> Telecom in Germany

Telekom is a profitable enterprise. Yet, telecom infrastructure in Germany is on a remarkably bad level and relatively expensive. Cell coverage is also still bad, especially when travelling via rail or car.

With the exception if the Japanese Rail, all the other examples are different in one crucial detail: they are not natural monopolies.

Allowing private competition is generally good, but converting an existing state monopoly to a private corporation is generally bad.

I would not call telecommunications privatization in Germany a success story.

Yes, we can use more devices now. Prices have stayed more or less the same (or have risen, corrected by inflation. Service quality has collapsed, though.