BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - The so-called right to fast Internet will most likely be tightened. The Bundestag's Digital Committee voted in favor of a report by the Federal Network Agency, according to which all households in Germany will have to receive at least 15 megabits per second for downloads in future, five megabits more than before. Uploads are to be tripled to five megabits - this could enable stable connections for video conferences.

But it will be a while before this happens: first the Network Agency has to amend a regulation, then it needs the green light again from the Digital Committee of the Bundestag and the Bundesrat. The new rules could apply from December.

From then on, households with poorer fixed-line internet could invoke the stricter legal entitlement and possibly force a better connection. According to the Federal Network Agency, 2.2 million addresses in Germany have landline internet below the new minimum level. So far, however, the legal entitlement, which has been in force since the end of 2021, has been little used.

The legal entitlement, which is called "Minimum requirements for the right to be provided with telecommunications services" and is abbreviated to "Right to fast internet", is intended to counteract the urban-rural divide in internet coverage. For the vast majority of households in cities, it is irrelevant because the internet there is significantly better than the minimum values contained in the legal entitlement./wdw/DP/jha