Salt is revamping its data roaming offers on July 10, 2021. The telecom service provider is also introducing an option for call and SMS roaming in “exotic” countries. With just one exception, changes to Salt’s roaming offers will also apply to its subsidiaries Das Abo and Lidl Connect.
What changes is Salt making to data roaming?
Salt will continue to use a 30-day expiry period for most of its data roaming bundles. The new Swiss telecom regulations which come into effect on July 1, 2021, require mobile service providers to use a minimum expiry period of 12 months for roaming bundles. Salt told moneyland.ch that it also offers bundles which meet the required 12-month validity term. Salt explained that the smaller, more affordable bundles fill a customer need. The company is in contact with the Federal Office of Communication with regards to this issue.
These bundles will be available for data roaming in Canada, most European countries, Turkey, and the United States:
- 1 gigabyte for 19.95 francs, valid for 30 days (unchanged).
- 2 gigabytes for 29.95 francs, valid for 30 days (new bundle).
- 5 gigabytes for 49.95 francs, valid for 30 days (20 francs cheaper than before).
- 10 gigabytes for 99.95 francs, valid for 12 months (new bundle).
The 2-gigabyte is only offered by Salt, but not by Das Abo or Lidl Connect. Salt is phasing out its smallest bundle which includes 100 megabytes for 4.95 francs.
These bundles will be available for data roaming in most other countries (including Albania, Australia, Peru, Serbia, Thailand, and others):
- 100 megabytes for 14.95 francs, valid for 30 days (unchanged).
- 400 megabytes for 49.95 francs, valid for 30 days (unchanged).
- 1 gigabyte for 149.95 francs, valid for 30 days (50 francs more expensive than before).
- 2 gigabytes for 299.95 francs, valid for 12 months (new bundle).
It is interesting to note that for 149.85 francs Salt customers can buy three 400-megabyte bundles for a total of 1200 megabytes. A single 1-gigabyte bundle costs 10 centimes more for 15 percent less data.
The following data roaming bundles will be available for most remaining countries (including Cuba, the Maldives, the Seychelles, and Vietnam).
- 100 megabytes for 49.95 francs, valid for 30 days (unchanged).
- 500 megabytes for 199.95 francs, valid for 30 days (unchanged).
- 1 gigabyte for 399.95 francs, valid for 12 months (new bundle).
What changes is Salt making to call and SMS roaming options?
For call roaming in most countries – including all European countries – nothing is changing at all. Both the Talk Europe & USA option and the Talk Rest of World option will continue to be offered exactly as they have been. Existing options will remain in place and be extended automatically every month until they are suspended.
Salt is introducing a new Talk FAR option. For a price tag of 20 francs per month, this option can be used for call roaming in countries which are not covered by the two existing options. Although it does not include free call minutes, it lets you make phone calls at the lower rate of 3 francs per minute.
What changes is Salt making to standard roaming rates?
You are charged standard rates when you do not expressly activate an option or bundle before using mobile roaming. Calling or using data at standard rates is rarely worth it because they are very unfavorable.
The per-minute standard rates are not changing. But Salt is moving to per-second billing in keeping with the new regulations.
Are there different prices for mobile plans and prepaid mobile?
From July 10, 2021, identical data roaming bundles will be available to both mobile plan and prepaid mobile users. Call roaming options, on the other hand, will still be offered to plan subscribers only.
Differences are still notable for standard rates, with prepaid users being charged much more than plan subscribers.
How good are Salt’s mobile roaming offers?
Ralf Beyeler, telecom expert at moneyland.ch, believes that Salt’s mobile roaming offers leave a lot be desired. These are the key reasons:
Salt will continue to offer data roaming bundles with a 30-day expiry period – and is one of the few mobile service providers to do so. The Salt data roaming bundles which have a 12-month validity period have a low appeal for average users because of their sizes and price tags. “100 francs for a 12-month bundle is an affront to customers,” finds Beyeler.
Salt’s call roaming offers are also not exactly customer friendly. There are now three different roaming options – all three of which subscriptions which are automatically extended until you suspend them. User have to make sure to deactivate roaming options after their trip, or they will continue to pay every month for an option which they do not use.
The cost of roaming calls varies depending on when you travel. Because the option is billed on the tenth of each calendar month, you pay the option’s fee twice if the tenth day of the month falls within your trip abroad. This would not be the case if options had a 12-month validity period – as is the case with Swisscom’s new roaming options.
Making roaming calls in most European countries is only slightly more expensive with Salt than with Swisscom. Salt customers with the relevant option pay a total of between 17 and 22 francs for 60 minutes of phone calls. Swisscom is somewhat more affordable at 15.90 francs.
Salt users with the correct roaming option pay 39 or 54 francs to make that amount of calls while traveling in some Balkan countries. That puts Salt behind Swisscom on this point, with Swisscom charging 29.90 francs for 60 minutes of roaming calls in some Balkan countries. The difference is more pronounced in even less visited countries. At a cost of 200 or 220 francs, Salt users have to pay more than three times the 59.90 francs which Swisscom customers pay to make 60 minutes of calls.
Verdict by telecom expert Ralf Beyeler:
On the whole, the Salt offers are disappointing. It is difficult to understand why Salt would deliberately ignore consumers’ wish for longer validity periods for data roaming bundles, concludes Beyeler. “Now it is up to Salt customers themselves. There are plenty of other service providers which offer much more customer-friendly roaming solutions. If mobile roaming is important to you, you should consider moving to a different service provider, recommends the telecom expert.
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