Salt Launches New Mobile Plans

The third-largest Swiss mobile service provider is replacing all of its mobile plans. From July 12, 2022, only the four new mobile plans branded as Salt Mobile Max will be offered. The changes do not affect Salt’s prepaid mobile offers.

The existing mobile plans of Salt customers will remain active. Salt informed moneyland.ch that existing customers can choose to move to new plans after their contracts’ minimum terms expire.

All plans include unlimited phone calls to all Swiss fixed and mobile phone numbers. With the exception of the most affordable plan, all of the new Salt plans include unlimited local data connections in Switzerland. The main differences between the four plans are the roaming allowances which they include.

Table 1: Overview of the new Salt plans

The prices shown are standard fees, without accounting for promotional offers
* The Europe region includes specific European countries, including 22 or the 28 EU countries.
** The travel region includes specific European countries (6 of the 28 EU countries, Balkan territories) and some travel destinations like Canada, Thailand, Turkey, and the US).
*** Once data is used up, you can continue to connect at a low 256 Kbps Internet speed at no additional cost.

No more cost pitfalls

The risk of raking up high phone bills due to high standard roaming fees is no longer a problem with the new plans. Previously, customers who used data at standard rates were charged between 2.95 and 15 francs per megabyte, depending on the country. At those rates, a gigabyte of data would theoretically cost between 2950 and 15,000 francs. With the new plans, customers who do not have roaming allowances for their travel destination, or who have used their allowances, have to add a data roaming bundle before they can use mobile roaming.

Up until now, Salt had special discounts for young customers. These youth plans are now being phased out.

How the new Salt plans compare to the phased out mobile plans

moneyland.ch compared the new plans with the previous offers. This is what has changed:

• Start Max: The phased-out Basic plan cost 34.95 francs per month. Like the new plan, it included unlimited calls within Switzerland and 5 gigabytes of data for use in Switzerland. The new plan costs 5 francs more per month.
• Swiss Max: The phased-out Swiss plan cost 59.95 francs per month. In addition to unlimited local calls and data within Switzerland, it also included 500 megabytes of roaming data and 60 minutes of roaming calls per month. The new plan includes twice as much data roaming, but no roaming calls. The new plan costs 10 francs more per month than the previous plan.
• Europe Max: The phased-out Europe plan cost 79.95 francs per month – the same price tag as the new Europe Max plan. The services included are identical across the old and new plan.
• Travel Max: The phased-out Europe XXL plan cost 89.95 francs per month – 10 francs less than the new plan. Both plans are comparable in terms of their allowances for Switzerland and the Europe region. But the new plan adds roaming allowances for a number of holiday destinations which were not included in the old plan. But up until June 9, 2022, the 40-gigabyte monthly roaming allowance included in the phased-out Europe XXL plan also covered popular vacation countries like Croatia, Turkey, the US, and Canada. Since June 9, 2022, the conditions for roaming in these countries have been less favorable. But this negative change applies to both new and existing Salt plans.

Salt is more expensive than its competitors

A comparison with Salt’s major competitors Sunrise and Swisscom shows that with the exception of Salt’s cheapest plan, there are no major differences. The three more expensive Salt plans cost more than comparable plans from Swisscom (with digital customer service) and Sunrise. The comparison also includes the most affordable comparable plans in Switzerland (not including special promotions), in addition to plans from Sunrise and Swisscom.

Table 2: How the new Salt plans compare to competing offers

* Swisscom customers who agree to use digital customer service pay lower fees.

It is important to understand that there are small differences between the Salt plans and competing offers. Internet speeds may vary between service providers. This comparison only accounts for plans with Internet speeds of at least 50 Mbps. The mobile service allowances included may also vary between offers.  

The changes hardly benefit the typical private customer

In the space of less than two months, all of the three big Swiss telecom companies have updated their mobile plans. “The new offers are all very similar,” concludes moneyland.ch telecom expert Ralf Beyeler. “Salt adds a couple of goodies, like 1 gigabyte of roaming data for its Europe region, on top of unlimited local calls and data. But the typical, private Swiss mobile user will not benefit much from that.”

In terms of price, Salt hardly stands out from its competition. “Of the three biggest mobile service providers, Salt is often the most expensive.” But plans from Salt, Sunrise, and Swisscom are rarely the best option for Saving-minded phone users, according to Beyeler. “There are numerous smaller service providers which are much cheaper. Many of these are subsidiaries of the three big telecom companies.”

A major advantage for Salt customers is that Salt no longer uses standard rates for data roaming. “That means no more unpleasant data roaming surprises for travelers,” explains Beyeler. Customers now have to actively purchase data roaming bundles and know the exact prices of the bundles they buy. But that alone is no great cause for celebration, according to the expert. “Many service providers implemented that system a long time ago, and now, finally, the country’s third-largest telecom company is following the lead.”

More on this topic:
Compare Swiss mobile plans now
The new Blue plans from Swisscom explained
New Sunrise plans: different logo, same high prices