The Cologne Regional Court (Landgericht Köln) has ruled that Telekom Deutschland GmbH acted unlawfully by replacing the network identifier on customers’ smartphone displays with an advertising slogan. The judgment following a lawsuit by the Federation of German Consumer Organisations (vzbv) was delivered on 17 September 2026; vzbv published details of the ruling on 26 October 2026.
- The Cologne Regional Court upheld vzbv’s lawsuit, ruling that replacing the network identifier “Telekom.de” with the promotional slogan “Im besten Netz” constituted an unreasonable nuisance to consumers.
- The advertisement appeared on the lock screen and in the control center of smartphones and could not be deactivated by users.
- The judgment is not yet final: Telekom has filed an appeal with the Higher Regional Court of Cologne.
Background to the dispute and advertising campaign
In January 2026, mobile operator Telekom altered the mobile network identifier (Netzkennung) in the status bar on the smartphones of numerous customers as part of a marketing campaign. Instead of the familiar network name “Telekom.de”, displays showed the advertising slogan “Im besten Netz”.
According to Jana Brockfeld, legal enforcement policy officer at vzbv, the operator misused a technical status line as an advertising platform, forcing a commercial message onto customers’ screens without their consent and without any option to disable it. In addition, some consumers were unsettled and initially wondered whether there was a problem with their network connection or their mobile phone.
Grounds for the court’s decision
The Cologne Regional Court (case ref. 33 O 55/26) agreed with the consumer federation’s arguments on the following grounds:
- Misuse of a technical indicator: the network identifier in the status bar serves to show which mobile network a smartphone is currently logged into. Turning this indicator into an advertising banner exceeds the permissible scope of telecommunications services.
- Unreasonable nuisance: customers were forced to take notice of the advertising message whenever looking at their lock screen or opening the control center, with no opportunity to object to or disable the display in advance.
- Risk of imitation: the court warned that such campaigns could set a precedent allowing Telekom and potential imitators to reach a large number of people simultaneously through a simple change to the network identifier.
Procedural status
The judgment of the Cologne Regional Court is not yet legally binding.
Telekom has lodged an appeal with the Higher Regional Court of Cologne (Oberlandesgericht Köln, case ref. 6 U 103/26), which will review the dispute in the second instance.
Information sources
- vzbv: Mobilfunk — Telekom darf Netzkennung nicht als Werbeplattform missbrauchen (Urteil des LG Köln vom 17.09.2026, Az. 33 O 55/26) Source publication date: 26 October 2026.