Three networks run their own infrastructure in Germany: Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone and O2 (Telefónica Germany), each reporting 5G population coverage in the 90–95% range as of 2026, with Deutsche Telekom generally cited as the most consistent performer in independent testing and the widest rural reach of the three. Coverage in Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Cologne is strong across all three, and along the main autobahns and rail corridors 4G is close to universal. The gap between headline percentages and lived experience shows up in Germany's officially tracked "weiße Flecken" (white spots) — areas with no 4G or 5G from any operator at all. A 2026 study by Germany's federal digital ministry found around 23,500 of these, covering roughly 7,500 square kilometres, or about 2% of the country's land area; over four-fifths sit in forests, with the largest concentrations in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, followed by parts of Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate. These are mostly small, remote and sparsely populated — 99.9% of German households already have a 4G or 5G connection available — but a traveller heading into the Black Forest, the Bavarian Alps or a rural stretch near a national border should not assume signal is guaranteed everywhere.

Buying a German prepaid SIM is straightforward in principle but involves more steps than in several neighbouring countries: mandatory identity verification has applied to every prepaid SIM since 2017, completed either in person at a Telekom, Vodafone or O2 store, by post via Deutsche Post's PostIdent service, or online via a VideoIdent call or an electronic ID chip. Non-EU visitors sometimes find the online VideoIdent route rejects a foreign passport format, in which case an in-person PostIdent visit at a post office branch is the more reliable fallback. A data-only eSIM avoids all of this, since it does not issue a German phone number and is not a locally registered SIM.

The practical sequence: install the eSIM profile over Wi-Fi before departure, keep the home SIM active for calls and one-time passcodes, and switch on the data eSIM once landed, so there is no PostIdent trip or VideoIdent call to schedule around the rest of the visit.

Germany's 2017 registration law means every local prepaid SIM — bought in a carrier store, a supermarket or a kiosk — must be identity-verified before it works, using in-store checks, PostIdent at a post office, or an online VideoIdent call. Non-EU passports occasionally cause the automated VideoIdent process to fail, pushing visitors back to the in-person PostIdent route. A data-only travel eSIM is not a locally issued German SIM, so this verification step does not apply to it; the home SIM stays active for calls and passcodes throughout.