2007: News on German prepaid cards, VAT increase

[Gryphone]

First of all: effective January 1st the German VAT has been increased from 16% to 19%. The operators have the right to increase the call charges according to the VAT increase, therefore i.e. from 0,39€/min to 0,40€/min. Most operators however chose not pass this increase on to their customers, I'll be noting it in the cases where a currently offered tariff is affected by such an increase


T-Mobile

Xtra Smart, Classic and Friends: nothing new
Xtra Click: prolonged once again, this time until March 31st, it is not listed on the normal T-Mobile page anymore and can only be ordered through the webpage www.t-mobile.de/xtraclick
Xtra und Los: no news here
Xtra Plus: is no longer being offered

Xtra Nonstop: not available at the moment


D2

Callya Compact: no news
Callya Comfort: instead of the current bonus ("Wochenende" unlimited free calls on weekends within the D2 network) you may also chose two other options. One of them is "SMS", when recharging you get 50 SMS within the D2 network for one month. The last one is "Zuhause" though it's a bit more complicated, I suggest we leave that one out.

Callya OpenEnd: available until March 31st, dial 12060 to activate and 12061 to deactivate it, other conditions unchanged
BestFriend: may be removed from page since Callya Special is no longer being offered


E-Plus

E-Plus has started using a new prefix: 0157


O2

Loop Classic: prices have been increased due to new VAT, they are now 0,29/0,19 on-net and mailbox, 0,81/0,40 to landline and other networks. (0,07 to landline on WE stays the same)
Loop Alltime: nothing new here
Loop S/M/L: this is a new plan, standard charges are 0,25€/min and 0,15€/SMS. When recharging 20€ you get 5€ of bonus, when recharging 30€ you get a 20€ bonus. Bonus credit is valid for 6 months after the last recharge that gave you a bonus and may be used on standard calls and SMS within Germany.

For all tariffs: When buying a new Loop card you usually get 10 free SMS per month for the first year (national and international)
Loop Weekend: may be booked with all loop tariffs, for 5€ you get unlimited calls on saturdays and sundays within the O2 network and to landline for one month.
10€ refills are no longer available and have been replaced by 15€ refills.


So much about the MNOs, I'll be writing about the providers in a new post.