Wingo Raises Prices for Internet Plans

With its budget Wingo brand, Swisscom aims to target price-conscious customers. But that quest may become more difficult in the future. Without accounting for special promotions, Internet plans from Wingo are becoming much more expensive for new customers. The price increases only apply to home Internet plans – not to Wingo mobile plans.

53 percent more expensive

Up until now, Wingo’s cheapest home Internet plan, Internet Start, cost 45 Swiss francs per month. The plan will now cost 69 francs – 24 francs more per month. That is a 53-percent price increase. But in exchange for the higher price, Wingo is raising the plan’s maximum Internet speed from 100 to 500 Mbps. Until May 23, 2022, Wingo is offering this plan at a promotional price of 39 francs.

The faster Wingo Internet Plus plan previously cost 49 francs per month. Now Wingo is asking 75 francs per month – 26 francs more per month. That is also a 53-percent price increase.

The price of Wingo’s fasters home Internet plan is not being changed.

Overview of Wingo Internet plans

* The 10 Gbps of bandwidth is shared by up to 32 households.

Wingo confirmed the price increases in response to a moneyland.ch inquiry, but did not provide reasons for the changes. Existing Wingo customers are not affected by the price increases.

Swisscom’s plans are cheaper than Wingo’s

It makes sense to compare the new prices with Swisscom’s new rates. Wingo’s parent company released these on May 3, 2022.

Because Wingo customers can only get customer support online, a comparison has to account for Swisscom’s discount for customers who choose to use the digital assistant as a first stop for customer service. Accounting for this discount, Swisscom’s low-speed Internet plan costs 54.90 francs per month. That is around 14 francs less than the price of Wingo’s slowest plan. The price comparison of high-speed plans is also surprising: With a monthly fee of 69.90 francs, Swisscom’s 1 Gbps offer is around 5 francs cheaper than that of its “budget” subsidiary. Wingo’s 10 Gbps offer is basically as expensive as Swisscom’s: Its price tag is just 90 centimes cheaper.

How Wingo compares to other service providers

A comparison with other Swiss Internet service providers shows that Wingo’s new pricing makes it much more expensive than its competitors. iWay, Teleboy, and Green.ch offer 100 Mbps home Internet plans countrywide for under 40 francs. Price differences are also high for other Internet speeds. The prices shown here are standard prices which do not account for possible special promotions.

* Swisscom prices with Digital Simply discount for customer service via mobile app.

Are Wingo’s price hikes just the beginning?

Over the past months, consumers have experienced price hikes on everything from gasoline prices, to heating bills, to groceries. Will telecom costs be next to rise? Telecom expert Ralf Beyeler from moneyland.ch does not see that as likely: “I do not believe that other service providers will follow suit. Wingo’s price hikes are likely linked to Swisscom’s price changes.” He believes that the changes may be part of a marketing strategy to make special promotions seem more attractive. “The higher the standard price tags are, the bigger the discounts appear advertising.”

Other telecom service providers will likely only consider raising their prices if the rents which they have to pay to Swisscom to use its network for the last mile go up. “Currently, there are no known plans to raise rental fees. So the chance of other operators having to raise their prices to this extent is small,” says Beyeler.

More on this topic:
Compare Swiss home Internet plans now
The new Swisscom mobile plans reviewed