Finding a DSL contract in Germany.

Introduction.

Next semester I’m off to Mannheim, Germany, for a year under our student exchange scheme. However, before going I need to think about finding a DSL contract in Germany; so that when I do arrive there - I can “hit the deck running” and be online from the start. These days all students know the importance of being able to access the internet to help with their work, as well as keeping in touch with friends and family. Whilst I’ll be able to use the University of Mannheim’s internet access on campus; knowing that I’ll be living off campus makes it especially important to research DSL contracts in Germany before leaving.

DSL internet connections in Germany.

As Germany conforms to LLU (Local Loop Unbundling) all the countries telecoms operators can access the national network of telecoms lines owned by Deutsche Telekom. Whilst this means you can get any DSL anbieter (which is German for DSL provider) to supply you with a DSL broadband internet connection; you will need to have a telephone line connected to the property; whilst this will most likely be a Deutsche Telekom line, there are also some alternative telephone networks in Germany. All of this means that there is excellent competition in Germany to provide DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) internet connection contracts.
Before going any further I think it’s worth stating that - here in Philadelphia I would expect to pay around $40 a month on a DSL contract; that would give me somewhere between a 2 and 6 Mbit/s internet connection. (The actual speed will depend on the distance to the nearest telephone exchange.)

Examples of DSL contracts in Germany.

The examples I’ve found are, of course; listed in Euros (€); with the € being strong and the dollar quite weak - you don’t quite 1:1 in currency exchange. In fact you’ll currently get about 0.65€ for $1. The only reason I mention that is so that you can get an idea as just how great some of the DSL contract deals in Germany are, compared to here in the USA - and especially Philadelphia. Three deals have caught my eye so far: Alice, Arcor and Congstar. Many of the DSL contracts in Germany can be linked to land-line telephone calls and cell phone offers, with or without free texts/SMS.

Can you believe that after paying a connection fee of €50, using the congstar DSL contract I can have a choice of internet surfing packages with unlimited downloads starting at just €15 a month! Congstar offers three ‘Surf packages’: 2000 - 2Mbit/s at €14.99 a month, 6000 - 6Mbit/s at €17.98 a month or a fantastic 16000 - 16mbit/s for an almost unbelievable €19.98 a month. I could, if I wanted to add a land-line telephone to all of these for les than an extra €8 a month.

Another attractive DSL contract on offer in Germany is called Alice DSL. Alice has 6 variations available, all of which offer the fantastic 16Mbit/s service. Alice does have a ‘pay-as-you-surf’ service at around 1.2c/minute (that’s Euro cents), but that’s not for me.  The basic Alice flat-rate DSL contract is €24.90 a month; and you could add to that land-line telephone and cell phone contracts, with or without free text/SMS.

If the building I live in doesn’t have a Deutsche Telekom line it’ll probably have one from another major telecoms supplier in Germany - like Arcor. Whilst their DSL contracts are more expensive, at least I won’t have to pay for a Deutsche Telekom line to be installed, which should mean I can save money overall. There are two Arcor DSL contracts I’m considering, although they too have  a ‘pay-as-you’ surf contract charged at 3c/minute; however, it only delivers 1Mbit/s. The two I might consider are there 6Mbit/s and 16mbit/s at €24.95 and €29.95 a month respectively. Adding a land-line telephone to an Arcor DSL contract adds about €5 a month.

Lengths of DSL contracts in Germany.

There are, of course, many other telecoms offers to connect to the internet in Germany. The most appealing things about the above three, apart from sounding great deals, is that their connection charges are very reasonable and two of them, Alice and Congstar, don’t want to tie me in to a long term contracts; I’ll only need to give them a months notice to close the account.