Switzerland roaming charges

[Jaisunny]

Hi, my relatives are on O2 and EE and are both able to use their roaming for free in Switzerland.

Three charge £2 per day for 12gb(regular roaming usage)

Smarty on the other hand, you've got to buy min £5 add on credit. Which....

£5 will get you ONLY 250MB data

£5 will get you 50 mins phone calls.

Now to me, this sounds like daylight robbery. I was convinced to join smarty and one of the slogans that is still used today is "Smart is a new SIM only mobile network that's built to be fair, transparent and smart"

Can you please advise me if these charges are "fair" in any way, shape or form?

[JJP2]

This is the Smarty community forum, populated by Smarty customers like you and I, so you are moaning at the wrong people, as we have no control over Smarty’s proving policy.

Smarty offers good value for money plans *within the UK* and also allows upto 12 GB of data use within the EU

Switzerland of course is not a member of the EU.

if you feel Smarty plans are “daylight robbery” then, the good news is that with Smarty plans being only 30 day recurring plans, you are not tied in to a long term contract, so can quickly and easily take your business to a network that may suit your usage patterns better. 

You could also download a specialist travel eSIM from the likes of Airalo, Holafly, Sparks, etc. if you have a phone that has eSIM capability. 

Again, this is a Smarty community forum, so any advise and comments here are purely in a personal capacity with no connection to Smarty itself. 

[MSF]

@Jaisunny  As the information on charges to all countries is available upfront, I do consider that they have acted fairly and transparently.

whether the charges themselves are fair - who is the arbiter of what is 'fair' - Is £1.47 a litre 'fair' for petrol? Is £1.40 for a supermarket loaf fair? Thing is, in the free market, the customer decides and can go with what suits their needs.

So, as an example, I never go to Switzerland and so the cost is not relevant for my needs. I do appreciate that it may be different for you and you would obviously need to go with what is best for you.

[jassingh]

@Jaisunny Every network has their own terms and partnerships with operators in other countries which is the reason why roaming availability and cost varies from network to network. I assume that networks are trying to recoup those [increased] costs they incur when we use our phones abroad.

What I've also seen is that some networks categorise countries into roaming bands/zones differently, which probably explains why one charges more/less or even includes it as standard. If this helps, you could use another SIM temporarily that includes roaming for it, or use a local SIM in the destination. 

[JJP2]

Good points. 

Austrian based network, Spusu, launched recently in the UK, as an MVNO on EE.

Spusu offer 30 day deals in the same way as Smarty, and their tariffs also include generous roaming allowances, which also include Switzerland as well as the EU, which may be of use to @Jaisunny