Listicle ยท 4 picks
Updated May 2026. D-Netz (Deutsches Netz / Telekom) is Germany's premium network — first-ranked by connect for 13 years running and the strongest in rural and alpine areas. The fastest way to get Telekom-quality coverage without the Telekom price is via an MVNO. fraenk at €10/month for 20 GB is the simplest pick. congstar M at €10/4w for 25 GB gives more data per cycle. NORMA connect, KAUFLAND, ja! mobil, Penny Mobil all sell 25 GB at €8.99/4w on Telekom.
20 GB on Telekom 5G, monthly billed (not 4-week), monthly cancellable. Switzerland-inclusive roaming. Why: The only D-Netz tariff that includes Switzerland by default at this price. App-only signup.
25 GB on Telekom. Annualised €130/year. Sold in Telekom shops, Rewe, Norma, Rossmann. Why: More data per cycle than fraenk; same network. Best when you want supermarket retail availability.
25 GB at the lowest D-Netz price. 50 Mbit/s 5G. Annualised €116.87. Why: Cheapest 25 GB on Telekom network in Germany. Sold at NORMA stores. KAUFLAND, ja! mobil, Penny Mobil match the price.
240 GB on Telekom for the whole year. Matches Telekom's own Jahrestarif for €0.05 less. Why: Pay once. Best D-Netz GB-per-Euro available.
Every plan listed runs on Telekom cell sites. Coverage is identical to Telekom-branded; speed caps differ.
| Brand | Data | Price | /year | Speed cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| fraenk | 20 GB | €10/mo | €120 | ~25 Mbit/s |
| congstar M | 25 GB | €10/4w | €130 | 25 Mbit/s |
| congstar Jahrespaket | 240 GB/yr | €100/yr | €100 | 25 Mbit/s |
| NORMA S 5G | 25 GB | €8.99/4w | €116.87 | 50 Mbit/s |
| KAUFLAND Smart S 5G | 25 GB | €8.99/4w | €116.87 | 50 Mbit/s |
| ja! mobil Smart | 25 GB | €8.99/4w | €116.87 | 50 Mbit/s |
| Penny Mobil Smart | 25 GB | €8.99/4w | €116.87 | 50 Mbit/s |
| Telekom Prepaid M | 20 GB | €9.95/4w | €129.35 | 300 Mbit/s |
We score every D-Netz prepaid plan on five dimensions: price per gigabyte, 5G availability, EU roaming fair-use cap, Switzerland inclusion, and activation friction (VideoIdent vs. PostIdent). Prices verified May 13, 2026. Network performance scores draw from connect Netztest 2025 (Telekom #1 thirteen years running), Opensignal Germany Q1 2026, and the Bundesnetzagentur coverage register.
Coverage. Telekom owns the most extensive network in Germany, especially in rural and alpine areas. O2 brands like ALDI TALK are fine in cities but drop signal faster outside them. If you regularly travel to small towns, ski resorts, or wine regions, D-Netz is worth a euro or two extra per month.
Same network, different speed caps and price. congstar caps at 25 Mbit/s on prepaid; Telekom-branded prepaid goes up to 300 Mbit/s. For most users (web, social, video at HD), 25 Mbit/s is more than enough. congstar saves you €5-10/4w.
fraenk bundles Switzerland in roaming and is monthly billed (not 4-week). Annualised, fraenk at €120/year is cheaper than NORMA at €116.87, basically the same. The 50 cents/year you save on NORMA vanishes the first time you take your phone to Zurich and pay zone-1 roaming.
Yes. Telekom, congstar, fraenk, NORMA, KAUFLAND, ja! mobil, and Penny Mobil all use the same Telekom cell sites. Signal quality is identical. The differences are in speed caps, customer service language, and retail channel.