Swisscom Blue: What the New Plans Deliver

Swisscom is launching a new Swisscom Blue series of telecom plans. The new plans will replace some of the inOne offers formerly sold by the telecom giant. Ralf Beyeler, telecom expert at moneyland.ch, took a closer look at the new Swisscom plans which will be available to consumers from May 23, 2022.

Beyeler observes that the price tags are very similar to those of the previous offers. In most cases, prices have been lowered by 10 centimes so that, for example, plans which previously cost 80 francs now cost 79.90 francs per month. But there are some exceptions: “In some cases, the changes will be very noticeable to Swisscom customers, in terms of how their wallets are affected,” says Beyeler.

Mobile plans: Swisscom adjusts its prices

The biggest price change – in this case a reduction – applies to the Blue Mobile L plan. Up until now, a similar offer cost 120 francs. Swisscom’s new price tag of 99.90 francs is 20 francs less per month. “That is welcome news for people who use their mobile phones to call while roaming outside of Switzerland, and multi-SIM users,” says Beyeler. But for mobile users who rarely or never need those services, cheaper solutions than Blue Mobile L are available – including from Swisscom.

The cheapest unlimited mobile plan from Swisscom (previously the Swiss Mobile Flat) is also changing. The Blue Mobile S plan will cost 69.90 francs – around 5 francs more per month than the previous plan – but has an Internet speed of 100 Mbps, up from the previous plan’s 50 Mbps.

The mid-range mobile plan is also getting a data speed upgrade. Instead of the previous 200 Mbps (inOne Mobile Go), the Blue Mobile M plan will give users Internet access at a speed of 1 Gbps.

Table 1: Blue Mobile plans overview

TV plan costs three times more

The price of the cheapest TV plan offer from Swisscom is changing in a big way, but not in favor of customers. Up until now, the Blue TV S plan cost just 5 francs per month. It will now cost 14.90 francs. But along with the higher price tag, customers will also get more services from the TV plan. While up until now, the cheapest plan practically only included live TV, it will now have 30 hours of TV time shifting, and 50 additional channels. “It is difficult to understand which kinds of customers Swisscom hopes to attract with this much higher-priced TV plan. But existing customers will be able to keep their existing plans and continue paying the old, lower price,” says moneyland.ch telecom expert Ralf Beyeler.

The Blue TV recording function will now have a 2000-hour capacity. Up until now, the expensive Blue TV plan only had 1200 hours of recording capacity. The mid-range plan is also getting a recorder upgrade, from 120 to 250 hours. The Blue TV S plan, on the other hand, does not have a TV recording function.

As before, TV plans from Swisscom are only available to consumers who also use a Swisscom home Internet plan.

Table 2: Blue TV plan overview

Not much is changing for Swisscom’s home Internet plans. The prices are remaining practically identical. The only major positive change affects Swisscom’s Internet M plan users: The maximum Internet speed is being increased from 300 Mbps to 1 Gbps. “That Swisscom is not raising the price tag along with the Internet speed is a relief. But compared to its competitors, Swiss is still among the more expensive telecom service providers,” states Beyeler.

Table 3: Blue Internet plan overview

New multiple-plan discounts

Swisscom is replacing its old discount model with a new multiple-plan discount for Blue plans. Customers will now get a discount of 10 francs per month for each mobile plan and home internet plan if they agree to use Swisscom’s Sam digital assistant as a first stop for customer service inquiries. The Sam chatbot is included in the Swisscom app, and is based on artificial intelligence (AI). If you do not find the AI customer service useful, you can continue to use the Swisscom customer hotline or get help at a Swisscom shop, but you forego the discount.

“Like many other companies, Swisscom has long been trying to steer its customers towards using digital assistants as a first step,” says Beyeler. The discount is another step in that direction. According to telecom expert Ralf Beyeler, “the challenge for Swisscom will be to make sure that its chatbot actually understands its customers questions and provides useful customer support.”

Customers who combine a Swisscom mobile plan with a Swisscom home telecom plan get a 20-franc discount. This discount will now apply to the cheapest S plans as well. An additional 30-franc discount applies to each additional plan in the same household.

Swisscom is one of the most expensive telecom service providers

A comparison with competing telecom offers reveals that even when Swisscom’s multiple-plan discounts are accounted for, plans are still more expensive than what the competition offers. The table below compares mobile plans with unlimited local calls and data within Switzerland from multiple mobile service providers.

Table 4: Mobile plan comparison

Minimum speed: 50 Mbps. Special promotions are not accounted for. Multiple-policy discounts for additional plans and/or mobile and home plan combinations are accounted for.

Swisscom remains one of the most expensive Internet service providers. Only Sunrise has a more expensive home Internet plan. The comparison below includes home Internet plans with a maximum speed of at least 1 Gbps.

Table 5: Compare Internet plans

Do not get wowed by marketing gags

Telecom expert Ralf Beyeler is not particularly impressed with Swisscom’s new lineup. “Even with Swisscom’s new pricing, you should avoid getting wowed by marketing gags and multiple-plan discounts. Saving up to 30 francs per mobile plan sounds good in advertisements. But if the plan is still one of the most expensive after accounting for the discount, you can be sure the service provider already accounted for the discount when creating its price tags.”

More on this topic:
Compare Swiss mobile plans now
Compare Swiss home Internet plans now
Compare Swiss TV plans now