There has been a new mobile discounter in the Telekom network since the end of April 2020. The offer called “Fraenk” is implemented directly by the Telekom subsidiary Congstar and can be canceled on a monthly basis. TECHBOOK reveals what the provider can and cannot do.
The concept behind Fraenk is somewhat reminiscent of Freenet Funk. Because here, too, the tariffs can only be booked via app for Android and iOS. However, the new provider relies on a different tariff selection. TECHBOOK explains what customers should know about Fraenk.
Fraenk starts with just one tariff
Fraenk started 2020 with just one tariff, which included an Allnet flat rate, SMS flat rate and 4 GB of data for 10 euros a month. Even now, only this tariff is available, but the prepaid provider has now increased the data volume to 5 GB. With the internet flat rate, Telekom’s LTE network can be used up to a maximum speed of 25 Mbit/s downstream and 5 Mbit/s upstream. Instead of a regular SIM card, users can also choose an eSIM if they wish.
Frank price comparison
If we compare price and performance from Fraenk, the offer is quite good. With ja!mobil and Penny Mobil there are already two discount tariffs in the Telekom network, which are also implemented by Congstar and have very similar tariff conditions. Both providers market an all-network flat rate with 3 GB for EUR 7.99 and one with 5 GB for EUR 12.99 per 28 days. The Fraenk tariff, with its 5 GB of data volume and its price of 10 euros, is positioned right between these offers.
Read on: Overview of prepaid tariffs from the supermarket
Fraenk advertises a flexible term of just one month, but the provider allows itself a notice period of 14 days. If users do not terminate their contract via the app on time, it is renewed for another month. At the start, the costs were debited solely via the deposited PayPal account. From mid-August, fraenk will also be offering payment by direct debit. The tariff fee is always debited in the middle of the next month at the end of the month, such as Frank on his website indicates.
Fraenk users (still) have to do without this
Compared to many other tariffs, however, Fraenk customers have to make some compromises. After the inclusive volume has been used up, surfing the Internet is only possible via WLAN because there is no throttling. Instead, Fraenk is marketing bookable data options: For a one-time fee of 5 euros, an additional 2 GB of data volume can be booked up to 10 times per billing period, which is valid for 31 days from booking. Unused data volume expires.
The mobile operator does not offer a multi-SIM. Since the end of May 2020, it has been possible to port your number. The provider did not allow this at the start. The former provider usually charges a fee for releasing the old number. This was throttled to a maximum of 6.82 euros at the end of April 2020. However, the porting of a telephone number assigned by Fraenk to a new provider is possible free of charge.
More on this: Fees for porting your number are falling significantly
Unlike Freenet Funk, the tariff can be used within the EU including Switzerland. Calls and SMS from Germany to other EU countries are not possible with Fraenk. The discounter also excludes the use of chargeable special numbers and premium SMS.