The coronavirus crisis is impacting the telecommunications needs of Swiss consumers. The spike in home office workers is one factor, but limitations on physical communication have also resulted in a sharp rise in telephone calls. Increasingly, telecom networks are being pushed to their limits.
Swiss telecom service providers are not only taking technical steps tin response to this crisis, but they are making temporary changes to their offers as well. Additionally, physical stores like those of Mobilezone, Salt, Sunrise and Swisscom have temporarily closed. The most important changes are listed here.
Swisscom
Switzerland’s largest telecom service provider has stated that is taking the following steps:
- Swisscom is waiving fees for call, SMS and data roaming for customers who are forced to extend their trips abroad due to the crisis. This roaming fee waiver for forced travel extensions applies between March 14, 2020 and April 30, 2020.
- Swisscom is increasing data allowances. This applies to the Swiss Mobile light and inOne mobile basic plans, and to prepaid offers which include data bundles.
- Subscribers to other mobile plans which do not include unlimited Internet access will benefit from unlimited Internet access during the month of April.
- All Swisscom TV customers will receive complimentary access to these Teleclub channels: Cinema, Action, Emotion, City, Reto, TNT Film, and Romance TV. French-speaking customers benefit from access to 13eme Rue, Syfy, Warner TV, Disney Channel, Disney Junior, TV Breizh, Voyage, Discovery Channel, SC Science, Nat Geo, Nat Geo Wild, Usuhaia TV, Nickelodeon Junior, Mangas, Boing, Toonami, Paramount und My Cuisine.
- Until the end of April, Swisscom is offering a free hotline aimed at supporting customers who are looking for ways to maintain contact. Swisscom cites support with the installation of WhatsApp or Facetime as an example of the services offered by the hotline.
- Swisscom’s business customers benefit from home office solutions and solutions for connecting to local company networks on a complimentary basis.
Sunrise
Switzerland’s second-largest telecommunications company has taken the following steps:
- No more data limits: Sunrise is removing the limits of data use for many plans which previously only provided limited data. This benefit applies until the end of April 2020. This impacts all Sunrise Freedom plans for which the Speed Booster option is active. The removal of data limits does not apply to other Sunrise plans and prepaid offers, nor to Freedom plans which do not have active Speed Booster options.
- Customers with optical fiber or landline Internet plans with low data transfer speeds will benefit from faster connection speeds until the end of April 2020. Sunrise promises to deliver its customers the fastest possible Internet connectivity. Sunrise customers will receive email or SMS notifications when their bandwidth increases. This applies to both individual and small business customers.
- Sunrise TV customers will receive the HollyStar Kids option at no extra charge between March 27 and June 30, 2020. The option includes 24 series ranging from shows for young children to programs for teenagers.
- Small businesses and self-employed individuals benefit from a longer payment due date. Between April and June, a 3-month grace period applies to bills from these customers.
- Sunrise is offering SMEs a simple entry option for collaboration and calls based on Microsoft Office 365/Teams, with the first 3 months provided free of charge to Sunrise customers.
- Sunrise is offering discounted mobile Internet routers to business customers whose home office employees do not have adequate Internet connections.
UPC
UPC, Switzerland’s largest cable network operator, is taking the following steps:
- UPC is increasing Internet connection speeds for its 165,000 customers with slow Internet connections until the end of April 2020. UPC stated that all of its Internet plan customers will benefit from 100 Mbps connection speeds during that period.
- UPC is waiving the 25-franc MySports fee for the month of April for all of its MySports subscribers. The ice hockey playoffs normally broadcasted over the MySports network have been cancelled due to coronavirus prevention measures. Additionally, MySports subscribers will receive a voucher for six months’ worth of Sky Show subscription fees.
Salt
Salt is waiving data limits for its business customers which have limited data plans until the end of May 2020. Important: This waiver only applies to data. Limits on telephone calls still apply, and calls exceeding plan limits will continue to be billed at standard prices.
Salt is not currently making changes to personal plans.
Teleclub
Pay TV provider Teleclub, a Swisscom subsidiary, is waiving its fees for its sports plan subscribers. The cancellation of all sporting events following the introduction of coronavirus prevention measures has made it impossible for Teleclub to live sports broadcasts.
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