From September 10, 2023, the monthly fees of all mobile plans from Salt are going up by as much as 3 francs per month. According to Salt, the average price increase across all plans is 3 percent.
Overview of price increases
Depending on the mobile plan, the basic monthly fee will climb by between 95 centimes and 3 francs.
| Plan |
Basic monthly fee
before 9.9.2023 |
Basic monthly fee
after 10.9.2023 |
Price increase
in CHF |
Price increase
as a percentage |
| Surf Unlimited |
CHF 35.00 |
CHF 35.95 |
CHF 0.95 |
2.7% |
| Start Max |
CHF 39.95 |
CHF 40.95 |
CHF 1.00 |
2.5% |
| Swiss 10 GB |
CHF 49.95 |
CHF 50.95 |
CHF 1.00 |
2.0% |
| Smart |
CHF 59.95 |
CHF 61.95 |
CHF 2.00 |
3.3% |
| Swiss Max |
CHF 69.95 |
CHF 71.95 |
CHF 2.00 |
2.9% |
| Europe Max |
CHF 79.95 |
CHF 82.95 |
CHF 3.00 |
3.8% |
| Swiss XXL |
CHF 79.95 |
CHF 81.95 |
CHF 2.00 |
2.5% |
| Europe Data |
CHF 89.95 |
CHF 92.95 |
CHF 3.00 |
3.3% |
| Europa XXL |
CHF 99.95 |
CHF 102.95 |
CHF 3.00 |
3.0% |
| Travel Max |
CHF 99.95 |
CHF 102.95 |
CHF 3.00 |
3.0% |
The monthly fees of older mobile plans will be raised by 3 percent, Salt has announced.
Price hikes also apply to special promotional offers
Salt is one of the telecom companies that make heavy use of special promotions to attract customers. But customers who signed up for their plans through special promotional offers will also be affected by the price hike. While the discounts will remain unchanged, the monthly fees are being raised, so the total cost will go up.
The actual price increases are higher
Update from July 26, 2023: Many Salt customers have mobile plans which they got through special promotions. These customers are much more strongly affected by the price hikes. Customers who subscribed to a plan with a 50-percent discount will see their basic fees go up by between 4 and 7.5 percent. Those who subscribed to plans with a 70-percent discount will pay between 6.7 and 12.5 percent more. These increases are substantially higher than the 6.3-percent inflation that occurred between January 2021 and June 2023.
Prices will not be changed for prepaid mobile offers, optical fiber home Internet plans, and offers for large companies.
Customers can terminate their plans
Salt confirmed to moneyland.ch that customers who are not in agreement with the price changes can terminate their contracts. The penalty fees do not apply in this case. That means it is also possible to exit your plan even if the minimum contract term has not expired.
Customer experiences with terminating plans
Update from July 26, 2023: moneyland.ch has received numerous reports from Salt customers who want to terminate their plans, but have encountered problems in the process.
- Some customers report that Salt is not accepting terminations on the basis of the price hikes, and insists on their paying penalty fees of around 200 francs.
- Some customers say that Salt made them offers by which they will continue paying the previous price until the minimum terms of their mobile plans expire. In this case, the price hike does not affect them, and terminating their plan because of Salt’s price hikes is not possible.
When moneyland.ch inquired about this once again, Salt stressed that it is generally possible for customers who do not agree with the price changes to terminate their plans without penalties.
According to Salt, there have been misunderstandings. Because of this, Salt has once more informed all of its employees about its policy. Additionally, Salt writes that customers who are not affected by the price hikes cannot terminate their plans without penalties. Penalty fees for early contract terminations also apply to customers who already gave notice to terminate their plans before the price increase was announced.
Recommendation from moneyland.ch
If you want to terminate your Salt plan because of the price increase, you should contact Salt’s customer services by phone. If Salt does not offer to waive the price increase until your contract’s term expires, then you should be able to terminate your plan without paying penalty fees. It is beneficial to wait on getting a new mobile plan with a different telecom provider until you clarify the status of your Salt plan. If you are unable to reach an agreement with Salt, you should contact Ombudscom, the Swiss telecom arbitrator.
Price increases at Sunrise and Swisscom
Sunrise, Switzerland’s second-biggest telecom company, already raised the monthly fees of its mobile plans and home Internet plans on July 1, 2023.
Swisscom, on the other hand, has decided against raising its prices. Until the end of 2024, there will be no general price increases for Blue plans, according to Swisscom. But Swisscom’s wording does not completely rule out price increases for other products.
Assessment by telecom expert Ralf Beyeler
It was only a question of time until Salt, Switzerland’s third-biggest Swiss mobile service provider, would raise its prices and justify the changes with inflation.
As a general rule, simply turning a blind eye and accepting a price increase is never a good move. In the fast-moving mobile telecom market, changes like this present the perfect opportunity to change service providers. Because more Swiss consumers use overpriced mobile plans, they can often save a lot of money by migrating to cheaper plans.
In Switzerland, plans with unlimited local mobile data and phone calls are available for less than 20 francs per month. But many consumers are still paying 80 or 100 francs per month for their mobile plans.
You can find useful tips for changing your mobile plan here. If you have any questions, please contact me by email here.
More on this topic:
Compare the fees of Swiss mobile plans now
This article was originally published on July 18, 2023. It was extended with additional information on July 26, 2023.
