The Federal Network Agency has discontinued the abuse proceedings concerning the contract terms of Call&Surf packages of Deutsche Telekom AG (DT AG).
HanseNet Telekommunikation GmbH (Alice) had applied for abuse proceedings under § 42 of the Telecommunications Act (TKG). According to the competent Ruling Chamber, the abuse provisions of § 42 TKG do not apply to contract periods. As a result of the application by HanseNet Telekommunikation GmbH (Alice), the Federal Network Agency nevertheless reviewed the conduct of the market participants. As a result of the consideration, it can be stated that currently there are also no viable reasons justifying the initiation of abuse proceedings under the special standard of charge regulation (§ 28 TKG) and the reduction of contract terms limited to contract conclusions with DT AG.
DT AG has announced that from January 2009 the contract periods for the "entry-level product" in the Call&Surf product line, the Call&Surf-Basic tariff, will be reduced again from the current 24 months to 12 months. This will give new customers the opportunity to make their first experiences with complete offers consisting of telephone connection, Internet and connection flat rate within a manageable commitment period.
"Before concluding a contract of any kind, the consumer should be aware of the time commitment associated with the price and take this into account when concluding the contract," said Matthias Kurth, President of the Federal Network Agency, with regard to the contract terms of all-inclusive offers offered on the market.
Source: Press release of the Federal Network Agency of 06.01.2009
Goldberg Attorneys at Law
Attorney at Law Michael Ullrich, LL.M. (Information Law)
E-mail: m.ullrich@goldberg.de
