Anyone who surfs the Internet on a mobile device uses up data volume. It shouldn’t matter which pages and services you call up – at least that’s what net neutrality envisages, which puts all online offers on an equal footing. The mobile phone providers Vodafone and Telekom have been offering so-called zero-rating tariffs under the names Vodafone Pass and StreamOn for some time. With these highly controversial options, the providers do not count the data traffic for the use of selected online services against the data volume, so customers can use the network offers specified by the provider – such as games and streaming services – indefinitely.
In September 2021, the European Court of Justice ruled that this approach violates the principle of net neutrality. It therefore prohibits both technical and tariff-related unequal treatment of data traffic types within a tariff. The Federal Network Agency is now referring to this ruling and is prohibiting Vodafone and Deutsche Telekom from selling the two zero-rating options. Both StreamOn and the Vodafone Pass are officially banned in Germany. The companies now have different deadlines to set the offer.
From July 2022 no more new customers
The providers must therefore stop signing new contracts by July 1, 2022. From this point on, they are no longer allowed to market and offer the tariff options on any of their channels. Existing customers who already have an ongoing contract for the use of said data tariffs will be able to enjoy their surfing benefits until the end of March 2023 at the latest. By then at the latest, Vodafone and Telekom will no longer be allowed to offer this service here either.
This should be a big damper for StreamOn and Vodafone Pass users. The Federal Network Agency assumes, however, that the ban will have an overall positive effect on the mobile communications market. As those responsible explain in a current press release, they firmly believe that the trend towards cheaper tariffs with higher data volumes will accelerate as a result of the new requirement and that a similar development will set in as in the fixed network area, where flat rates without data limits are already commonplace.