Digitec Connect will now charge 9.90 francs for a 1 gigabyte (GB) data roaming bundle for the EU and some other countries. Until now, users had to pay 14.90 francs for the same bundle. With the change, Digitec Connect is lowering its price for mobile data roaming by one third.
In addition to EU member countries, the data roaming bundle also lets you get online in the United Kingdom, Canada, Norway, Turkey, and the United States. It does not include data roaming in Balkan regions like Serbia, Kosovo and Montenegro. As before, a one-gigabyte data roaming allowance is already included in the Digitec Connect plan at no extra cost.
A price comparison with other service providers shows that Digitec Connect currently charges the least for one gigabyte of data roaming in Europe (see table below).
Table: Cost of a 1 GB data roaming bundle for Europe
| Service provider |
Bundle |
Price |
| Digitec Connect |
1 GB |
CHF 9.90 |
| Mucho Mobile |
Data Mini Roam (1 GB) |
CHF 14.00 |
| Aldi Suisse Mobile |
Roaming 1 GB |
CHF 14.90 |
| Sunrise |
Travel Data 1 GB |
CHF 14.90 |
| Swisscom |
Data Travel 1 GB |
CHF 14.90 |
| Coop Mobile |
Data Travel 1 GB |
CHF 20.00 |
| Salt |
Data Pack 1.5 GB |
CHF 24.95 |
Some mobile service providers let customers buy larger data bundles, and cost per gigabyte may be lower than that charged by Digitec Connect in this case. For example, the per-gigabyte cost is 9 francs at Swisscom and 8 francs at Sunrise, when you use certain multiple-gigabyte bundles. But when you buy large roaming bundles, the risk of not using all of the data you pay for is higher. If that happens, the cost per gigabyte may end up being higher than if you had bought a smaller bundle and actually used all of the data allowance.
“If you use the Internet while vacationing in a European country, the new offer from Digitec is not a bad solution. But you will want to make sure to use mobile data sparingly, and not stream videos. Data-intensive activities like video streaming should be done when you are able to connect to local Wi-Fi networks,” says moneyland.ch telecom expert Ralf Beyeler.
“This year, Digitec is pushing ahead with its data roaming price reductions. It will be interesting to see how the competition responds to this change over the coming weeks, particularly in light of the upcoming summer holidays,” continues Beyeler.
Cheaper international calls
Digitec is massively reducing its prices for international calls from Switzerland to other countries. Calls to all EU countries, the United Kingdom, Canada, Norway, Turkey and the United States now cost almost have as much as they did previously. Calls to these countries now cost 40 centimes per minute instead of 75 centimes. That is a 47-percent price reduction.
Calls to another 28 countries around the world now cost one-fourth less. These countries include Albania, Australia, Brazil, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Lebanon, Serbia and Kosovo, South Africa, Thailand, and Montenegro, among others.
For calls to all other countries, Digitec now charges 2.50 francs per minute instead of the 3 francs it charged until now.
“Digitec is still expensive for international calls, even with the new lower prices. People who make a lot of international calls, in particular, will pay less with some other service providers,” says Beyeler.
More on this topic:
Find the best roaming solutions using the Swiss roaming wizard
Compare Swiss mobile plans and prepaid mobile offers now
Useful tips for using mobile Internet while traveling
A practical guide to making international calls from Switzerland
