 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi
I am considering spending a season in Switzerland and am wondering what to do about mobile phones. Would it be cheaper to get a Swiss sim card for my phone or to get on a deal with a UK provider that doesn't have roaming charges (i.e. Three)? All suggestions gratefully received!
Thanks!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Not 100% sure as mine is organised through work, but I have seen the bills (hefty) and I would think UK without roaming is probably a good start if you already have it.
Orange is called Salt in CH.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@nickle, if you really can find a UK provider with no roaming charges, that mighht be the solution. However, my understanding of these offers is that they're not quite as good as they initially sound. E.g. a large connection charge meaning that they don't work for short calls or picking up the occasional email.
What do you actually want to use it for? If purely local then a Swiss SIM might work. The main networks are Swisscom, Salt and Sunrise.
See here for info https://www.justlanded.com/english/Switzerland/Switzerland-Guide/Telephone-Internet/Mobile-phones
The point about the network coverage is valid. I would get a cheaper deal with Salt or Sunrise but spend quite a lot of time in areas where their network coverage isn't so very good.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Three Feel at Home is great and there is no connection charge etc... http://www.three.co.uk/Discover/Phones/Feel_At_Home
IIRC between £15-£20 on pay as you go and you get 200mins unlim texts and unlim net in the UK.
However if you use the feel at home for more than 2 months out of 12 you can have your international roaming suspended - you could get around this by doing it with pay as you go and simply get a new sim and number after two months. The call and text allowances are for UK to UK numbers so you would need extra credit for local calling.
If its for just local just get a swiss sim if you need both maybe get a dual sim phone and get 1 of both. (or keep swapping sims) all depends on usage really.
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We have a Swisscom PAYG sim which we use for occasional data when we're not at home. It's not cheap, (CHF 4 per day for all you can use) but it's handy sometimes.
If you're with O2 in the UK I think their roaming charges are £1.99 per day for unlimited data. This means you can use the O2 'TU Go' app as much as you like for calls and texts. This works out cheaper than a Swisscom sim.
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Yes, the O2 deal works fine and keeps costs down to £1.99/day when I'm in Switzerland.
The two aren't mutually exclusive - you could go with the O2 deal on your existing mobile and turn roaming off, but have it in reserve, and get a cheap local pay-as-you-go mobile, and see how it pans out.
It will help a lot if you can get free WiFi where you live, so you can still WhatsApp/Messenger/Skype/FaceTime over broadband in your apartment. If possible, find somewhere with wired broadband - although don't expect meaga-fast speeds up in the mountains. Our apartment has 2 Mbps only, but it is wired, and this is OK for most things like email and mobile apps. Bear in mind that things like BBC iPlayer, ITVplayer and Netflix will have restrictions on use abroad.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Data isn't unlimited on the O2 £1.99 a day though, just bear in mind. Or it certainly didn't use to be!
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Quite so re Data Limits: Although it's a lot better than the previous charges (I used up £80 in one day doing virtually nothing) there is still a limit. You don't want to be running a ton of background apps., maps etc. etc. as you might do in the UK. Turn your apps off while you're away from WiFi and only start-up ones that you really need. The problem I foind was that I'd enable loads of apps while I was in the apartment on WiFi and forget to disable them when I went outside.
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