Defeat for Telekom and Vodafone: The two tariff options “StreamOn” and “Vodafone Pass” must be abolished. This was decided by the Federal Network Agency. Here we summarize how the providers now want to react.
The Federal Network Agency has prohibited Deutsche Telekom and Vodafone from marketing their “Telekom StreamOn” and “Vodafone Pass” tariff options. From July, they may no longer be sold, as the supervisory authority announced on Thursday. Existing contracts must be completed by the end of March 2023 at the latest.
According to the authority, the so-called zero-rating tariffs or zero-tariff options violate net neutrality. Because with them, certain services and applications – such as video or music streaming – are not counted towards the monthly data volume.
Decision once morest Telekom and Vodafone: BNetzA expects improvement for consumers
The President of the Federal Network Agency, Klaus Müller, said he assumes that the ban on these offers will have a positive impact on the German mobile market. “We expect that the providers will now offer tariffs with higher data volumes or cheaper mobile flat rate tariffs. Consumers will benefit from this.” While flat rates have been widespread in the fixed network for a long time, this has not yet been the case in mobile communications.
The Federal Network Agency pointed out that the European Court of Justice had already decided on September 2, 2021 that the zero-rating tariffs were incompatible with the principle of equal treatment of data traffic.
This is how Vodafone and Telekom react to the ban
In the meantime, the two providers concerned have commented on the Federal Network Agency’s ban. Telekom has announced that StreamOn will be discontinued: “Unfortunately, the Federal Network Agency has largely prohibited zero-rating offers in Germany. […] According to the new requirements, the company will no longer be able to provide StreamOn.” However, the aim is to continue to offer users with high data consumption a good experience. Appropriate measures are currently being prepared.
Vodafone is a little more reserved. One wants to check the decision of the Federal Network Agency first. “We are currently analyzing the BNetzA’s order regarding the discontinuation of Vodafone passes and will then provide information on further steps. At the moment, everything remains the same for our customers.”
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