Notice Periods and Minimum Contract Terms for Swiss Mobile Plans

Swiss mobile service providers often have long minimum contract terms and notice periods. They do this in order to retain their customers and to hamper customer migration to other service providers.

1. What is a minimum contract term?

A minimum contract term is the shortest period of time for which you have to hold a mobile plan contract before it can be terminated. In the past, minimum contract terms of 12 or 24 months were typical for Swiss mobile plans. But an increasing number of mobile service providers now offer plans without minimum contract terms.

Tip: Use mobile plans with no minimum term whenever possible. That way you can quickly migrate to a cheaper or more suitable plan if your situation changes or better deals come up.

2. Which service providers have minimum contract terms?

The table below clearly shows the minimum contract terms used by Swiss mobile service providers for mobile plans. Some mobile service providers let you choose between several different minimum contract terms.

The minimum contract terms shown here are standard terms, but the actual term stated in an individual mobile plan contract is the deciding factor. Mobile service providers may offer contracts with terms that vary from their standard minimum contract terms. This is often the case with special promotional offers, which often have minimum contract terms which are longer than the standard term.

Good to know: The interactive mobile plan comparison on moneyland.ch clearly shows the minimum contract terms on product information pages.

Prepaid mobile offers generally do not have minimum contract terms. Aldi Suisse Mobile is the only Swiss mobile service provider which only has prepaid offers.

Important: Even mobile service providers which do not have minimum contract terms do, in fact, require you to subscribe for a minimum length of time. The reason for this is that although you do not have to wait until the end of a minimum term to terminate your plan, you have to give between 1- and 3-months’ notice.

3. What happens if I give notice before the minimum contract term expires?

Depending on the service provider, terminating your plan ahead of schedule can be very expensive. Some service providers include clauses in the fine print of contracts which allows them to charge high penalty fees for early contract terminations. Swisscom is the strictest in this regard. It charges a 4800-Swiss-franc penalty fee when you terminate your mobile plan before the end of the minimum contract term. Other mobile service providers charge penalty fees of several hundred francs.

4. What is a notice period?

In order to terminate a mobile plan, you have to give notice in keeping with the required notice period. Example: If your mobile plan has a 2-month notice period and you give notice of termination today, the plan will remain active for just over 2 months before it is terminated. If you want to terminate a mobile plan on a certain date, giving in your notice early is recommended. The notice period calculator makes it easy to find out when to give notice.

5. Do I also have to observe the notice period if I will be keeping my phone number?

Yes. If you want to keep your phone number after terminating your mobile plan, you must apply to port your number to a new plan or prepaid mobile offer in advance. If you do this, you will not normally have to submit an additional notice, but you still have to observe the notice period of your existing plan.

6. What notice periods do Swiss mobile service providers require?

Notice periods are typically included in the general terms and conditions of mobile service providers. Swiss mobile service providers commonly require 2 months’ notice, starting from the end of the month in which notice is submitted.  

These are the standard required notice periods used by Swiss mobile service providers:

Good to know: The mobile plan comparison on moneyland.ch clearly shows the exact notice periods on the product information pages of individual offers.

Prepaid mobile services do not have notice periods. You can terminate a prepaid mobile service at any time. However, some prepaid mobile options are automatically renewed if sufficient credit is available and your mobile number has not been ported to a different service provider. In this case, deactivating prepaid options can be beneficial.

7. What happens if I do not stick to required notice periods?

Failing to give the required notice can be expensive. Some mobile service providers charge high penalty fees. Other service providers do not charge penalty fees, but continue to bill you for the plan until the notice period has expired.

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