Sunrise Launches New Home Telecom Plans

Sunrise is updating its home telecom plans. The new TV offers and home Internet plans will be available from October 11, 2021. One of the reasons for the changes is that Sunrise will soon be acquired by Liberty Global, the parent company of cable service provider UPC. But the current updates only apply to Sunrise products and not offers from UPC.

The most important changes:

• Sunrise customers will receive a new TV plan with a new, smaller set-top box.
• UPC cable connections will now be used for Sunrise home telecom plans if no optical fiber connection is available.

What do the new TV plans offer?

The new Sunrise We TV plan includes 275 channels, a 7-day time shifting function, and a cloud-based recorder with 2000 hours of recording capacity. The plan costs 30 francs per month.

Compared to the We TV L plan currently offered by Sunrise, the new plan’s recording function is a big upgrade, at 2000 hours instead of 1200.

The new We TV plan has more channels than the current We TV M and We TV L plans, but the list of channels offered is also changing. Compared to We TV L, the new plan introduces 65 new channels, but 32 channels which are available on the current plan are being removed. Many top channels are on the list of those being removed. If you want to watch those channels, you have to add the Premium Plus option to your TV plan at an extra cost of 15 francs per month. Some of the popular channels which are among those that will no longer be included in the Sunrise TV plan are:  

• Animal Planet
• Anixe
• Discovery Channel
• Discovery Science
• Eurosport
• Eurosport 2 Italia
• MTV Live
• Paramount Channel
• Sony AXN
• Spiegel Geschichte
• TNT Film
• TNT Serie
• Trek
• TV Breizh
• Ushuaia TV

What is the advantage of using the cable TV connection?

Since Sunrise was acquired by UPC’s parent company Liberty Global, Sunrise has begun using UPC’s cable network for home telecom connections. In homes which do not have optical fiber connections but do have a cable connection from UPC or its partners, Sunrise provides its services through this coaxial network connection.

Many households without optical fiber connections can only access low-speed Internet connections. The reason for this is that Internet service providers have to pay for the use of Swisscom’s copper phone line network in this case, and this network is often slow due to technical limitations. UPC’s cable TV network, on the other hand, is completely separate to the telephone line network. By using the cable network, Sunrise can provide higher-speed Internet connections to homes which do not have access to optical fiber networks.

Which plans will Sunrise offer?

Sunrise offers a fairly broad palette of different home telecom plans, with a primary focus on offers which bundle various predefined plans. Customer can also choose to put together their own home telecom packages using modular components of their choice. All offers can be purchased over the phone or in Sunrise shops.

Sunrise bundled packages

Other Sunrise plans are available as modular components and included Internet, TV, and landline telephone plans. An Internet plan forms the basis for Sunrise connections. Customers have the option of adding a TV and/or landline plan of their choice.

Sunrise Internet plans

Sunrise TV plans

Sunrise landline phone plans

With many plans, the changes being made are minimal. Internet plans which use optical fiber and phone line connections, the TV neo max plan, and all landline phone plans will remain unchanged.

Are there bundled offers which include mobile plans?

Yes. Sunrise will also offer four new packages which also include a mobile plan in addition to home telecom plans.

As before, customers can also choose to combine any We mobile plan and Internet plan, and add a landline phone plan and/or a TV plan. The 25-franc discount for bundled plans will continue to apply.

Are there any promotional offers?

As part of the new product launch, customers can get many of the offers at special promotional prices. Existing Sunrise customers can also take advantage of these offers and, in some cases, also receive and additional discount. The promotional price applies for 24 months. Customers also subscribe to a minimum contract term of 24 months.

What if I already have a Sunrise TV plan?

Existing customers can keep their current TV plans with no changes. Customers who want to switch to the new offer can do so as long as their minimum contract terms have expired.

Should existing Sunrise customers move to the new offers?

There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question. It depends on each customer’s individual needs.

The following points speak against migrating to a new plan:

• If you watch premium TV channels, you will pay 10 francs less per month with your current TV plan than if you were to get the new plan with the premium option.
• The old We Home XL+ package costs 100 francs per month. The new one costs 115 francs per month, without accounting for promotional offers. The reason is that the new bundled packages no longer include unlimited calls within Switzerland.

These points speak for switching to a new plan:

• Some of the new plans are cheaper than the plans which are being phased out, without cutting down on services and features (Exceptions: Premium TV channels and unlimited calls). For example, the old We Home M plan costs 100 francs per month. The new We Home M+ plan is 10 francs cheaper at 90 francs, has more recording time, and has 7-day time shifting (instead of the former 30 hours).
• If you have had to use the copper phone line connection for their home Internet because no optical fiber plug is available, you can get faster Internet by moving to a new plan which uses the UPC cable connection.
• Taking advantage of the special introductory promotions can pay off. But it is worth it to compare all offers from all providers, and not just Sunrise offers.

How do the new Sunrise offers compare to competing offers?

Compared to offers from other telecom companies, Sunrise is still relatively expensive. Here are two examples:

A 10 Gbps Internet plan from Sunrise costs 90 francs per month. That is the same price charged by Swisscom. But Salt (49.95 francs), Teleboy, and iWay (both 59 francs) are substantially cheaper. Sunrise is up to 80 percent more expensive.  

A package containing: a 10 Gbps Internet plan; a landline plan for few calls; and a TV plan with major channels in HD, at least 500 hours of recording, and 7-day time shifting costs 94.55 francs at Sunrise. Salt is much cheaper at 49.95 francs, as is Teleboy with 66.80 francs.

Although Sunrise does discount prices when you get both home and mobile plans, you will still normally pay less by using other service providers.

Conclusion

“The analysis of Sunrise’ new offers reveals that Sunrise remains one of the most expensive Swiss telecom service providers,” notes moneyland.ch telecom expert Ralf Beyeler. “Sunrise customers may also be confused by the large number of plans offered.”

On the other hand, the numerous promotional offers are a plus. “Sunrise is setting an example by offering its loyal customers even better promotions than it offers new customers,” commends Beyeler. It is common in the telecom sector – and particularly with Swisscom – for telecom companies to run promotions for new customers only, while existing customers do not benefit at all.

A disadvantage is that the lower prices you get with Sunrise promotional offers are only valid for 24 months, and that customers are tied into a 24-month minimum contract term. “Many other telecom providers have long changed to a more customer friendly approach and no longer lump promotional offers with long minimum contract terms. And the prices given with promotional offers from many other telecom providers is valid for the life of the plan.”

Many customers now have an opportunity to get faster Internet because Sunrise connections can now use UPC cable connections. “That is a definite advantage for many Sunrise customers,” says Beyeler.

Information provided here is based on standard pricing, and does not account for promotional offers.

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