New Telecommunications Act

The German Bundestag has approved the reform of the Telecommunications Act (TKG). The law abolishes the promotion of cable television, establishes the right to fast internet and overturns the so-called ancillary cost privilege. 

More than twelve million tenants, but also landlords and property managers, will be affected. For them, the ancillary cost privilege will no longer apply. This means that the cable connection can be apportioned in the operating costs bill. In the past, property owners or property managers often concluded favourable collective contracts for their tenants compared to individual contracts. After a transitional period until 2024, such contracts are no longer to be apportioned to the service charges. Tenants will then decide for themselves whether they want cable TV or not, but they will have to take care of the contract themselves.

When cable TV was introduced about 40 years ago, it was a special feature. In the meantime, new possibilities and requirements for modern communication have emerged. The new law therefore has a different focus. The focus is on the right to fast internet. How fast the internet must be at least in the individual regions is yet to be determined - presumably by the Federal Network Agency. Among other things, the upload and download rates as well as the latency are to play a role in the calculation. 

In the future, landlords will be able to allocate the running costs for the operation of an in-building fibre optic network infrastructure to the operating costs if the tenant is free to choose the provider and it is a network with a very high capacity. If the landlord has had new fibre optic lines laid, he can charge the tenants a "provision fee" of 60 euros per year and flat. These costs may be allocated as operating costs for a maximum of nine years and are thus limited to a maximum of 540 euros per flat.

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