At a press conference held in Bern this morning, Salt announced the its new Salt Fiber offer, presenting it as a revolution in the Swiss market. The bundled package costs 49.95 francs per month includes a 10 Gbps broadband connection, digital TV and fixed-line calls at a flat fee. Users of certain Salt mobile plans pay 10 francs less per month. Salt collaborates with Apple, Zattoo and Sky to deliver the television service, which runs through the Apple TV 4K console.
Bundled telecom package at a cutting-edge price
With its triple play offer with the fastest Internet connection, TV and flat-fee fixed calls for less than 50 francs, Salt is radically undercutting the going prices in the Swiss telecom market. “The price is highly competitive,” concludes Ralf Beyeler of online comparison service moneyland.ch. Even competing bundled packages which offer significantly less service have much higher price tags. Obviously, the prices charged by Swisscom, Sunrise and UPC will come under pressure.
Only available with an optic fiber connection
In spite of the attractive price structure, it is not a revolution. The offer is only available in larger agglomerations and only for households which have an optic fiber connection. Additionally, very few people need a 10 Gbps connection. “Only in the rarest of instances are the corresponding data servers fast enough. The 1 Gbps connection which was previously the fastest offered is completely sufficient, even for customers who want high-speed Internet,” says Beyeler.
Package deal for mobile customers
Customers which use specific mobile plans benefit from a discount. Mobile customers who find a mobile plan with 3 gigabytes of data sufficient can obtain a full mobile, fixed-line, Internet and TV package for 88.95 francs per month. Mobile customers who want unlimited local calls and data at a fixed monthly fee need to pay 98.95 francs per month for the full package. Salt is currently its customers this package at a promotional rate of 64.90 francs per month.
Salt Fiber compared
Salt Fiber is only available as a single bundled product at a standard price. Customers pay the same price, regardless of whether they need more or less of specific services. The moneyland.ch comparison (including mobile plans) shows that Salt stands up well against its competition.
Because standard, non-promotional mobile plans from Salt are relatively expensive, its competitive price-advantage is somewhat lower than it is the comparison which does not include mobile plans. Depending on the specific needs of consumers, offers from Salt competitors can be more affordable. For other consumer profiles, on the other hand, Salt undercuts all competition when pricing for Internet, fixed-line telephone plan, TV and mobile plans are accounted for.
Service delivery will be the deciding factor
In spite of its highly-competitive pricing in the fixed line sector, Salt Fiber’s success is not guaranteed. In Ralf Beyeler’s opinion “The challenge facing Salt now is that it must deliver on its promises and provide its customers with a really good service.”
More on this topic:
Landline plan comparison
TV package comparison
Internet/broadband comparison
Mobile plan comparison