Swiss Mobile Plans: Price Differences Are Still Huge

Numerous mobile service providers compete for Switzerland’s mobile users. More than 150 different mobile plans and prepaid offers are now available. Many of these offers come with numerous optional extensions and bundles.

Many consumers find the huge choice of offers overwhelming, and shy away from migrating from their current plans. But the following evaluation shows that sticking to unfavorable telecom services can be expensive. Many mobile customers pay hundreds of francs more than necessary for mobile services every year.

But there is a tool which makes it easy to save on telecom fees. “Thanks to the interactive mobile plan comparison on moneyland.ch, consumers can quickly and easily find out which mobile plans and prepaid mobile offers are the cheapest for their specific needs,” states Ralf Beyeler, telecom expert at independent online comparison service moneyland.ch.

Big price differences between mobile service providers

Telecom expert Ralf Beyeler used the interactive moneyland.ch comparison to calculate the costs of Swiss mobile plans and prepaid offers as of December 2020 based on four different user profiles. The comparison calculated Swiss mobile service costs for low users, average users, average data users, and high users.

“The results show that the differences between different offers are still very large,” says telecom expert Ralf Beyeler. The analysis accounts for the cheapest prepaid offers and the cheapest mobile plan from each mobile service provider. If more expensive offers were included in the analysis, the differences would be much larger.

Costs for low-use profile compared

The low-use profile used for the cost comparison is based on a user who makes 5 telephone calls per month – each with a duration of 2 minutes – and uses 200 megabytes of local mobile data in Switzerland. This kind of user primarily uses WLAN to connect to the Internet.

Without accounting for special promotional offers, the prepaid mobile service from Coop Mobile comes in first place by a wide margin. Total costs over the first year: 51 francs. Yallo’s prepaid mobile comes in second, with total costs of 60 francs for the first year. Salt subsidiary Das ABO comes in third, with total costs of 74 francs for the first year.

These offers also cost less than 100 francs in the first year for consumers matching the low-use mobile user profile: Lidl Connect (78.60 francs), TalkTalk (81.75 francs), Sat (91.40 francs), M-Budget Mobile (92.40 francs) and Swisscom (93.50 francs). With the exception of the TalkTalk mobile plan, all of these offers are prepaid mobile services.

Swiss mobile service providers focus heavily on special promotional offers. But for low-use mobile users, current special promotions are not the most affordable option. The cheapest special promotional offer costs 179.30 francs per year – nearly 130 francs more than the cheapest offer for low users at the standard price (as per December 8, 2020).

Swiss mobile service providers focus heavily on special promotional offers. But for low-use mobile users, current special promotions are not the most affordable option. The cheapest special promotional offer costs 179.30 francs per year – nearly 130 francs more than the cheapest offer for low users at the standard price (as per December 8, 2020).

Low-use costs compared to 2019

Swiss mobile service providers are continually launching new offers and phasing out existing offers. moneyland.ch analyzed the differences in costs for low-use profile users between its 2020 study and a price evaluation it conducted in 2019.

The results: Coop Mobile was already the cheapest option for the low-use profile in May 2019. Since then, the cost of the Coop Mobile prepaid offer has sunk by 6 francs or 11%. Offers for which prices have gone down even more drastically include the prepaid offers from Lebara (142 francs cheaper), Yallo (30 francs cheaper), and Das ABO (26 francs cheaper). UPCs cheapest mobile plan in December 2020 costs 229 francs less than its cheapest plan in May 2019.  Lebara’s current cheapest mobile plan costs 110 francs per year less than its cheapest mobile plan a year and a half ago.

Costs for average users compared

The average-use profile used for the cost comparison is based on a mobile user who uses 2000 megabytes of local data and makes thirty 3-minute local telephone calls every month. 2000 megabytes of data is generally sufficient for average mobile users – particularly those who do not stream video using mobile data.

Without accounting for special promotional offers, ALDI SUISSE mobile’s prepaid offer takes first place for the average-user profile. The total cost for the first year comes to 168.80 francs. Prepaid service Mucho takes second place, with a total cost of 219.80 francs. A prepaid mobile offer from TalkTalk takes third place with a total cost of 235 francs.

These are followed by TalkTalk mobile plans (259.35 francs), UPC (287.80 francs), Lidl (288.40 francs), and digitec (300 francs). Mobile plans from major mobile service providers like Salt (478.40 francs), Swisscom (559.80 francs) and Sunrise (600 francs) are relatively expensive. “The price differences are huge! A mobile user matching the average-use profile can pay more than three times less with the most affordable service provider than with a more expensive one,” explains telecom expert Ralf Beyeler.

For the average-user profile, there are a total of five promotional offers for mobile plans from Swiss mobile service providers which are cheaper than the cheapest standard-priced plan from the corresponding service provider. The most affordable mobile plan on promotion costs around 10 francs more per year than the cheapest standard-priced mobile plan. If special promotional offers are accounted for, Coop Mobile takes third place for average-use mobile users.

Average-user costs compared to 2019

Compared to prices in May 2019, normal users can now pay 51 francs or 23% less than they did then. The reason for this is that ALDI SUISSE mobile raised the amount of data included in its bundle, which means ALDI MOBILE users can get by with a smaller bundle.

With some service providers, an average user can get the mobile services they need at a significantly lower cost than they could a year and a half ago. These include the prepaid mobile offers from ALDI SUISSE mobile (168 francs pe year cheaper than last year), Das ABO (133 francs cheaper), and Lebara (130 francs cheaper). Mobile plan offers which cost less than last year include those from TalkTalk (142 francs per year cheaper), Lebara (110 francs cheaper), and UPC (109 francs cheaper). But while these offers have become cheaper, most of them are still more expensive than the most affordable offer available.

Some service providers have become more expensive. M-Budget Mobile prepaid mobile now costs 142 francs or 41% more per year for the average-user profile than it did a year and a half ago. A number of service providers had small price increases of up to 18 francs per year.   

Costs for average data users compared

The average-data user profile is based on a mobile user who transfers 2000 megabytes of local mobile data per month, but only makes one 3-minute telephone call within Switzerland every month.

The cheapest option for average data users, without accounting for promotional offers, is the Mucho prepaid service with total costs of 134.60 francs the first year. Quickline takes second place at 167.20 francs. A prepaid mobile offer from ALDI SUISSE is third, with a total cost of 168.80 francs over the first year.

Trailing behind by a wide margin are the prepaid mobile offers from Das ABO (220.40 francs), Yallo (235 francs), Lidl Connect (240.60 francs), and Coop Mobile (249.60 francs).

The cheapest offer for average data users is a prepaid offer. Only the mobile plans from Wingo and TalkTalk are cheaper than the cheapest prepaid mobile offers from the same providers.

There are a number of special promotional offers which work for average data users. But the three cheapest standard-price offers for average data users are cheaper than the cheapest special promotional offer.

Average-data-user costs compared to 2019

A comparison with the May 2019 evaluation show that the prices of the two cheapest offers have remained the same since last year. Average data users pay exactly the same at the cheapest service provider as they did a year and a half ago.

Average data users now pay significantly less than they did in May 2019 for mobile plans from Sunrise (173 francs less per year), Swisscom (155 francs less), and Lebara (110 francs less), as well as for the prepaid mobile offers from Das ABO (156 francs less), Lebara (130 francs less), ALDI SUISSE mobile (129 francs less), and M-Budget (97 francs less). Some mobile service providers have become more expensive for average data users (up to 18 francs more per year).

Costs for high users compared

The high user profile is based on a user who wants the freedom to make as many phone calls and use as much data as they want. For this user profile cost comparison, moneyland.ch only accounted for offers which provide unlimited calls and data without throttling.

The flat fee mobile plan from Lidl takes first place for high users at 408.40 francs for the first year. Second is Yallo Swype at 468 francs for the first year. A Sunrise prepaid offer comes third with total costs of 479.90 francs for the first year. Next in line are a prepaid offer from Wingo (480 francs), a digitec mobile plan (588 francs), and a prepaid mobile offer from Yallo (600 francs).

High users are the only profile for which there are currently special promotional offers that are cheaper than the cheapest standard-priced offers (as of December 8, 2020). The most interesting current promotional offer is a mobile plan from digitec which costs 240 francs over the first year. The cheapest offer at standard prices costs nearly 170 francs or 70% more. Lidl, Wingo, Salt, TalkTalk, and Lebara are also running special promotions which are cheaper than their cheapest standard-priced offers.

High user costs compared to 2019

The cheapest offer for high users in December 2020 is 71 francs or 15% cheaper than the cheapest offer in May 2019. Lidl, Coop Mobile, digitec and TalkTalk have begun to offer mobile plans with unlimited local calls and data for a flat fee since May 2019.

Comparing based on your personal need is worth it

The cost comparisons above are based on generic user profiles. The ranks and costs with regards to the cheapest mobile service for you can vary broadly depending on your specific telecom needs.

The precise, interactive mobile plan comparison makes it easy to find the most affordable offers for your individual profile. You can also use other criteria like roaming and international calls in addition to local calls and data. Offers can also be sorted by customer satisfaction ratings.

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Compare Swiss mobile plans and prepaid mobile including special promotional offers now