SIM card for Switzerland: the best offers for abroad

If you are traveling to Switzerland on vacation or for a longer period of time, you can offer your own SIM card. Sometimes the German card is enough. We show you what to look out for and where to find good deals.

Stay in Switzerland: do I need my own SIM card?

Roaming fees within the EU were abolished in June 2017. So you can use your German tariff almost without restrictions even on vacation. In contrast to other EFTA countries such as Norway and Iceland, Switzerland did not participate in the roaming regulation.

• If your mobile phone contract does not contain a separate roaming option for Switzerland, you have to dig deep into your pocket. For calls, 1.50 euros / minute can be estimated. Data usage without a separate tariff usually costs over 0.20 euros / MB.
• However, this does not apply to all German mobile phone contracts. If you have a contract in the telecom network, you can usually use it in Switzerland at no extra charge. Customers in the Vodafone and O2 networks, on the other hand, pay extra.
• How exactly the use of your mobile phone contract works in Switzerland, you should ask your provider beforehand or read the contract documents.

Suitable mobile phone contract for Switzerland

If you are in Switzerland for a long time - for example for a semester abroad or an internship - you can hardly get around your own SIM card.

• There are three network operators in Switzerland: Salt, Sunrise and Swisscom. When it comes to network coverage with 3G, all three networks are over 99 percent, with coverage with LTE over 97 percent.
• It is best to use an online comparison portal to find the right tariff for you. The handy-aboververgleich.ch website offers good clarity.
• Enter your monthly usage volume in the left column. It is also important whether you use the Swiss card outside of Switzerland or want to make calls abroad from Switzerland. There are high costs here if you have not booked a suitable tariff.
• Pure prepaid data tariffs with a volume of 10 GB start at around CHF 10. If you are looking for a more extensive tariff with telephone flat rate, SMS flat rate and 5 GB data volume, you usually pay over CHF 30.

We will provide all information about the import regulations in Switzerland in our next article.