Sections
- Introduction
- Technologies
- Main providers
- MVNOs/Branded Resellers
- Quality of Service
- Regulator & Complaints
- Coverage
- Useful Tips
- Recommendations
- Links
Introduction
A brief and simple guide to Internet services available in Austria, intended for new arrivals or those weighing up the options over Internet access.
Technologies
A number of internet technologies are available in Austria, as summarised below. Not all technologies will be available throughout the country, and there may connection speeds in specific locations may vary strongly.
| Technology | Max Speed Download | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Glasfaser/Kabel | 1 Gigabit/s | Internet provided by Fibre or Cable (Not available all areas) |
| 5G | 414.2 Mbps | Average 5G download speeds are between 1.4x and 14.3x faster than 4G. This is new technology so costs are higher and coverage is not countrywide |
| 4G+ (LTE-A) | 300 Mbps | This is sometimes referred to as 4.5G and uses a technology called carrier aggregation (it combines multiple 4G channels together). This requires specialist equipment which is readily available (e.g. CAT6 routers) |
| Hybrid | 200 Mbps | This combines the Fixed telephone based internet with 4G/4G+ to give you higher speeds. This requires specialist equipment and is likely to be carrier specific. |
| Fixed Telephone based (DSL based) | 100 Mbps | 100 Mbps speed is unlikely but in general they should be 25Mbps or above. Technologies include ADSL, VDSL, VDSL2 etc |
| Satellite | 100 Mbps | Satellite internet services are now available via companies such as Starlink and next year a Company called OneWeb could enter the market |
| 4G | 150 Mbps | This is available Country wide |
Notes
- Max speeds are theoretical, actual speed may vary substantially based on location.
- All networks have variable speeds but cellular technologies (e.g. 4G/4G+) are particularly susceptible
Main providers
| Provider | Services offered |
|---|---|
| A1 (Telekom Austria) | Offers full service |
| Magenta (T-Mobile) | Offers full service. |
| Drei | Offers full service |
| kabelPlus | Cable service |
| Next layer | Offers fibre and data center services to business customers only |
| Regional Players | Regional operators exist in various provinces e.g. Hotze.com in Tyrol, Liwest in Upper Austria, Salzburg AG in the state of Salzburg. |
Note:
- Some of these providers offer telephone, internet, mobile and TV packages (“multiplay”).
MVNOs/Branded Resellers
There are a large number of Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs)/branded resellers in Austria that piggy-back off the three main operators (A1, Magenta, Drei).
Some MVNOs, such as Yesss (A1) and Eety (Drei), are actually just the cheaper Pay as you Go variants of the main operators branded differently.
Some of the major ones are Yesss (A1), Bob (A1), HoT (Drei & Magenta), Eety (Drei), Spusu (Drei), Lidl Connect (Drei). Fonira seems to piggy-back off A1 (TBC)
Telecom Paper has a non-exhaustive list of MVNOs/Branded Resellers
RTR also produce a list of Mobile Providers
Quality of Service
The Austrian regulations around Quality of Service transparency came in as part of the Telekommunikationsgesetzes 2021, which flow down from a number of EU regulations, in particular Article 4 of Regulation (EU) 2015/2120. Some key points are:
| Internet Type | Transparency Requirement |
| Fixed | Clear and comprehensible explanation of the minimum, normally available, maximum and advertised download and upload speed of the internet access services. |
| Mobile | Estimated maximum and advertised download and upload speed of the internet access services |
Providers should make these details available prior to contact sign-off. For fixed networks, minimum download speeds of around 50% of maximum have been quoted by one supplier. One supplier is now also offering this for 5G; however there is currently no legal requirement for them to do so. For 4G & 5G please ask about any specific prioritisaion of traffic that the supplier uses (e.g. broadband internet traffic is lower priority than phone traffic)
Regulator & Complaints
The Austrian regulator for Telecoms (and Post) is RTR. In the event of a dispute between you and the Provider, you first need to put your complaint in writing to the Provider. In the event that this cannot be resolved, RTR offer an arbitration service (in German). Consumer information is provided on their website along with network test tools.
Coverage Tools
The Austrian Finance Ministry have produced a Broadband Atlas which provides details of broadband availablility by Austria. The download and upload rates are rounded maximum values and are derived from the Central Information Office for Broadband Supply (ZIB) data based on the Ordinance on the Transmission of Information to RTR-GmbH.
The main network providers (A1, Drei, Magenta) also have coverage maps.
This site also provides details on transmitter information.
Useful Tips
These are some useful tips in no particular order.
- If you need consistent speed the fixed type providers might be better (e.g kabelPus, A1, Drei, Magenta)
- 4G coverage does tend to be variable so ask your neighbours what works for them.
- Try the cheaper Pay as you Go variants first (e.g. HoT, Spusu, Lidl Connect, Yesss ) to see what speed you get, it may be enough! At around 20 Euros per month, they are good value!
- If you have a mobile contract with a provider (e.g. Drei) they sometimes offer deals to take on internet.
- Be careful of the minimum term contracts, speeds are only a guideline. If you sign up to an 80Mbps package make sure you get it and ask about the cooling off period (e.g. return within 14 days if you don’t get what was promised). “Up to” speeds are VERY vague in Austria with low guaranteed minimum speeds.
- Ask about the Quality of Service specifications (e.g. min download, traffic shaping)
- Sometimes an unlocked router may be a better option than that provided by the provider (e.g. TP-Link MR600). It also allows you to switch providers without buying new kit.
- If you have an unlocked phone which can roam, try switching networks and running a speedtest to determine actual 4G speeds.
- Positioning 4G equipment near windows helps (look for maximum signal strength).
Recommendations
British in Austria does not make official recommendations (personal experiences differ widely). There are a number of threads including user recommendations in the British in Austria Facebook group.
Links
Contributors
Keith Davies
Last Update: 26th August 2023