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Mobile phone user in Berlin: The data packages were topped up again
Photo: Emmanuele Contini / NurPhoto / Getty Images
When it comes to mobile Internet use, there is often a gap between supply and demand.
This is shown by an analysis by the consumer portal Verivox, which SPIEGEL has received.
On average, a cell phone user needs around three gigabytes of data a month for mobile surfing, according to the study.
However, the three German network operators Telekom, Vodafone and Telefónica themselves - unlike many third-party providers - offer tariffs with an average of 23 gigabytes of data volume.
That is almost eight times as much as the actual consumption.
The providers have increased their data packages again, Verivox continues.
In 2019, the quota was on average only five times as high as the average consumption.
At Telekom, consumers booked an average data volume of 17 gigabytes, at Vodafone it was 14 gigabytes, at Telefónica even 38 gigabytes.
Many of the oversized tariffs apparently serve to finance new smartphones: "In order to keep the one-time price of a device as low as possible, customers book high-priced tariffs," says Jens-Uwe Theumer, telecommunications expert at Verivox.
"These contain large data budgets that are often barely used." In fact, in most cases it is far cheaper to purchase the device and tariff separately.
The cost of the data volume fluctuates greatly.
With Telekom customers pay 2.47 euros per gigabyte, with Vodafone 2.64 euros, with Telefonica on the other hand only 69 cents.
The Telefonica target group is noticeably younger than that of the other providers, writes Verivox.
This clientele uses stationary internet connections less often, so the data volume of the mobile phone tariff is becoming more important.
Accordingly, Telefonica offers by far the largest data volume.
Customers can easily find out if their cell phone plan is too expensive.
In the settings of most smartphones you can see how much data volume is used per month.
If the booked volume regularly deviates from the consumption, a cheaper tariff with a lower data volume should be sought.
When buying a new smartphone, customers should also take the trouble to calculate the device price and monthly contract costs separately - in order to then decide whether the XXL tariff is really worthwhile.
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