The Federal Network Agency has imposed fines totalling 225,000 euros on three large telecommunications providers. The companies had violated their obligations when switching providers. According to reports, these are Telefónica, Vodafone and 1&1.
In the opinion of the Federal Network Agency, the three suppliers repeatedly violated their legal obligations when switching suppliers. Consumers were thus exposed to longer supply interruptions and the associated burdens.
The statutory upper fine limit for violations of the regulations on switching providers in the telecommunications market is 100,000 euros in each case. In favour of the providers concerned, the Federal Network Agency took into account that they are actively participating in the cross-industry development and introduction of automated interfaces for the long-term improvement of the switching process, which, however, have not yet been successfully completed. Therefore, a fine of "only" 75,000 euros was imposed on each provider.
The fines are not yet legally binding (as of 20 February 2014). The companies can still appeal against the decisions.
The Federal Network Agency has announced that in future it will take more action against problems when switching providers. For this purpose, it has created a complaints office at the Federal Network Agency to which consumers can turn in case of problems. You can find more information on this topic on the website of the Federal Network Agency.
Source: Press release of the Federal Network Agency
Goldberg Attorneys at Law 2014
Attorney at Law Michael Ullrich, LL.M. (Information Law)
Specialist lawyer for information technology law
E-mail: info@goldberg.de
