From June 28, 2021, Yallo and Lebara will only offer three bundles for mobile roaming in Europe. The standard rates for roaming calls are also changing.
What changes are Yallo and Lebara making to data roaming?
Yallo and Lebara are phasing out bundles with limited data for Canada, most of Europe, Turkey, and the United States. The 1-gigabyte bundle for 20 francs and the 3-gigabyte bundle for 30 francs will no longer be offered. Two new high-speed data bundles are replacing them. These include a limited high-speed data allowance, after which you can continue to get online, but at throttled speeds.
These are the two new data roaming bundles:
- 10 gigabytes of high-speed data, with unlimited low-speed data after. This bundle expires after 3 days and costs 15 francs.
- 60 gigabytes of high-speed data, with unlimited low-speed data after. This bundle expires after 30 days and costs 45 francs.
Once the high-speed data is used up, you remain connected to the Internet but with a low 256 Kbps connection. This is sufficient for messaging, email, and low-speed web browsing, but it is too slow for streaming video.
For data roaming outside of the Region 1 (Canada, Europe, Turkey, the US), Yallo and Lebara will continue to offer the existing bundle as it is. The only change is that the bundle will now be valid for 12 months instead of 30 days.
What changes are Yallo and Lebara making to call roaming?
Yallo and Lebara will offer a new Travel Talk 60 bundle. It includes 60 call minutes, is valid for 12 months, and costs 10 francs. You can use this bundle to make calls in Canada, most European countries, Turkey, and the United States.
Up until now, Yallo and Lebara have offered a similar bundle, and also for 10 francs – but with 100 call minutes and a 10-day expiry period.
What changes are Yallo and Lebara making to standard rates for roaming?
Standard roaming rates apply when you do not purchase a roaming bundle before using your phone abroad. Because standard rates are unfavorable, it rarely makes sense not to add a bundle.
Yallo and Lebara are updating the per-minute pricing for their standard rates. Some per-minute rates will remain the same, some will be slightly higher, and some will be slightly lower. As before, the prices you pay to receive calls are different from the prices you pay to make calls within the travel country, to Switzerland, and to other European countries.
Here you can get an overview of the new standard charges which apply to making calls while traveling outside of Switzerland. Up until now, Yallo and Lebara used different pricing for plan subscribers and prepaid customers in some cases, so more than one price may be shown in parentheses).
Calls in Canada, most European countries, Turkey, and the United States:
- Incoming calls: 1 franc per minute (previously 80 centimes or 1 francs).
- Outgoing calls: 2 francs per minute (previously 1.80 or 1.95 francs).
Calls in countries like Albania, Macedonia, Serbia, Thailand, and more:
- Incoming calls: 2 francs per minute (unchanged).
- Outgoing calls: 4 francs per minute (previously 3.90 or 4.80 francs).
Calls in countries like China, Mexico, Tunisia and others:
- Incoming calls: 3 francs per minute (previously 2 or 3 francs per minute).
- Outgoing calls: 5 francs per minute (previously 4.80 francs).
Another change is that Yallo and Lebara are moving to per-second billing in keeping with new telecom regulations which come into effect on July 1, 2021. Thanks to this change, customers will effectively pay less for roaming calls at standard rates, in spite of the higher per-minute prices.
What will roaming with Yallo swype cost?
The Yallo swype sub-brand is an exception. Customers will continue to pay a flat fee of 3 francs per day, when they make use of roaming services. This rate applies in Canada, most of Europe, Turkey, and the United States.
Are roaming prices different for plan and prepaid users?
Yallo and Lebara are moving towards using just one fee schedule for both plan subscribers and prepaid customers. But both mobile service providers will not begin offering their new bundles right away. For the time being, they will continue to offer their existing data roaming bundles – most of which expire after 30 days.
Yallo and Lebara stress that customers who frequently travel abroad or spend longer amounts of time abroad should contact customer services. The mobile service providers will try to find a solution and may, for example, provide you with an additional bundle free of charge.
How do the roaming changes benefit Yallo and Lebara customers?
If you only leave Switzerland for short vacations and use a lot of data when you travel, the new unlimited data roaming offers from Yallo and Lebara deliver good value for money, observes moneyland.ch telecom expert Ralf Beyeler. For example, typical holidaymakers who go abroad for two or three weeks in summer but spend the rest of the year in Switzerland can benefit from these bundles, add Beyeler.
Unlike Sunrise, the two subsidiaries Yallo and Lebara offer their users a practical 60-minute call roaming bundle which can be used for a full year. This bundle is already worth the costs if you make just 5 to 10 minutes of roaming calls in a year. Many other Swiss mobile service providers in addition to Yallo and Lebara offer similar bundles.
Another advantage is that Yallo and Lebara now use per-second billing. That makes calling while traveling abroad more affordable because you only pay for the actual seconds used. Up until now, you would be billed for a full minute for every portion of a minute used.
What are the disadvantages of the roaming changes for customers?
Unfortunately, Yallo and Lebara are some of the few Swiss mobile service providers who do not offer any data roaming bundles with 12-month validity periods. “That is a negative for customers who cross the border many times over the course of a year,” says telecom expert Ralf Beyeler from moneyland.ch. “It is difficult to understand the logic behind this decision. But I can imagine that Yallo and Lebara will eventually offer 12-month bundles,” adds Beyeler.
“If you travel to other countries many times per year, you may want to consider alternative solutions. For example, you might want to get a local SIM card from the country you visit the most, or get a Swisscom prepaid offer,” recommends the expert. “Many smartphones support two SIM cards.”
Verdict by telecom expert Ralf Beyeler:
“I am somewhat disappointed by Yallo’s and Lebara’s offers. I cannot understand why both of these service providers would not begin offering 12-month data roaming bundles like most other Swiss telecom companies are doing,” says telecom expert Ralf Beyeler. He believes that the changes to pricing “are mostly negative for the average Yallo or Lebara customer.”
“For heavy data users, on the other hand, the Yallo and Lebara roaming bundles are very affordable,” says Beyeler. This is true even though many customers will pay around 5 francs more for the service.
More on this topic:
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Tips for making calls while traveling
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M-Budget Mobile’s roaming changes explained
