Product information sheet and contract summary: the figures that count

Before you sign an internet contract, you receive a contract summary (Vertragszusammenfassung) and usually a product information sheet (Produktinformationsblatt) setting out three speed figures. The contract itself is what is binding. But these two documents show you in a few pages what it promises, and they are still rarely read during the ordering process.

The contract summary comes before you sign

Since the TKG reform, the provider must give you a contract summary before the contract is concluded (§ 54(3) TKG). It sets out the key points on a standard form, including the service, speeds, price, term and cancellation conditions.

If this is not possible beforehand for technical reasons, for example when you order by phone, the summary must be provided without delay afterwards. The contract then only takes effect once you have received it and approved the contract in text form, for example by email.

Three figures, not one

Advertising usually shows a single number with “up to” in front of it. But three figures are binding: the minimum, the normally available and the maximum speed, each stated separately for download and upload.

For everyday use, the normally available speed is the most honest figure: you should generally get it. The minimum speed is the lower limit, below which the connection must not persistently fall.

• Minimum speed: the lower limit
• Normally available: the everyday figure
• Maximum speed: the advertised number
• All three stated separately for download and upload

How to spot a weak tariff

The gap between the maximum and the normal speed is telling. If the figures are far apart, you are unlikely to see the advertised number in practice. Two offers with the same “up to” figure can differ considerably here.

So compare offers by their normal speed, not the advertised number. That is where good value and merely cheap part ways.

Why the sheet matters later

If your connection persistently falls short of these figures, that is precisely the basis for a price reduction or special termination under § 57 TKG. The comparison is made against the contractually agreed figures as stated in the product information sheet and the contract summary, not the advertising.

So save both documents as soon as you sign up. Providers make them available before the contract is concluded; later they are often harder to get hold of.