German Internet Access

Like many other developed nations, Germany has embraced the advanced telecommunications technologies necessary to access the World Wide Web. Internet service providers like Deutsche Telekom, have brought German internet access to the masses, making it easier and more affordable than ever to get online. This level of telecom technology availability has changed German life significantly, making it easier and more convenient to conduct business, locate information, and communicate with people across the world. Many experts predict that German internet access is only going to increase in the future as more technologies become viable there.

The key German internet service provider is Deutsche Telekom, which operates its internet service providing branch through T-Online, which boasts over ten million customers in Germany and more than thirteen million customers in other countries across Europe, such as France, Hungary, Austria, and Switzerland. In, 2000, T-Online became the first German service provider to offer unlimited dialup access to the internet, a huge milestone for German internet access. In 2001, T-Online switched to a flat-rate DSL plan, and since then, DSL has become the preferred technology for German internet access.

Germany is one of the top users of DSL, which stands for Digital Subscriber Line, in the entire European Union. DSL is a phone-based method of accessing the internet that allows customers to be online and use their telephones at the same time by using frequencies of 25 kHz or over to carry the digital signal. A filter is placed on each phone that filters out these frequencies, allowing the human voice, which resonates at 4 kHz or below, to pass without interrupting the signal. The main drawbacks to using DSL as a method of German internet access are that coverage can sometimes by spotty in rural areas where telephone lines have not been updates or installed, and the terms for contracts are typically very long, ranging from one to two years.

Although other methods of reaching the internet are not very common today, new technologies for German internet access are slowly becoming viable. The development of cable internet connectivity has been stymied by the fact that most of the cable infrastructure in Germany was under the control of Deutsche Telekom, which preferred to market its DSL connections. However, due to a political scandal, Deutsche Telekom was forced to sell its cable networks to Kabel Deutschland, a company that has been slow to expand the broadband capacity of its network. Satellite connections are also available through skyDSL, but tend to be more expensive, as they most often go through the intermediary of a dialup service, and customers must pay by the minute for access. Mobile internet access is also becoming popular, with companies such as T-Mobile offering contracts with up to 5 GB per month of data transfer included.