As of October 7, Sunrise subsidiaries Yallo and Lebara use updated terms and conditions for prepaid bundles. Many bundles now come with higher data allowances. But bundles are valid for just four weeks instead of a full month.
Which Yallo bundles are affected?
The full range of “All in” bundles from Yallo now expire after 28 days instead of one month. But all of the “All in” bundles now include more data than they did previously. They also continue to include limited call and SMS allowances.
| Offer |
Previous data allowance |
New data allowance |
Price |
| All in 5 |
200 MB |
300 MB |
CHF 5.00 |
| All in 7.5 |
400 MB |
500 MB |
CHF 7.50 |
| All in 10 |
600 MB |
1024 MB |
CHF 10.00 |
| All in 15 |
1536 MB |
2048 MB |
CHF 15.00 |
| All in 20 |
2048 MB |
3072 MB |
CHF 20.00 |
| All in 30 |
2048 MB |
5120 MB |
CHF 30.00 |
| All in 40 |
3072 MB |
10,240 MB |
CHF 40.00 |
The shorter validity periods also apply to data-only bundles for mobile Internet within Switzerland. These now expire after four weeks instead of one month. The prices and data allowances of these data bundles have not changed.
| Offer |
Data allowance |
Price |
| Surf 250 |
250 MB |
CHF 5.00 |
| Surf 1000 |
1024 MB |
CHF 15.00 |
| Surf Unlimited |
Unlimited (no throttling) |
CHF 40.00 |
Which Lebara bundles are affected?
Prepaid Lebara bundles now expire after four weeks instead of one month. Lebara has increased the included data allowances. The “Max” bundle also includes call allowances. The price tags of bundles have not changed.
| Offer |
Previous data allowance |
New data allowance |
Price |
| Surf 150 MB (previously Surf 120 MB) |
120 MB |
150 MB |
CHF 4.90 |
| Surf 1 GB |
1024 MB |
1024 MB |
CHF 14.90 |
| Surf 3 GB |
3072 MB |
3072 MB |
CHF 19.90 |
| Surf Max |
Unlimited (no throttling) |
Unlimited (no throttling) |
CHF 39.00 |
| Swiss Max |
5120 MB |
10,240 MB |
CHF 29.00 |
| Europe Max |
10,240 MB |
20,480 MB |
CHF 39.00 |
| World Max |
5120 MB |
10,240 MB |
CHF 49.00 |
Why is this a hidden price increase?
Up until now, bundles were valid for a full calendar month. Depending on the month, bundles remained active for 28, 29, 30, or 31 days. Customers only had to buy 12 bundles to access telecom services for a full year. Now, bundles expire after just four weeks, or 28 days. That means 12 bundles will last you just 336 days. You have to buy an additional bundle to cover the remaining 29 days, and one day would still have to be covered by yet another bundle.
A customer with an All in 10 bundle who previously paid 120 francs per year must now pay 130.35 francs for the same offer (13 bundles plus one day covered by an additional bundle for the next year). That is an 8.6 percent price increase. “For many consumers, whether a bundle is valid for one month or 4 weeks would not seem important. But that is an incorrect assessment because an 8.6 percent price increase is a big deal,” says moneyland.ch telecom expert Ralf Beyeler.
What can customers do about the price increase?
Comparing offers regularly to find out whether there are new offers which better suit your needs and changing service providers if need be makes a lot of sense. The mobile plan comparison on moneyland.ch makes it easy to do this.
If you want to stick with Yallo or Lebara, take a moment to reconsider your telecom needs. These service providers have added more data to their bundles, so you may be able to move to a cheaper offer without your data use being impacted.
For example, if you need 2000 megabytes of mobile data each month, you would previously have had to get the “All in 20” bundle at a total cost of 240 francs per year. Now you can get 2048 megabytes of data with the “All in 15” bundle for 195.55 francs per year. The onus rests on you to find the bundle which best fits your needs and budget.
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