Switching internet provider in Germany: notice periods, the process and your rights

Cancelling: minimum term and notice period

The initial term may not exceed 24 months (section 56 TKG). If the contract then renews automatically, you can cancel at any time with one month's notice, at no cost, and the provider must remind you before renewal. If the contract can be taken out on the provider's website, there must also be a cancellation button there (section 312k BGB); if it is missing, you may cancel at any time without notice.

How the switch works

The new provider manages the switch (section 59 TKG) and can also cancel your old contract, so both providers agree the date. The Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur) recommends starting about three months before your contract ends.

Your old provider must keep you connected until the switch is ready, and your connection may be down for no more than one working day. After that, you get 10 euros or 20 per cent of the monthly fee, whichever is higher, for each additional working day, unless you caused the delay.

Keeping your phone number

Transferring your landline number is free; you can request it up to one month after the contract ends. Your name, address, date of birth and number must match at both providers. Landline numbers are tied to a local network, so after moving to an area with a different dialling code you usually cannot keep yours.

What to have ready

Most details are on your last bill. Enter them exactly as your old provider has them:

• Account holder's name, date of birth and address
• Current provider and customer number
• Contract end or next cancellation date
• Phone numbers you want to keep
• Exact connection address, including floor or flat

DSL, cable or fibre: what is available at your address?

What you can get depends on your exact address. DSL runs over the phone line and slows with distance from the distribution point. Cable internet uses the TV cable network, with capacity shared between households. Fibre (Glasfaser) to the building or flat allows high speeds, but a new building connection usually needs the owner's consent.

You may use your own router (section 73 TKG), and the provider must give you the access details free of charge in text form.

Moving home

If your provider offers the service at your new address, the contract continues unchanged (section 60 TKG), and a moving fee may not exceed the fee for a new connection. If it does not, you may cancel with one month's notice, effective from your move-out date or later, so send it at least a month before you move.

Internet too slow: price reduction or cancellation

If the speed differs significantly, continuously or regularly from the contract, you may reduce your payment in proportion to the shortfall or terminate early (section 57(4) TKG). Before terminating, you usually have to give the provider a chance to fix the problem. A shortfall counts as significant, for example, if on two of three measurement days you never reach 90 per cent of the maximum speed.

Proof comes from the Bundesnetzagentur's broadband measurement desktop app (Breitbandmessung). As of November 2026:

• Computer connected to the router by LAN cable, Wi-Fi switched off
• 30 measurements within 14 days, ten on each of three calendar days
• At least one day's break between measurement days
• Show the measurement record to your provider