BONN (dpa-AFX) - Calls via the traditional landline telephone are going out of fashion. Last year, 64 billion call minutes were made from such devices in Germany, 20 percent less than in 2022, the Federal Network Agency reported in response to a dpa query. Mobile phone calls fell only slightly by three percent to 154 billion call minutes. Voice telephony via online services such as Whatsapp, Threema or Signal, on the other hand, rose sharply by 45% to 175 billion minutes. Video calls via the internet came in a close second in the communication statistics with 176 billion minutes - an increase of 23%.

There are various reasons for the change in communication. On the one hand, better cell phone networks are likely to be a factor: Those who used to shy away from an online connection because they expected poor transmission quality can now rely on largely good quality.

In addition, flat-rate tariffs with large monthly data volumes are now commonplace - consumers no longer have to use their smartphones sparingly. The fact that many companies no longer rely on traditional landline telephones for their communications, but on online services that run via the landline Internet or mobile communications, is also likely to play a role./wdw/DP/mis