, as the BR reports. Tenants can find out in a few seconds whether they are connected to the cable network of Vodafone are connected. Tenants can use the linked page to find out not only whether a supply contract exists, but also which contract the landlord has used so far. Anyone who gets cable television from Vodafone via “TV Connect Start”, for example, pays 4.05 euros per month.
If there is no cable TV connection from Vodafone, tenants do not have to be discouraged. The alternative from Germany’s largest cable network provider is GigaTV Net, Vodafone’s Internet TV offering.
Click here for Vodafone’s offer
Details of Vodafone’s cable TV alternative:
- 9.99 euros per month for the first six months
- 14.99 per month from the seventh month
- 49.99 Euro provision fee
- 24 months minimum contract term
- 53 HD channels, 60 SD channels
- Additional films and series in the media library
Watch live TV via antenna as an alternative to cable TV
Television via antenna is nothing new. What is new, however, is the transmission standard. What used to be called DVB-T has been DVB-T2 HD since March 2017. Since then, the antenna reception of many channels has also been HD standard.
In order to receive cable TV via antenna from July, tenants need an antenna and a CI+ module for the television. There are small indoor antennas, outdoor antennas or roof antennas. Tenants can currently obtain all the necessary devices and Freenet TV from Freenet Mobile.
Click here to see Freenet’s offer
Details of Freenet TV:
- Freenet TV for 9.99 euros per month
- 40 channels
- CI+ module one-time fee of 9.99 euros
- Indoor antenna SRT ANT 30 for a one-time fee of 14.99 euros
TV streaming as a modern alternative to cable TV from July
For TV streaming, tenants only need a broadband internet connection. Various providers then use their own access and apps to deliver live TV directly to the television via network cable or WiFi. From July, tenants looking for an alternative to conventional cable TV will find an offer from the TV streaming provider Waipu.tv at Freenet mobile communications.
Click here for the Waipu.tv offer
Details from Waipu.tv:
- More than 160 channels
- First month free, then 7.49 euros per month
- Monthly cancellation
Conclusion: Which alternative to cable TV is the best?
The best thing is what works best for tenants. Anyone who doesn’t yet have an antenna will certainly find the switch to antenna TV complicated. The easiest option seems to be to sign your own contract with the major cable network operators Vodafone or Pÿur. Anyone who doesn’t have a cable connection can make do with TV streaming. And then there’s always satellite TV.
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