“Right to the Internet”: Network Agency orders Internet provision for a household for the first time

For the first time, the Federal Network Agency has obliged an internet provider to provide a remote household with internet and telephone services. The authorities in Bonn announced that a corresponding notice had been sent to the company. It’s about a household in Lower Saxony.

The authority’s decision was triggered by a consumer complaint. At his place of residence, an internet connection was only possible “at a consumer price that was too high”. Based on the legal minimum requirements, the Federal Network Agency then identified an undersupply.

Decision made in “commitment procedure”

Afterwards, “all telecommunications providers active on the market” were called upon to offer coverage. Since no company complied voluntarily, a so-called commitment procedure was carried out in which the authority chose a suitable provider. This must now guarantee the minimum supply for the remote household – based on legally established values. Legal action can still be taken against the decision.

Klaus Müller, President of the Federal Network Agency, said of his agency’s decision that every citizen has “the right to adequate care.” “We are now enforcing this right in a pilot process in the interests of consumers.”

Consumer advocates criticize minimum values that are too low

According to the Federal Network Agency, the minimum service includes a download speed of at least 10 megabits per second and an upload of at least 1.7 megabits – at an “affordable consumer price”, which, according to the authority, was recently around 30 euros per month.

Consumer advocates viewed the network agency’s decision as fundamentally positive. It is good “that a commitment is made and the legal right to the Internet is used,” said Felix Flosbach from the NRW consumer advice center. At the same time, he criticized the fact that the Federal Network Agency was only taking action now. “More than two years have passed in which the citizens had nothing of the legal right,” said Flosbach.

The minimum values for download and upload speeds determined by the authorities are also criticized. These are too low, said Flosbach: “It is unfortunate that the Federal Network Agency has not already increased from 10 to 15 or 20 megabits per second.”

Around 400,000 households in Germany are undersupplied

The consumer advocate is therefore calling for a significant increase in order to increase the pressure on Internet providers and to stimulate nationwide Internet expansion. “The right to the Internet must become an effective tool to strengthen rural areas and enable them to participate in the digital age,” said Flosbach.

The current decision by the Federal Network Agency is the first of its kind, but others are likely to follow: According to the authority, around 130 additional complaint procedures are currently being examined. According to the Federal Network Agency, there are an estimated 400,000 households in Germany that are considered underserved within the scope of the legal entitlement.

The so-called right to fast internet, the right to be provided with telecommunications services, on the basis of which the network agency made its decision, has been in force since December 2021. The regulation on the currently applicable minimum supply values has been in force since June 2022.

For the first time, the Federal Network Agency has obliged an internet provider to provide a remote household with internet and telephone services. The authorities in Bonn announced that a corresponding notice had been sent to the company. It’s about a household in Lower Saxony.

The authority’s decision was triggered by a consumer complaint. At his place of residence, an internet connection was only possible “at a consumer price that was too high”. Based on the legal minimum requirements, the Federal Network Agency then identified an undersupply.

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