Request for a preliminary ruling from the Oberlandesgericht Düsseldorf (Germany) lodged on 6 October 2023 – Verbraucherzentrale Berlin eV v Vodafone GmbH

(Case C-612/23, Verbraucherzentrale Berlin)

Language of the case: German

Referring court

Oberlandesgericht Düsseldorf

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant, appellant and respondent: Verbraucherzentrale Berlin eV

Defendant, appellant and respondent: Vodafone GmbH

Question referred

Must ‘initial commitment period’ ¹ be understood to mean only the contractual term of an initial contract or also that of a renewal contract based on new declarations of intent concluded and put into effect a considerable time before the expiry of the initial contract if, compared to the initial contract, it provides for a different exchange of benefits between the operator and the customer?

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¹ Within the meaning of Article 30(5) of Directive 2002/22/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 March 2002 on universal service and users' rights relating to electronic communications networks and services (Universal Service Directive) (OJ 2002 L 108, p. 51), as amended by Article 1(21) of Directive 2009/136/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2009 amending Directive 2002/22/EC on universal service and users’ rights relating to electronic communications networks and services, Directive 2002/58/EC concerning the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic communications sector and Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 on cooperation between national authorities responsible for the enforcement of consumer protection laws (OJ 2009 L 337, p. 11).