Typically, when a person connects to an online service like Netflix, the ISP connects to the network hosting the service, and the data flows freely. As traffic increases, the ISP and the host work together to increase capacity, so every user gets the same fast connection.

However, citing customer service complaints and first-hand accounts, the NGOs allege that, instead of increasing traffic capacity for free, Deutsche Telekom will ask the host network to pay them a fee to increase capacity, which is against the industry standard of free data exchanges — but not unheard of.