Europe - Sim Card to get in Switzerland

I am going to be in Switzerland (mostly) for a couple of weeks with family.

We will probably need to get two local sims between us. I was looking at the Orange, Swisscom and Tele2 sites about this info but seem to find them to be fairly expensive - especially with their flat fee calling rates. i am guessing our usage is going to be more of a multiple short calls rather than a long call at which those rates would be beneficial to us.

Also I was wondering if any of the operators offered a flat fee data service on any of their pre paid offerings?

The one thing I am certain about is that I need to ensure I get both on the same network cos calls on the same network are at least much cheaper than to any other local calls.

Would appreciate any recommendations you folks may have.

Thanks,
Pranu

If you are mostly going to be calling each other, I would recommend Sunrise's 'go dayflat' prepaid SIMs, which include unlimited calls to Swiss landline and Sunrise numbers for CHF1 per day; only days on which calls are made are charged. Sunrise is the #2 operator here.

I am not aware of any Swiss prepaid offerings with flat data fees; in fact, few postpaids include that (mostly iPhone bundles), and those that do are very much overpriced by international standards. If you require 3G speeds, Swisscom's network has the best coverage.

Thanks monahos. I was hoping for the data - so I could pull emails down. But no big loss without it. Can keep a lookout for the stray wifi signals on my iPhone.

But the Sunrise plan sounds great!!!!

That is phenomenal! Thank you very very much!

One more thing - does Sunrise happen to have a outlet at Zurich airport?

Take a look at https://www.aldi-mobile.ch/de/angebote.html This is in German, with French and Italian available.

A summary in English is at http://www.prepaidgsm.net/en/svizzera/aldi.html

Aldi is a low cost supermarket from Germany offering SIM card service from Sunrise. Domestic calls are cheaper than Sunrise, international calls use the Sunrise tariff. Data calls are probably the lowest in an expensive market.

0.14 CHF per minute for Swiss landline calls and calls to other Aldi Suisse numbers, 0.34 CHF for calls to other Swiss networks. 0.10 CHF per 20KB domestic.

SIM card costs 19.99 CHF including 20 CHF credit. They had a promotion offering SIM cards for 4.99 CHF with 20 CHF credit, but that may be over by the time you arrive.

You have to buy the SIM cards at an Aldi store. Take your passport for SIM registration. Swiss law requires this, ever since an unregistered Swisscom SIM was used in a terrorist attack.

One more thing - does Sunrise happen to have a outlet at Zurich airport?

Yes, it is in the 'Airport Shopping Plaza' and is open (http://www.sunrise.ch/fr/popup-standort-zh-2.htm) 8AM to 9PM Monday-Saturday.

In case you miss it, pretty much every Swiss electronics shop (Interdiscount and Fust are ubiquitous) sells SIM's from the majors, and some from smaller operators. I believe larger post offices do the same.

As mentioned by Roger, the conditions are standard: show any ID for registration; SIM will expire after 12 months of inactivity (to keep it alive, just send a SMS from wherever you are after ~360 days). Most Swiss prepaid SIMs cost CHF20, unless on promotion, and come with CHF20 in credit.

I would be careful with prepaids from small outfits, as many charge a fixed connection fee on top of a low per minute rate; this is because only Swisscom and Sunrise actually have full networks (Orange uses Swisscom's where their coverage is lacking), and charge such a fee to the smaller operators to which they rent capacity. IIRC Tele2's rate structure is along those lines.

Thanks folks!!! I land on Friday around 1 PM - so should be able to pick up the sims at the airport itself. Hopefully they will sell me two under my name.

Really appreciate the help!

Also I was wondering if any of the operators offered a flat fee data service on any of their pre paid offerings?


Sorry to add confusion, but I just got wind of a new such offer from Coop Mobile (Coop is the 2nd largest Swiss supermarket chain, and uses the Orange network) for 3 months of free GPRS, capped at 100Mb/month.

Their prepaid SIM is CHF19, and comes with a CHF15 credit.
Voice rates are an unattractive (for your case) CHF0.30/min.
Coop Mobile SIM's are sold at large Coops and all Interdiscount stores (there is an Interdiscount in the same shopping area as the Sunrise shop in the ZRH airport).

Since the relevant webpage (http://www2.coop.ch/coopmobile/ang_internet_datenoption.cfm?language=fr) isn't available in English, and I suspect most salespeople will be unaware of this promotion, all that needs to be done to activate it is to send an SMS worded 'START DATAPROMO' to the number 5155, and wait for a confirmation SMS.
After 3 months, Coop will send another SMS indicating the free offer is over, but that an otherwise similar CHF9.90/100Mb offer is available. If you don't answer, nothing will happen, and data rates will revert to their usual CHF8/Mb.

I would still go for the Sunrise offer for voice, but if you don't want to rely on stray open AP's, a Coop SIM might be an inexpensive insurance policy, especially if used with a spare smartphone. Make sure to use it in GPRS mode though, 3G appears not to be part of the offer!

P.S. the fine print does mention that there is no way to check monthly data volume, and that excess data will be charged at CHF0.20/Mb.

Monahos - you are so full of great information.

I REALLY APPRECIATE IT!

Thank you!!

FYI, the ZRH Airport Shopping Plaza is landside, and apparently spread over more than one floor. Here are the locations of the Interdiscount (http://www.zurich-airport.com/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-204/535_read-852/) and Sunrise (http://www.zurich-airport.com/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-204/535_read-1292/) shops. Keep in mind Interdiscount also sells Sunrise SIM's, so if there is too much of a line at one shop start by the other, as staffing levels are probably low.

Have a great trip :)

Just saw here (http://www.prepaidgsm.net/forum/europe/5239-new-prepaid-offer-switzerland.html) that Swisscom is offering a CHF 4/day data flat rate under their Natal brand. Its called "Natal easy BeFree"

Off to Swizterland in a couple weeks so this is good timing for me.

Just saw here (http://www.prepaidgsm.net/forum/europe/5239-new-prepaid-offer-switzerland.html) that Swisscom is offering a CHF 4/day data flat rate under their Natal brand. Its called "Natal easy BeFree"

Off to Swizterland in a couple weeks so this is good timing for me.

Hmm but for the duration of the promo it seems like coop mobile's deal is better value for money.

I am thinking of getting 2 Sunrise cards for voice and 1 coop for the data.

Just wanted to say that Sunrise is working out really great!

Got the coop mobile sim on Saturday - but the thing that really sucked is that they say it takes a couple of days to activate - so it finally activated on Monday.

Then I spent a whole day trying to research on how to make it work with the iPhone. It worked out of the box with a Nokia - but with the iPhone you have to change your data APN to "click" instead of "internet".

Now it works great - and 3 months of free data with the promo is awesome!

Thanks Again!!!!

Good to know it worked out. Thanks for the update. ^

There's a new offer with Swisscom which some may find interesting:

- http://www.swisscom.com/GHQ/content/Media/Medienmitteilungen/2009/20090807_MM_Mobile_Flatrate.htm?lang=de and http://www.swisscom.ch/res/mobile/tarife/easy-befree/index.htm#Tariff%20details

3Fr a day for unlimited phone calls in CH, 4Fr a day for unlimited surfing in CH - only charged for the days you use them.

I'm currently with orangeclick for voice. Not sure whether I will change that but may well opt for the Swisscom data SIM.

I will be in GVA this summer and need to get a Pay-as-You-Go SIM - I was wondering if any of the providers mentioned upthread offer an intl bundle for calling the US? (I have a T-mobile SIM that I use in the UK where I can buy a 120 minute bundle, good for 30 days, at £7.50.)

I was wondering if any of the providers mentioned upthread offer an intl bundle for calling the US?

I have yet to hear of such an offer on this market :(. To get anywhere near those UK rates you'll probably have to use inconvenient callback cards or Skype.

A quick check shows the following rates for Swiss prepaid to US calls (in CHF/min)
- Swisscom: 1.10
- Sunrise: 0.60
- Orange: 0.39 / 0.29 with 3CHF/month 'International Option'
- Migros (largest Swiss supermarket chain): 0.28
- Coop: 0.30

Current prices for prepaid SIM's are:
- Orange online offer: CHF5 with CHF10 credit included
- Coop: CHF15 with CHF15 credit included
- Migros: CHF19.80 with with CHF15 credit included
- Sunrise, Swisscom : CHF19.90 with with CHF20 credit included

For those interested, the Coop data promotion and Sunrise daily flat rate offer referenced in earlier posts are still valid.

Thanks a lot for all of the info, monahos! ^

Any updates to these recommendations? Will be travelling to Zurich later this month for a few days and primarily interested in 3G data for iPhone. Also interested in competitive voice rates to the US, although I have access to callback services in case incoming minutes are significantly cheaper/free.

Would appreciate any recent information. It appears the Swisscom 4CHF/day unlimited internet option referenced above is still available. Is this the best option?

Would appreciate any recent information. It appears the Swisscom 4CHF/day unlimited internet option referenced above is still available. Is this the best option?

The Swisscom offer appears to be a permanent one, and is indeed still available. Fine print only warns against 'excessive use' and throttling after 2GB/month

Sunrise has added a 1CHF/day option to their normal 'go dayflat' prepaid offer (must register by sending 'DATAFLAT' by sms to #5522)
Conditions are more restrictive than Swisscom's, and specifically exclude VOIP, tethering, use in a data modem/mifi/etc., plus the usual excessive use, but without mention of a hard data cap.

Orange's offer is 2CHF/day, with throttling once past 500MB/month. Orange customer service is especially unhelpful and I wouldn't be surprised if they had conditions not spelled out on their website.

I could not find any information on whether those offers are 3G or not, but am assuming they are.


Incoming calls are free on all networks. Do use your callback service for international calls, no Swiss provider will get anywhere close.

Thanks very much for the prompt reply monahos! It sounds like Swisscom is the way to go. I'll only be there for a few days so a 2GB allocation is more than enough.

I'm still relatively new to traveling with an unlocked phone. Does this sound right?

1) Find a vendor that will sell a Swisscom SIM card (at the airport?).
2) Provide passport so that the SIM card can be registered to me.
3) Price should be approximately 20CHF and include 20CHF of prepaid credit.
4) Insert SIM and send an SMS "EASYBEFREE" to 444

That's it? I'll then be billed 4CHF daily for internet usage automatically out of my 20CHF credit. Calls to the US are 1.10CHF/min but all incoming calls are free. It seems that Wifi access is not included as part of this prepaid plan, but as long as the 3G data coverage is fairly consistent, I should be fine.

Does this sound right?

1) Find a vendor that will sell a Swisscom SIM card (at the airport?).
2) Provide passport so that the SIM card can be registered to me.
3) Price should be approximately 20CHF and include 20CHF of prepaid credit.
4) Insert SIM and send an SMS "EASYBEFREE" to 444

That's it? I'll then be billed 4CHF daily for internet usage automatically out of my 20CHF credit. Calls to the US are 1.10CHF/min but all incoming calls are free.

That's exactly it! Swisscom is the incumbent former monopoly here and has the best coverage and service, there should be no bad surprises. You can buy their SIM at any electronics outlet (e.g. the 'Interdiscount' at the airport) and most post offices. Swisscom's own shops tend to be extremely slow as a good proportion of the customers waiting in line are there to get their (landline/DSL/mobile/etc.) problems solved.

That's exactly it! Swisscom is the incumbent former monopoly here and has the best coverage and service, there should be no bad surprises. You can buy their SIM at any electronics outlet (e.g. the 'Interdiscount' at the airport) and most post offices. Swisscom's own shops tend to be extremely slow as a good proportion of the customers waiting in line are there to get their (landline/DSL/mobile/etc.) problems solved.

That sounds excellent, thank you so much for the explanation! I'm looking forward to visiting and this sounds like it will be a breeze.

I'm happy to say my trip to Zurich was a success. One point of reference: if you're arriving in Switzerland on Christmas Eve, don't come in on BA718 arriving at 6:15 PM. You will arrive at the shops area at about 6:35, just minutes after all the mobile providers have closed early for the holiday. On Christmas Day, however, all the shops in Zurich HB will be open and you can easily obtain a sim card. :)

I bought a card for 19.90CHF at the Swisscom shop which included 20CHF worth of credit. It was pretty painless to get set up, although it's a bit tricky if you only speak English since the text message alerts all arrive in German with no alternate language!

In the end I didn't even need to sign up for the data plan. There was some (holiday?) promo running where new customers get a free 100 MB of data valid for 30 days upon activation. [Google Translate was very helpful in figuring this out.] 3G data coverage was very good everywhere I traveled. Incoming calls worked perfectly as well, although I didn't have any need to make outgoing calls or texts, so I left the country with my entire balance still on the sim card. Not sure how long till it expires?

One semi-related note: the SBB mobile app is a must-have for any traveler! I have never seen a better put-together travel app. It does a great job of identifying possible routes and showing fares and times for the various travel providers, plus a handy "take me home" function to quickly get you from where you are to your home base. A most excellent companion to the excellent public transportation system.

Not sure how long till it expires?

The balance is good for 365 days after last use (or registration, in your case). After that IIRC there is a grace period (6 months?) during which you can request customer service to reactivate the SIM; not sure if the balance is salvaged as well.

The cheapest way to keep it alive is to send one SMS after 364 days. Some older Swisscom prepaid SIMs needed to be pre-activated for roaming, these days I think not. If yours is roaming-enabled, that SMS can be sent from anywhere.

Hi, sorry for cross post but just found this thread.

I'm visiting next month, arriving at ZRH and then catching train to St. Moritz for 2 day biz trip. I'd like to get a prepaid card for voice/data, but preferably just for my iPad 2 to read/send emails and light surfing to read newspapers [especially when on the R/T 3+ hr train rides].

I found info on Orange and Swisscom websites, tried to email them [old addresses that bounced back] and also log onto their community forums...without any luck.

Assume easily procurable upon landing at airport? Thanks!

Assume easily procurable upon landing at airport?

Indeed. Most of the info above is still valid.

BTW wifi is being introduced on Swiss trains: http://www.sbb.ch/en/station-services/on-the-train/online-en-route.html

M:

Enjoyed our pm exchange. I just found orange prepaid plan. How do Swisscom vs Orange compare in terms of service, especially on the train and in St Moritz!

How do Swisscom vs Orange compare in terms of service, especially on the train and in St Moritz!

I don't have first-hand experience with Orange, but understand they 'subcontract' from Swisscom in the areas where they don't have coverage (Swisscom, the incumbent ex-monopoly, having the best coverage and a 62% market share). Here (http://www1.orange.ch/residential/network/coverage/) is Orange's coverage map.

Note the situation in Switzerland is nothing like the US market, as the 3 main cellular operators pretty much cover all inhabited areas. You can't really go wrong with any of them, but a Swiss never gets fired for going with Swisscom (which as the official wifi provider on trains probably has better coverage in tunnels) ;)

M:

Enjoyed our pm exchange. I just found orange prepaid plan. How do Swisscom vs Orange compare in terms of service, especially on the train and in St Moritz!

I've got Swisscom prepay, which I've had for the last 11 or so years. Even before moving here permanently. Swisscom generally has much better coverage than Orange or Sunrise. In the cities though, it'll pretty much be the same. The only difference is when you go out into the mountains. Even then, I find that sometimes I'm out of Swisscom coverage.