Wireless internet access is so expensive because Germany made an auction for all mobile providers to buy the 3G frequencies needed for operating a 3G network. The problem was the providers bid insanely high amounts of money for these frequencies, all together they have been sold for 50.8 billion euros (today this would be 54 billion USD).

But the huge cost for 3G did not end with this. Every provider was required to use it's frequencies and deliver 3G to a specified percent of the population. So on top of the high auction prices they had very high costs for actually putting many transceivers.

And this is, why wireless is so insanely expensive in Germany. It all started with an auction and companies paying too much...