Mobile Networks in Germany

Germany has four mobile networks: Telekom, Vodafone, O2 (Telefónica) and 1&1. Every other brand you can buy a SIM from rents space on one of them, and the brand on your SIM, not the network underneath, decides which APN you type.

Telekom, Vodafone and O2 are the long-standing MNOs. 1&1 became the fourth in December 2023, when it started selling phone plans on its own Open RAN 5G network, filling the gaps with national roaming on Vodafone. The rest are MVNOs:

• On Telekom: congstar and fraenk.
• On Vodafone: Lidl Connect and otelo.
• On O2: Aldi Talk, Blau and Lebara.
• On several: klarmobil sells tariffs on Telekom, Vodafone and O2, so the right APN depends on your tariff.

MMS has ended

Picture messages no longer work on any German network. Vodafone switched MMS off in January 2023, and Telekom, O2 and 1&1 followed on 30 June 2026, which takes in every brand on them. No APN or MMSC setting brings it back, so the network pages list data settings only. Use RCS in your Messages app, or a messenger such as WhatsApp, to send pictures.

Same masts, different APN

A German brand often has its own APN. Blau runs on O2's network but needs internet.blau.de, and Lebara needs internet.lebara.de. Lebara moved from Telekom's network to O2's in 2022, so a guide that puts it on Telekom is out of date. Telekom itself now documents internet.v6.telekom for current phones and internet.telekom for older ones.

If a phone shows full signal bars and no data after a SIM swap, copy the APN for the name on your SIM, not for the network it runs on.

eSIM and SIM registration

All four networks sell eSIM on modern phones, and an eSIM line normally gets its settings during activation, so you rarely type the APN on one. Germany requires you to identify yourself when you register a SIM, whether it is a physical SIM or an eSIM.

When data stops after a SIM swap, a reset or a new phone, check the APN first. Find your network above and copy its values exactly.