Germany is in the middle of the field when it comes to mobile phone prices, according to a study published today by the IT industry association Bitkom. A result that is somewhat surprising. In general, prices in Germany are considered high. However, the methodology also differs from other studies.
The comparative study of mobile phone markets in twelve countries was carried out by the market research company Tarifica on behalf of Bitkom. The prices in Germany, Finland, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, Spain and the United Kingdom were examined. In addition, there are Japan, South Korea and the USA as industrialized countries outside of Europe, which are intended to cover the American and Asian markets. The tariff data was recorded in April 2022, for Germany the offers from Telekom, Vodafone and O2 were analyzed.
Tarifica uses six usage profiles for the study, which should cover the entire spectrum of typical mobile phone behavior. The spectrum ranges from occasional users to streaming enthusiasts who consume high data volumes. With this approach, the complexity of mobile phone offers should be taken into account more than would be the case with comparisons such as the costs per GB or the available data volume. Germany traditionally performs weaker in such studies.
Germany in the middle
Accordingly, the result is initially surprising. According to the study results, Germany is in the middle of the field when it comes to mobile phone prices, across all six usage profiles.
In Germany, the offers for user profiles with lower requirements tend to be cheaper. The cheapest available tariff in Germany costs 5 euros per month. In Italy, such an offer is available for EUR 2.60 per month, while in the USA it is at least EUR 17 per month. The price is calculated based on the best offer that the user would pay in a profile over a period of 24 months.
According to the study, Germany benefits from 5G offers because Deutsche Telekom and Vodafone in particular offer this standard in all tariffs. 5G is not only available in the high-end segment, but also in tariffs with low and medium data volumes.
As mentioned, the study is limited to twelve countries. It is therefore not an EU comparison, as was the case with the study presented by the Federal Association of Consumer Organizations (vzbv) in 2021. This attested Germany still comparatively high mobile phone prices.
Bitkom: Accelerate the expansion of mobile communications
In view of the study results, Bitkom describes the German mobile communications prices as competitive in an international comparison. Nevertheless, the expansion must be accelerated. However, the expansion is currently stalling at more than 1,000 locations. The reasons include lengthy planning and approval procedures, a lack of local acceptance and a lack of construction capacity. “Germany needs a major debureaucratization and acceleration package that will release the brakes on expansion,” said Bitkom President Achim Berg.
The federal government announced corresponding steps in the recently published gigabit and digital strategies. For example, the application and approval procedures are to be digitized by 2025.