o2 and Co. under pressure: That s why you should cancel your mobile phone contract right now

The time of the favorable term tariffs is imminent. Anyone who is currently looking for a new mobile operator or wants to negotiate better fitness has good cards. Because a change in the law has the potential to put providers under pressure - a comment by Felix Gräber.

Anyone who has taken a careful look at legislative procedures in the past few months will have noticed that something is happening for consumers. Many areas are affected, including term contracts, for example for mobile communications.

Law for fair consumer contracts makes tariff offers more attractive

A term of two years is still possible, which should actually be reduced to one year. But tacit contract extensions are severely restricted. The missed notice period is soon no longer a reason to be annoyed.

But be careful, this only applies to contracts that are concluded from March 1, 2022 (source: Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection) And that means: Customers will most likely face a hot phase in the coming months with attractive offers for contracts in addition to the old ones Conditions before.

Because for all contracts concluded before the deadline, Telekom, Vodafone, 1 & 1, o2 and all other providers can still offer the 24-month term with a subsequent extension of one year - with a three-month notice period at the end of the term. From the company's point of view, the contracts are more profitable because it happens that customers miss a deadline, even though they actually want to get out of a contract - officially this then runs under customer loyalty.

Pay less, more performance: What do O2 and Co. do for long running times?

But now we consumers are on the trigger. Who and how exactly profits from the changed legal situation - that is of course up to you. I assume that the providers will improve their offers in the coming weeks and months, for example through more data volume or lower prices. And maybe even drastically, in order to retain as many customers as possible to the one-year extension.

I myself recently only marked my old contract for termination. Two calls came from my mobile operator within a week, with better conditions - with a two-year extension of the term. The offer with the same service was offered to me again just a few days later, then already 2 euros per month cheaper. I am curious to see what will come of us in the next few weeks and months.

We reveal what you need to know about the background of your termination in our video - but the long extensions will finally be over next year:

If you can cancel right now or want to conclude a contract for the first time, you can decide: take another term contract with better conditions, but with a one-year extension (and then cancel in good time) or wait until March 2022. Then you will benefit from the maximum one-month notice period after 24 months.

The best: Not only the mobile phone providers are affected by the new regulation. For example, your membership in the fitness studio could become much more attractive in the future. The comparison is also worthwhile when changing electricity providers.