Telecommunications Act violates neutrality of technology Berlin/Bonn – the Federal Ministry of Economics and technology (BMWi) has presented the draft of law on the amendment of the Telecommunications Act (TKG). It is now located in the departmental vote. It is planned to include a redesign of the 0180 phone numbers to improve consumer protection. The plans are recorded in the economy critically. While we welcome the proposal by Federal Minister Michael Glos to introduce free queues at the 0180 service numbers. Other phone number streets as of 0900 we employ successfully which already for a long time. Unfortunately, the proposed revision of the Telecommunications Act is limited to the fixed network. Queues remain subject to a charge for calls made from mobile networks.
This is an intolerable situation for the consumer. Because the mobile tariffs are higher compared to the fixed multiples”, criticized Renatus Zilles, Chairman of the Board of the Bonn value-added services provider NEXT ID. Why there should be two different prices for the same substantive performance, is incomprehensible, especially as EU Commissioner Viviane Reding called for a further alignment of the mobile radio costs to the fixed network costs due to the reduction of termination fees. Also, the Ministry of Economic Affairs takes into account the fact that more and more citizens to give up their landline in favor of the mobile phone. It seems inevitable”the way for most consumers to the higher end customer tariff for calls to service numbers from the mobile network, warns Zilles. Also the limitation of only a number of Alley was incomprehensible.
Non-transparent compared to the fixed retail prices of mobile network operators can be found as well as with other numbers, such as the 0137-phone number commonly used in the media or the 0900 alley used also in the customer service. Here the same service consumer pays up to 50 percent and more from the mobile from a landline”know Jude. In the annual report 2007 of the Federal Network Agency This is confirmed by. So, the volume of complaints predominantly refers to value-added service numbers 0900, 0137, premium SMS and data services. If the legislature wanted to do something for the consumer, then he should according to by Jude follow the principle of technological neutrality of the Telecommunications Act and finally treat fixed as well as mobile equally: we ask therefore the timely introduction of the model practiced in Austria with determining uniform retail tariff of landline and mobile with adequate distributions for market partners. The successful shows in our neighbouring country, that all market participants can benefit from such a solution.” The claim of by Jude gets greater weight, because according to the Federal Network Agency President Matthias Kurth more and more households get completely on the mobile phone. Ten percent of all households have only a cell phone and surrender on the landline”, Kurth said at the presentation of the annual report in Bonn. Gunnar Sohn