The Vienna Commercial Court has ruled that Magenta Telekom is no longer allowed to market tariffs as "5G-ready". The Association for Consumer Information (VKI) sued the company for misleading advertising on behalf of the Ministry of Social Affairs. According to the court, the advertising gives the impression that customers could already use the 5G communication standard for tariffs advertised as "5G-Ready". In fact, "5G-Ready" was simply an option enabling customers to switch to a 5G-enabled tariff at a later date, when it becomes available, without renewing their contract or incurring additional costs. The verdict is not yet legally binding.
Magenta Telekom had launched a large-scale advertising campaign in spring 2019 for some of its tariffs with the tagline "5G-Ready" or "5G-Ready tariff". It added a "free" mobile phone, such as a Huawei P30 Pro, Apple iPhone X or Samsung Galaxy S10 to the promotion. The court ruled also that for the "free mobile phone" offer in combination with tariff, the contract duration, the size of the basic fee, the existence and amount of the activation fee and the annual service fee, must all be made clear to consumers.
