Consumers can put Internet providers to the test
If you have much worse internet at home than the provider promised, you can reduce payments to them. Photo: Fabian Sommer / dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
The download gets stuck, the video stalls: the Internet is not always as fast as the provider has promised. Consumers will be able to reduce prices more easily in the future – with the right tool.
Starting Monday, consumers can use a revised measuring tool from the Federal Network Agency to test whether their Internet at home is worse than contractually promised.
If you discover a discrepancy, you can cut your monthly payment to your internet provider. You should contact your provider for this. You also have a special right of termination.
The new reduction law is part of the amended Telecommunications Act, which has been in force since the beginning of December. Consumers could insist on price reductions in the event of poor internet access, but they were in a weak position vis-à-vis the provider. Now they have much better cards.
The Federal Network Agency’s “broadband measurement.de” desktop app must be used, and the computer must be connected to the landline Internet with a LAN cable. The app was already available before, but from Monday it will be compatible in an extended version for the right of reduction.
In the end, it’s black and white
The consumer must carry out 30 tests on three different calendar days, with at least one day between each day. There are other requirements that are automatically adhered to when using the desktop app. At the end, the consumer receives a measurement log that documents the deficits in black and white if the internet is bad.
Internet tariffs contain a product information sheet in which the provider specifies the maximum and minimum transmission speeds as well as the data rate normally available. From the point of view of consumer advocates, companies sometimes promise too much in their advertising. The right of reduction could lead to Internet providers giving more realistic information or showing more commitment to improve connections, so the hope of consumer advocates.
Criticism comes from the telecommunications industry. The VATM association, for example, points out that the usual fluctuations in the network do not automatically mean that the consumer can use it less well – for example, if he only downloads e-mails or videos work smoothly even with a lower bandwidth.