Internet in Germany
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[edit] xDSL Providers
As of December 2006, Deutsche Telekom has more than 10 million DSL customers in Germany, making Germany one of the top DSL countries in the European Union. Deutsche Telekom has a number of resellers, and many ISPs providing service for it. Alternatively, there are DSL providers in Germany which have their own DSL network who rent the copper lines from the incumbent in a LLU arrangement.
The market is dynamic with dropping prices and new technologies emerging rapidly, but a common problem is that most offers have very long contract terms of 1 or 2 years.
DSL coverage lacks in some rural areas.
Deutsche Telekom is building a VDSL network in summer 2006, but there is political quarrel (they demand exemption from regulation, which the current German government wants to allow, but the EU does not accept). It is supposed to offer up to 50 Mbit/s download, 10 Mbit/s speeds and intended to be used with proprietary digital TV offers, including live Bundesliga football games.
[edit] Alternative technologies
Connection technologies other than DSL are not widely used in Germany so far, due to a lack of viable offers, but are starting to get interesting.
[edit] Cable
Until recently, cable internet was not available, because the cable TV infrastructure was owned by Deutsche Telekom, which pushed DSL and neglected the cable network. It was sold after political pressure a few years ago, now owned by Kabel Deutschland, Kabel BW, ish etc. (separated geographically), which slowly invest into upgrading the cable network's bandwidth/capacity and making it 2-way-capable. Kabel Deutschland offers 6 Mbit/s for 20€/month (26 €/month for 26 Mbit/s).
[edit] Satellite
Satellite links can be used by those who are not covered by DSL or other technologies. It is called e.g. T-DSL Satellite or skyDSL, which are one-way links based on DVB-S and require an uplink via dialup, which often has to be paid by minute. Some offers with two-way satellite connections exist for consumers. Satellite inherently has high latency, and is thus second choice for most people.
[edit] Mobile internet: UMTS/HSDPA
UMTS is becoming an interesting alternative where available, at speeds of up to 384 kbit/s download and 64 kbit/s upload, particularly since E-Plus/Base offers a true mobile flatrate for roughly 50€/month. O2 has an offer based on UMTS/GSM, but limited to the home, called Genion Homezone. The big mobile providers T-Mobile and Vodafone now offer tariffs with 5 Gbyte/month of data transfer included, with the advantage of HSDPA (up to 1,8 Mbit/s download) availability on all UMTS nodes.
Wimax is also available in Germany.
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