Around 1500 mobile plan users took part in a representative 2018 survey commissioned moneyland.ch and conducted by GfK Switzerland. The survey provides insights into customer satisfaction with mobile service providers based on 14 key criteria. Among other criteria, participants were asked to rate their satisfaction with network quality, network coverage, mobile data, roaming, customer service, billing and value for money.
The average customer satisfaction rating for all service providers combined is 7.4 out of 10 points. Voice quality received the highest customer satisfaction ratings (8.0 out of 10 points) followed by network quality (7.8 out of 10 points) and network coverage (7.8 out of 10 points). The lowest-rated criteria are roaming (5.5 out of 10 points), availability of customer service (7.0 out of 10 points) and notice periods (7.0 out of 10 points).
Young customers are less satisfied
Young adults between the ages of 19 and 25 years old rate their mobile service providers more poorly than other age groups. Average customer satisfaction in this age group across all service providers and criteria is 6.6 out of 10 points. That is 0.8 points lower than the average across all age groups. Customer satisfaction ratings by young adults were lower than those of the total population for 13 of the 14 criteria surveyed. Only roaming received an average rating higher than that of the total population at 5.7 out of 10 points (0.2 points higher than the average across all age groups).
“Young consumers use their smartphone very intensively. For that reason, dissatisfaction among young adults should be a warning signal for mobile service providers,” according to Ralf Beyeler, telecom expert at independent comparison service moneyland.ch.
Average ratings by adults aged 26 to 49 years old are similar to the averages across all age groups. Adults between the ages of 50 and 74 years old are more satisfied with their mobile service providers, with this age group’s average overall rating across all service providers and criteria being 8.2 out of 10 points. Older consumers rate their mobile service providers higher than the combined population on almost all criteria. The only exception to this rule is roaming, which received an average rating of just 5.2 out of 10 points from this age group – the lowest among all age groups.
Customer satisfaction somewhat lower in French-speaking Switzerland
At 7.5 out of 10 points, the average customer satisfaction rating across all service providers and criteria is somewhat higher in German-speaking Switzerland than in Switzerland as a whole. At 7.1 out of 10 points, the average rating in French-speaking Switzerland is somewhat lower. Roaming services received the worst ratings in French-speaking Switzerland at 5.1 out of 10 points.
Customers are most satisfied with voice quality, network quality and network coverage.
Consumers gave their mobile service providers the highest average notes for voice quality (8.0 out of 10 points), network quality (7.8 out of 10 points) and network coverage (7.8 out of 10 points). However, there are notable differences between the ratings given to individual service providers. For example, at 6.7 out of 10 points, Salt’s network coverage rating is 1.1 points lower than the combined average.
Mobile data ratings are also worth a mention: The average customer satisfaction rating for mobile data across all service providers is 7.7 out of 10 points. Wingo received the highest rating at 8.8 out of 10 points.
Lowest satisfaction with roaming
Mobile plan users in Switzerland are particularly unsatisfied with roaming services. The average customer satisfaction rating for roaming is just 5.5 out of 10 points. That is not surprising because although the costs of roaming have slowly declined year on year, they are still high. The cost of roaming varies broadly between plans and offers, as revealed by the moneyland.ch mobile plan comparison.
Highest-rated service providers
Wingo received the highest average customer satisfaction ratings from survey participants. Wingo (a Swisscom brand) has an average customer satisfaction rating of 8.3 out of 10 points, followed by M-Budget (7.9 out of 10 points) and Swisscom (7.7 out of 10 points). Sunrise, Switzerland’s second-largest mobile service provider, took fifth place (7.5 out of 10 points) while the country’s third-largest service provider Salt took tenth place with 6.9 out of 10 points. Customer satisfaction ratings are shown in detail in the moneyland.ch mobile plan comparison.
Swisscom customer satisfaction
Market leader Swisscom made third place with an average overall rating of 7.7 out of 10 points across all criteria. Swisscom customers are most satisfied with Swisscom’s voice quality (8.3 out of 10 points), network coverage (8.3 out of 10 points) and network quality (8.2 out of 10 points). They are least satisfied with roaming (5.4 out of 10 points), value for money (6.5 out of 10 points) and notice periods (6.8 out of 10 points). Compared to total participants, Swisscom customers gave their service provider lower-than-average ratings for value for money and notice periods. Swisscom’s customer satisfaction ratings for all other criteria are higher than average ratings for all service providers combined.
Sunrise customer satisfaction
At fifth place, the second-largest Swiss mobile service provider Sunrise takes fifth place. The average customer satisfaction rating among Sunrise customers is 7.5 out of 10 points. Sunrise customers are most satisfied with voice quality (8.1 out of 10 points), billing (8.0 out of 10 points) and general satisfaction (7.9 out of 10 points). They are least satisfied with roaming (5.3 out of 10 points), the availability of customer service (7.1 out of 10 points) and general customer service (7.3 out of 10 points).
Salt customer satisfaction
Switzerland’s third-largest mobile service provider with its own network receive an average rating of 6.9 out of 10 points across all criteria, which puts it in tenth place. Salt customers are most satisfied with voice quality, mobile data and value for money (each rated with 7.4 out of 10 points). Salt customers are least satisfied with roaming (5.1 out of 10 points), notice periods (6.4 out of 10 points) and customer service (6.7 out of 10 points).
UPC customer satisfaction
The country’s largest cable network service provider UPC – formerly Cablecom – also offers mobile plans. UPC mobile plans currently use the Salt network, but UPC will move to the Swisscom network from 2019. UPC received an overall customer satisfaction rating of 7.2 out of 10 points across all criteria, putting it in sixth place. UPC customers are most satisfied with the friendliness of employees (7.9 out of 10 points), billing (7.6 out of 10 points) and voice quality (7.5 out of 10 points). Customers are least satisfied with roaming (5.8 out of 10 points), notice periods (6.9 out of 10 points) and network coverage (6.9 out of 10 points).
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Swiss mobile plan and prepaid offer comparison with detailed ratings
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