Swiss Mobile Phone Company List

jam1 · #1 05.08.2011, 15:06

Swiss Phone Networks

I have been investigating which phone network to sign up to in Switzerland and thought the list I created below might be useful to other people.

The three Mobile Network Operators (MNO) in Switzerland are swisscom, sunrise and orange. Their networks are used by a number of Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO). I have made a list below that details which reseller is running on which network.

swisscom - www.swisscom.ch

sunrise – www.sunrise.ch

orange - www.orange.ch

You can use comparis.ch to compare the tariffs. Hope this helps someone

drmom · #2 15.08.2011, 20:39

Thanks! That is helpful. Who did you end up going with?

jam1 · #3 16.08.2011, 01:05

I ended up going with okmobile. Picked up a "San Francisco" smartphone, sim with 15 CHF credit and an introductory 100mb per month data.

There is a thread about at the following Android 2.1 phone for CHF 100.- on PAYG

So far it has done the job and orange seem fine so far in Zurich

jam1 · #4 17.08.2011, 01:24

	Quote:	jam1
	I ended up going with okmobile. Picked up a "San Francisco" smartphone, sim with 15 CHF credit and an introductory 100mb per month data. There is a thread about at the following Android 2.1 phone for CHF 100.- on PAYG So far it has done the job and orange seem fine so far in Zurich

Just an update. My phone has succumbed to a common problem and won't connect to any wifi networks anymore. So I wouldn't recommend the phone if you plan to use wifi networks as well as 3g data

drmom · #5 18.08.2011, 06:45

Thanks for your info. I picked up a much card yesterday and will see how that goes and how much I miss checking my e-mail on the phone. However, it was very easy to do, and to top up (compared to Vodafone in Germany).

Thanks for your info!

jam1 · #6 19.08.2011, 01:29

	Quote:	jam1
	Just an update. My phone has succumbed to a common problem and won't connect to any wifi networks anymore. So I wouldn't recommend the phone if you plan to use wifi networks as well as 3g data

I have updated my phone to Android 2.2 and it has got rid of the wireless issue. Its now just as good as the HTC Desire I used to have.

heypete · #7 25.08.2011, 13:56

For what it's worth, I've found Yallo to be pretty good here in Bern. As mentioned by jam1, they use Sunrise (they're actually fully-owned by Sunrise).

I really miss the "free in-network calling" that many mobile providers in the US offer (that is, calling to other mobiles on the same network is free of charge), as my entire family and most of my friends were on one company, and so our monthly costs were quite low. While not free for in-network calls, Yallo comes close and only charges 5 rappen per minute for in-network calls (and until the end of September, 5 rappen per minute for international calls to a variety of countries -- see their website).

Calls to Swiss fixed networks are 25 rappen per minute, and to other Swiss mobile networks are 35 rappen per minute.

Some of the larger MVNOs like Yallo, Lyca mobile, MTV mobile, Lebara, etc. and all three of the national operators let one recharge prepaid service at SBB ticket machines. See here for details. Some offer perks for doing so (Yallo offers 1 free bonus SMS for every Franc of recharge credit purchased at SBB).

cess · #8 02.09.2011, 17:16

Hey
just wrote an article about buying a prepaid sim card in Switzerland thanks to the the handy list provided above.
I also created a table comparing costs of all these networks based on the information availible on their websites

it might help some people about which mobile network to go with.

http://zurichexpats.com/best-value-p...n-switzerland/

if anyone has any more updates on the table or can point out any errors that would be great.

Cheers

Pernilleskokken · #9 02.09.2011, 17:24

I just wanted to point out, to anyone considering Ok. mobile, that they don't have a lot of shops in Lausanne (only 3) and no online recharge options (you can phone a free number though). I also have a ZTE San Francisco, but will be using it with my yallo sim card because it's just so inconvenient to put credit on the Ok. sim card.

jam1 · #10 08.12.2011, 02:03

	Quote:	cess
	Hey just wrote an article about buying a prepaid sim card in Switzerland thanks to the the handy list provided above. I also created a table comparing costs of all these networks based on the information availible on their websites it might help some people about which mobile network to go with. http://zurichexpats.com/best-value-p...n-switzerland/ if anyone has any more updates on the table or can point out any errors that would be great. Cheers

Hi - might be nice if you put in your article a link back to the original source of the information...

arcticsummer · #11 28.12.2011, 13:51

Tip: stay away from Sunrise if you intend to buy an iPhone!

I bought an iPhone under a 1 year contract from Sunrise. After my contract ended, they still refused to remove the Simlock, saying that I have to wait for two years

. They can only unlock it for special reason, e.g. if I were leaving the country, but even in that case, they would still require me to pay 300CHF to have them unlock my iPhone! I have read that they also do this even to customers who have bought the iPhone at full price without contract. I guess that means that all iPhones you buy from Sunrise are locked to Sunrise and their network for two years! My guess is that they probably buy the 2 years simlock version from Apple at the cheap price, and is selling these iPhones at Simlock-free rates.

By the way, Swisscom and Orange will unlock for free once your contract runs out, however, currently only Orange allows 1 year contract. And both companies really have simlock-free iPhones, that can be used in other network, or retain their high value, should you choose to resell ( e.g. to get new iPhone version

. You can read more about Sunrise's terrible iPhone policy on the official Swiss consumer rights website (it is in German, so you may need google translator):
http://www.kassensturz.sf.tv/Nachric...h-Vertragsende

Sunrise, by the way, has also one of the slowest network speed on the average of all three carriers. And I can say, as a current Sunrise customer, their coverage in Switzerland is horrible

. I am traveling in Switzerland a lot, and most of the time I have to resort to pre-downloading news article at home or even resort to my books, as it is useless to try to get internet connections going between large cities. And even in medium citites, I sometimes find that I have only 2G connection. Here is an article on the Swiss consumer rights webpage about the speed comparison between the carriers:
http://www.kassensturz.sf.tv/Nachric...chnellsten-ist

I like having a bargen as much as anyone, but I can see now that saving a few Franks in the beginning with Sunrise' iPhone, has costed me a lot more money in the end.

In short, think twice and read the contracts fine print several times (which is by the way in German), before signing the contract. You can also visit the Swiss consumer website and search for the carrier's name, to see more of what others say about them...

byte · #12 24.02.2012, 12:45

Are you sure Lyca Mobile is using Orange? Their numbers start with 077 as Swisscom and their SIMs don't work in either Orange or Sunrise blocked handsets.

jam1 · #13 02.03.2012, 10:18

Updated the list - cannot edit the first post unfortunately

swisscom - www.swisscom.ch

www.m-budget-mobile.ch
www.mobileverymucho.ch
www.lycamobile.ch (was orange until Nov 2011)

sunrise – www.sunrise.ch

orange - www.orange.ch

www.coopmobile.ch
www.okmobile.ch (moved to TalkEasy network Dec 2011)
www.primacall.ch
www.talkeasy.ch

You can use comparis.ch to compare the tariffs. Hope this helps someone

mabundis · #14 18.05.2012, 12:21

Thanks much for the network comparison info . . . was helpful!