Hi All

I am moving to Zurich in May and I wanted to know which one is the better network (3G coverage, cost and international calls to the UK) between Swisscon and Orange.

Thanks.
O.

easy

Swisscom coverage

Orange coverage

from that i take swisscom has better coverage (if i understood the maps properly) but what about cost for data usage and international calls?
Thanks.
O.

if you want cheaper international calls then one of the virtual operators is a better bet, like yallo or liebra

Orange unlimited plan is 120chf a month - unlimited international calls and 1Gb data (which ought to be enough). Check out the countries, don't know where you're from, but I call the US and UK all the time without charge. Text is unlimited internationally too.

In swiss terms is 120CHF per month for the service Orange provide?

thats the monthly charge for 1gb of data and the unlimited off shore calls, anything else you do will be extra, like data roaming, sms, calls to countires not included etc.

and of course the cost of a handset on top, and depending your permit maybe a deposit as well.

That is the BIGGEST priceplan they have...including international calls. I don't call a lot, so my price plan is a fraction of this.

I am moving down to Zurich and my partner and friends will be in the UK while my family will be in Italy so I envision making a lot of calls and I was wondering if the 120CHF may look expensive at first but may be the most convenient in the long run.

Also, if you have a nice data plan, you can use skype on many handsets. That'll keep your international costs down.

If you decide to go with orange, you can get a discount on your first bill if you join glocals: http://www.glocals.com/orange-offer.

So far it looks like it will be Orange.
Does anyone know if i can get everything done online before I move to zurich?

no they require ID to give you a SIM card.

The unlimited is really a great deal from Orange. I changed to this about 4 months ago, it means you simply don't worry about calling ANYONE!

Before I was on a pre pay and even with international I was spending about 400+ a month, that was even using Skype when under wi=fi.

We found Orange to be more flexible than Swisscom, which for me was important. For example, Swisscom wouldn't even let us sign up to a post-paid contract given that I only have an L permit.

I was interested in the annual costs for each so I created a complex Excel model; only to realise that for local and national calls, both work our pretty similar actually.

The coverage for both is almost identical, but check the website for coverage maps in the area you will move to.

It should all come down to which network your friends are on, as on-net calls are much cheaper.

Can't believe no one has said it yet, but orange's network is overcrowded and old, if your not in the city then coverage is at best patchy, we can't get data at all at home (just outside zurich) or in the place we just bought (the mountains) and if your on a train or driving then just forget it.

voice is usually ok (but again can be a bit patchy)

I agree with bigblue. I have real problems downloading data on Orange when out of the city (and sometimes even in the city!). Not had problems phoning though and I like that I have so many minutes in the call package (I pay 100chf pcm)

I would agree. My personal iPhone is on Orange and my work Blackberry on Swisscom so I have a direct comparison and Swisscom definitely trumps Orange. The most basic test is the fact that I can have a continuous phone convo on the train from Basel to Liestal via Swisscom, but on Orange it would drop the call several times.

I planned to end my Orange contract last year but I missed the cut off date so they kindly renewed it for me

I used to be happy with Orange, but quite often these days (over the last 6-12 months) I've noticed my data connection frequently drops down from 3G to 2G which is effectively useless. And this is in Zurich city.

Another relatively dissatisfied Orange customer here. While their international calling charges are great - their data network is appalling and I'm noticing more and more holes in the voice network every day. They say they're investing millions in the network at the moment - but I'd have a hard time recommending them to anyone right now.

Swisscom will bill you by the hour for a call to a fixed line in CH. Then services like 10787.ch can hook you up to Italy or the UK (landlines) for a couple of rappen. This should make things a little cheaper. When I could choose three numbers with orange, I used 10787 as one and and this worked fine for me until I changed to a 90 minute orange Me price plan.