The German parliament (Bundestag) approved, Thursday, April 22, an amendment to the Telecommunications Law, giving all citizens “the right to a fast internet.” As a result of the change in the law, all citizens, regardless of whether they live in the city or in the countryside, will have the legal right to have the fastest and most stable possible Internet connection, from mid-2022.
The law now needs the approval of the Federal Council (Bundesrat) to enter Into effect.
The change in law is meant to guarantee that all citizens regardless of their location and proximity to city posses the legal right to have the fastest and most stable connection.
This is to happen by mid 2022 as the law awaits to be passed by the federal council. It should however be enforced this year.
In the future, certain requirements will need to be passed, this will be in terms of download speeds of at least 30 megabits per second reporetd Zeit on Thursday.
Before the law stated that an internet connection with at least 56 kilo-bits per second was ‘functional’ access and was therefore mandatory. But this is no longer up to date.
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New guidelines amend this and make it such that internet connections are more suitable for home office and homeschooling scenarios.
 What requirements the Internet connections will actually have to meet after the change in the law has yet to be determined. This calculation will probably be carried out by the Federal Network Agency and then apply as a specification for the provider said PC Welt.
Cancellation of automatic contract renewal
The law will also allow for voluntary renewal of contacts that can be cancelled monthly by the consumer after the term has expired.
As the Tagesschau reports , TV cable contracts may no longer be billed for ancillary costs from July 2024. However, there would be an exception in the future for houses that are connected to the fiber optic line.
Here the landlords are allowed to share the costs with the tenants, but only with a maximum of five euros per month. Ultimately, this should ensure that fibre optic Internet connections are available in more apartments.
Source: Spiegel, PCWelt, tagesschau