The Landgericht Köln has ruled that Deutsche Telekom can not throttle internet speeds with its flat-rate products.
The consumer watchdog organisation Verbraucherzentrale NRW has started proceedings against a clause in the contracts for fixed-line internet access at flat rates, which gives Telekom the right to throttle broadband access speeds when a certain limit has been reached. The clause does not apply for Telekom’s own IPTV service Entertain.
The throttling makes using OTT services almost impossible and even access to regular internet sites take a long time to load, according to the watchdog.
The Court agreed with the consumer group that the clause does pose a ‘unreasonable disadvantage’ to customers and told Telekom to remove it in order to establish a level playing field for all services.