Choosing an Internet Provider in Cologne: Check Your Address First, Then Know Your Contract Rights

In Cologne you can choose between nationwide providers and NetCologne, the local operator that belongs to the Stadtwerke Köln group, but the real choice is limited to the networks that reach your exact address. Check that first in the federal Breitbandatlas and on the providers' own address checkers, then compare the Vertragszusammenfassung (contract summary) and the Produktinformationsblatt of each offer. By law a first contract term may not exceed 24 months, the provider must also offer you a 12-month contract, and after the minimum term a silently extended contract can be cancelled monthly with one month's notice. If the speed you actually get is significantly below the contract, a measurement with the Bundesnetzagentur's Breitbandmessung app gives you the right to reduce the fee or to cancel without notice.

The Choice Starts With Your Address, Not the Price

Every comparison site will happily show you a list of tariffs. In Cologne the better first question is which networks reach your front door. The federal Breitbandatlas, run by the Bundesnetzagentur as part of the Gigabit-Grundbuch, lets you type in an address and shows which technologies (DSL, cable, fiber) and which speed classes are available there. The atlas works with a dated data status (Datenstand), so it is not a live statement. Treat it as step one, and then use the address checkers of the providers it lists.

Cologne’s local operator is NetCologne, a wholly owned subsidiary of GEW Köln AG, which is part of the Stadtwerke Köln group. Its own page lets you check coverage by Veedel, says fiber connections with up to 2,000 Mbit/s download are possible in connected areas, and reports that its subsidized “Weiße Flecken” build-out in buildings that used to have less than 30 Mbit/s is complete. Besides NetCologne, nationwide providers sell DSL, cable and fiber products in Cologne, depending on the street. Our page on fiber availability and your landlord explains who is building where and why a citywide percentage does not tell you about your building.

What to Compare in an Offer

The law gives you two documents for comparing. The Bundesnetzagentur explains on its contract page that:

A Produktinformationsblatt (product information sheet) for each product has to show, among other things, the available data rates, the contract term, the conditions for extension and ending, and the monthly costs.
A Vertragszusammenfassung (contract summary) has to be given to you before you sign. In a shop you must receive it as a document, online it has to be a downloadable document, and a contract agreed by phone only becomes effective when you receive the summary and approve it in text form, for example by e-mail.

Use them like this:

What to read in the Vertragszusammenfassung before you sign
Item	Why it matters
Speed: minimum, normally available, maximum	These values decide later whether you can claim a reduction
Initial term	24 months at most; you can ask for the 12-month version
Price after any discount period	A cheap first period can hide a higher price later; compare the total cost over the term
One-time fees and router	Connection fee, shipping, router rental or purchase
Notice period and extension rule	Tells you when to cancel; after the term it is monthly
Phone number	Check porting if you want to keep a number

The Bundesnetzagentur adds that the invoice must state the start date, the current end of the minimum term, the notice period and the last day on which a cancellation can still arrive. Put that date in your calendar as soon as you get the first invoice.

Contract Length, Cancellation and Price Increases

Section 56 TKG sets the main rules for consumers:

The initial term may not exceed 24 months, and a provider must offer you a contract with an initial term of at most 12 months before you sign.
If a contract extends silently, you can cancel it at any time with one month’s notice after the initial term. The provider must remind you in good time and must not charge you costs for that cancellation, except for the value of devices you keep.
The Verbraucherzentrale NRW says notice periods of at most one month apply for contracts concluded since 1 March 2022, while older contracts can still have up to three months.

How to cancel: the Bundesnetzagentur recommends proof of receipt, for example a registered letter with proof of delivery, or a fax with a transmission report. If the provider lets you sign up on its website, it also has to offer a cancellation button that gives you a confirmation. If you are switching, let the new provider handle the cancellation (see below).

Price and contract changes. Section 57 TKG applies when a provider uses a clause in its general terms to change the contract unilaterally. In that case you can cancel without a notice period and without costs, unless the change is only in your favour, purely administrative or required by law. The provider has to inform you one to two months in advance on a durable medium, and you can declare your cancellation within three months of receiving the notice. The contract ends at the earliest on the day the change would take effect. Do not ignore these letters, the deadline is real.

When the Speed Is Not What You Paid For

Section 57 paragraph 4 TKG gives you the right to reduce the fee or cancel without notice if the actual speed deviates significantly, continuously or regularly from the contract. The Bundesnetzagentur’s page on internet speed explains the proof procedure for fixed-line connections:

Install the Breitbandmessung desktop app of the Bundesnetzagentur (linked from the page above) and connect the computer to the router by cable.
Run 30 measurements within 14 days, spread over three different calendar days with at least one day between them, ten per day, at least five minutes apart, with a longer pause of at least three hours between the fifth and sixth measurement of a day.
The deviation counts as significant if, for example, on fewer than two of the three days at least one measurement reaches 90 percent of the contractual maximum, or if the normally available speed is not reached in 90 percent of the measurements, or if the minimum speed is undercut on at least two of the three days.
The app produces a Messprotokoll. Send it to your provider and say whether you want a reduction or want to cancel.

The agency stresses that you must assert these rights directly against the provider and that it does not enforce individual claims. If the provider refuses, you can apply to the Bundesnetzagentur’s conciliation board, a cheaper route than a court, or seek advice from the Verbraucherzentrale.

Switching or Moving Inside Cologne

Switching provider. The Verbraucherzentrale NRW advises giving the new provider the order to cancel the old one, because both then coordinate the changeover and the porting of your number. Section 59 TKG says the service may not be interrupted for longer than one working day. For each further working day without service you can claim compensation of 10 euro or 20 percent of the monthly fee, whichever is higher, from the old provider, unless the delay is your fault.
Moving within Cologne. Section 60 TKG obliges the provider to serve your new address on the same terms, if it offers the service there, for a reasonable fee that may not exceed the fee for a new connection. If it does not offer the service there, you can cancel with one month’s notice, effective at move-out or later. Check your new address in the Breitbandatlas before you sign the lease, not after.
Arriving in Cologne without a contract. Our page on the bank, SIM and internet puzzle covers how to bridge the first days. If a line is still active from the previous tenant, see this page.

Step by Step

Look up your address in the Breitbandatlas, then on the address checkers of the providers listed there, including NetCologne’s coverage map.
Ask your landlord whether a fiber connection needs their consent, or whether a connection is already in the building.
Collect two or three offers and request the Vertragszusammenfassung for each.
Compare the total cost over the term, not the first-month price, and ask for the 12-month option if you are not sure you will stay.
Order the connection with a confirmed activation date and keep the confirmation. If an installation or service appointment is missed by the provider, our page on outage compensation explains the claims.
Note the cancellation deadline from the first invoice.
Run a speed measurement in the first weeks with the desktop app, so you know early whether the line delivers what the contract says.

Compliance Note

This page explains the general consumer rules of the telecommunications law as described by the Bundesnetzagentur and the Verbraucherzentrale NRW, current as of October 2026, and the situation in Cologne as described by NetCologne and the federal Breitbandatlas. It is not legal advice. Offers, prices and availability change, and individual contracts differ. For a dispute with your provider, contact the Verbraucherzentrale or a lawyer.

FAQ & Common Pitfalls

Which internet providers can I get in Cologne?

That depends on the address, not the city. Cologne has the local operator NetCologne, which describes fiber connections with up to 2,000 Mbit/s download in many districts (Veedel) on its own checker, and nationwide providers that use their own or rented lines. The federal Breitbandatlas shows by address which technologies and speed classes are available, and the providers' address checkers show what they can sell you. Use both, because the atlas is not a real-time statement.

How long can an internet contract run in Germany?

Section 56 TKG limits the initial term of a consumer contract to 24 months, and the provider has to offer you a contract with an initial term of at most twelve months before you sign. If a contract extends silently after the minimum term, you can cancel it at any time with one month's notice. The provider must remind you in good time before the extension.

My provider raised the price. Can I leave?

Under Section 57 TKG, if a provider changes the contract terms unilaterally on the basis of a clause in its general terms, you can cancel without a notice period and without costs, unless the change is purely in your favour, purely administrative, or required by law. You can declare the cancellation within three months of receiving the notice, and the contract ends at the earliest when the change would take effect. The provider has to tell you in writing on a durable medium one to two months before the change and has to name your right to cancel. Read the notice for the exact wording.

What counts as 'too slow' for a reduction or cancellation?

The Bundesnetzagentur defines it for fixed-line connections. You run 30 measurements within 14 days on three different calendar days, ten per day, with the Breitbandmessung desktop app. The deviation counts as significant if, among other things, on fewer than two of the three days at least one measurement reaches 90 percent of the contractual maximum speed, or if the normally available speed is not reached in 90 percent of the measurements. The app produces a Messprotokoll that you send to your provider. You have to claim your rights yourself, because the Bundesnetzagentur does not enforce individual claims.

I am moving within Cologne. What happens to my contract?

Under Section 60 TKG the provider must supply the contracted service at your new address without changing the term and other contract content, as far as it offers the service there. It may charge a reasonable fee for the move that must not exceed its fee for a new connection. If the service is not offered at the new address, you can cancel with one month's notice, effective at move-out or later.

How do I switch provider without ending up with no internet?

The Verbraucherzentrale NRW advises giving the new provider the order to cancel your old contract, because the two providers then coordinate the changeover and any number porting directly. Under Section 59 TKG the service must not be interrupted for more than one working day, and if the switch drags on after your old contract has ended, the old provider can only charge half of the base fees until it works, unless the delay is your fault. Plan a buffer of several weeks before your notice deadline.

Do I have to rent the provider's router?

The Bundesnetzagentur says you may connect any suitable router you buy on the market, and the provider has to give you the access data you need. Full performance is usually reached when the router meets the provider's requirements, and responsibility of the network operator ends at the passive connection point, so a router you choose is your own responsibility.

Can I withdraw from a contract I signed online or by phone?

The Bundesnetzagentur notes that for contracts concluded at a distance, for example on the internet or by phone, there is a 14-day statutory right of withdrawal under the Civil Code. In a shop you usually have none. Withdrawal is a civil-law matter, so the Bundesnetzagentur does not decide on it, and the Verbraucherzentrale can advise.