Many people in Switzerland pay CHF 60–90 a month for mobile, and get exactly the same network for a fraction of that. The reason: the cheap brands rent space on the three big operators' networks.
First thing to know: it's the same network
Switzerland has only three physical networks: Swisscom, Sunrise and Salt. The budget brands use the exact same antennas:
- Swisscom network: Wingo, M-Budget Mobile, Coop Mobile, etc.
- Sunrise network: yallo, Lebara, TalkTalk, Quickline, etc.
- Salt network: Salt, spusu, Lidl Connect, etc.
A Wingo plan runs on the same Swisscom coverage as a Swisscom plan, just much cheaper. For most people there's no reason to pay the main brand's markup.
What actually matters
- Data: How many GB do you use in Switzerland? Many overestimate, with Wi-Fi at home and work, 5–10 GB is often plenty.
- Roaming: Travel to the EU? Look for included EU data, or it gets expensive abroad fast.
- Calls: Almost every plan now has unlimited calls within Switzerland, no reason to pay extra for it.
The promo-price trap
Many cheap offers are promotional prices that jump to the regular tariff after 12 months. Budget for the price after the promo, or simply switch again when it ends. There's no switching fee.
How to switch (without losing your number)
The new provider handles number porting. Important: don't cancel your old plan yourself, the porting by the new provider triggers the cancellation automatically. Cancel first yourself and you can lose your number. Just check your current plan's minimum contract term.
Unlike health insurance, there's no annual deadline, you can switch as soon as your contract allows. billfox shows you the cheapest matching plans across all three networks, for your real usage.