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For decades, money has been flowing around cell phones and smartphones on a monthly basis.
Recently, however, there have been more and more offers for a model that is designed in intervals of 365 days.
It's about prepaid annual packages.
They are offered by cell phone discounters as well as by network operators.
Costs: one-time between 50 and 100 euros for twelve months in advance.
In addition to telephony minutes or a telephony flat rate, you get a chunk of data volume, around 12, 24 or 100 gigabytes (GB), which is valid for one year.
The annual packages are enjoying growing popularity, also and especially as gifts, observes Alexander Kuch from the telecommunications portal "Teltarif.de".
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Basically, such packages are aimed at customers who use the mobile Internet rather seldom and sparingly, for example to visit websites, look for train connections, write messenger messages, and thus consume little volume, explains Rainer Schuldt from the specialist magazine “Computer-Bild ".
"At first glance, the packages seem attractive, but the included volume is too tight for data-intensive cases such as video streaming or sending many photos."
Annual mobile phone packages with pitfalls
In contrast to cell phone contracts or prepaid cards, the most important question, according to Alexander Kuch, is: Can the inclusive units actually be distributed over the year, or are they - as with some providers - tied to the month?
"It's like paying a prepaid tariff twelve times, and it's often too expensive."
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Usually the tariffs are regulated in such a way that you can divide the data volume yourself over 365 days, explains Thomas Bradler from the North Rhine-Westphalia consumer center.
“You have to be disciplined accordingly, otherwise everything will be gone after three months.” He therefore advises checking consumption regularly.
Practically every smartphone offers a counter for this purpose.
So who needs packages like this?
“People who have highly asymmetrical usage,” says Kuch.
Maybe campers who know that the family will use mobile data more often on such a vacation.
Or students who are going abroad for several months.
Thanks to EU roaming, you can also use the annual packages in other EU countries.
Annual mobile phone packages: freely distribute data
“Anyone who has a tariff in which gigabytes regularly expire unused may be paying too much,” Bradler states.
With an annual package, this could be divided over a longer period of time.
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The offers are also very attractive for those who call a lot and passionate SMS writers, says Schuldt, at least those with a flat rate for calls and SMS.
The offers are less suitable for children and adolescents, says Thomas Bradler, because they use up too many units at once too quickly and cannot accurately estimate which application uses how much data.
If you are interested in an annual package, you should compare the tariffs and also take a look at the small print.
Also important: In which network will you be traveling, what maximum data speed is promised, and can 5G be used if your own smartphone already supports the new cellular standard?
Unusable internet without data volume
And what happens when the data volume is used up?
"After consumption, all providers throttle the surfing speed to an unusable 32 to 64 kilobits per second," says Schuldt.
This means that it is practically impossible to use the mobile Internet.
According to Alexander Kuch, Internet access is even completely switched off when the data volume is used up, depending on the tariff.
It may be possible to post additional volume, but that is usually too expensive.
Others only offer to buy a completely new package.
Then you have to wait until the next month, which brings new volume.
Thomas Bradler also advises paying attention to whether the annual package really ends automatically after one year, or whether it may not be extended as a subscription without explicit termination.
Alexander Kuch draws a conclusion: "These are not the cheapest packages, but tariffs that give you peace and quiet for a year."