Always available for friends and family
Many students often feel helpless without a mobile or cellular phone. It's an alarm clock, address book and essential for keeping in contact with friends and family. Getting a German mobile number is easy if you observe a couple of conditions.
Dank Handy immer erreichbar, Bild: DAAD
Arrived safely? Sure, you want to let your relatives and friends know what you experienced on the trip and what your first impressions of Germany are like. Even without a phone of your own or an internet connection: No problem. Internet cafés are found practically everywhere in German towns and cities. You can surf the internet for around one euro per hour, or call by Skype (headsets are almost always available), write emails or use instant messaging.
Calling home from the internet café
If you prefer to be traditional, you can also find separate telephone kiosks in most cafés equipped with a conventional phone and cable. So you can call wherever you want in the world. Note: It's usually much cheaper to call on a conventional phone than on a mobile. A pricelist with costs per minute is usually available in the shop.
To keep in contact with your fellow students, even when you're away or travelling, you should get yourself a German mobile number, because it's very expensive to call from your foreign mobile into a German network. You generally have two choices: If you don't phone a lot, or are only briefly in Germany or don't want a contract, then you should buy a prepaid card. It's cheap and not only sold in phone shops, but also in supermarkets and drugstores. The cards are usually displayed close to the cashier's desk. A prepaid card gives you your own phone number under which you can be reached in the future without any further costs for incoming calls. Network providers charge between 10 and 20 euros. Depending on the provider, the card will include a credit balance for calls and text messages.
Calling friends from your mobile
Although text messages and call charges are generally a little more expensive with prepaid cards than fixed contracts, the latter generally run over a two-year term and are only worth it if you plan to stay in Germany longer. However, there are exceptions. For example, network operator O2 currently offers an "O2o" contract without a minimum term. It can be cancelled at any time with 30 days' notice and does not have a basic charge. Similar products without a basic charge or minimum contract term are available from Alice, Congstar, Klarmobil, Simply, Simyo and Tchibo.
Four network operators, countless providers
By the way, although Germany only has four network operators – T-Mobile, Vodafone, E-Plus/Base and O2 – many other mobile phone providers exist. However, they only buy the right from their operator to use its network and to sell this right of use on in small packages, namely to you, the end customer.
In its November edition, the specialist magazine "Connect" found that Vodafone lies just ahead of T-Mobile and O2 in terms of network quality and availability. Generally, the following applies: Calls and text messaging within the network of a mobile phone provider is certainly cheaper than making a call to the competitor's network, and may even be free. So you can save money by choosing the same provider as most of your friends.
WLAN in your shared flat
Wlan zu Hause, Bild: Hagenguth
You want to Skype or chat from home and don't want to go to the uni library to search the internet? Most shared flats (WGs) already have an internet connection with a wireless LAN network (WLAN), which you can use for a contribution towards the costs. Charges of between 20 and 40 euros are usual for a combination of internet flat rate with a six Mbit-line and telephone flat rate. The costs should not exceed this. If you live in a three-person shared flat, this would amount to between 5 and 13 euros, for example.
If you want to apply for a new internet connection yourself at home, you need a bit of patience and certainly your own account, because that's where the network provider books its charges. It can take more than a month before it's delivered. In the transition stage, many dealers offer a internet stick free of charge with which you can immediately go online, and, together with your laptop, you can also use the internet when away from home.
By the way: you can still buy an internet stick, even without a contract or fixed term. Just like mobile phones, internet sticks with prepaid tariffs are also offered without any further commitments. At around 60 euros, however, the stick is relatively expensive in such offers.
Check the following websites for explanations and tariff information on mobiles and internet, and on which tariff is best for you:
www.handytarife.de / www.online-tarife.de
