The changes will take effect at the beginning of July, which will benefit customers. But there is still a catch.
The revision of the Communications Act will bring some changes from July 1. Consumers are better protected against intimidating roaming bills and annoying ad calls. A quick glimpse at some of the important innovations:
- Data plans should now be valid for 12 months. So far, most data packages expire after 30 days.
- Customers can now set their own cost limit for roaming. The shock of wandering after the holidays should be a thing of the past.
- Phone calls abroad should now be billed by the second. Previously, each was rounded to the full minute.
- All telecom service providers must now provide customers with a call filter. In this way, annoying advertising calls can be contained in the future.
Cost limits vs terrible bills
From July 1, mobile customers can set a cap on their roaming charges. This is to prevent bad surprises in the future.
However: a standard limit will be set for anyone who has not set a limit on an existing subscription. Depending on the provider, this can be expensive.
Salt, for example, has a standard limit of 1,000 Swiss francs, divided into 500 Swiss francs for both phone and data communications. Consumer protection is highly critical of this. This is how the law is being undermined, according to Managing Director Sarah Stalder: “You should be aware: Roaming has been the company’s cash cow.”
Advice to consumers: It is necessary to adjust the maximum for your own needs. If that doesn’t work, Sarah Staller advises reporting it to Consumer Protection.
Data bundles and longer phone calls are getting more expensive
Oliver Zadori of independent comparison service Dschungelkompass explains that the fact that packets are now valid for longer is a good thing. However: “With some providers, the smaller data packets are gone.” After all, you can still use this data on your next vacation.
The same applies to phone calls. Although billing is now more accurate, some providers have slightly increased the per minute rate. Accordingly, long calls may be more expensive. In general, experts recommend that you continue to research yourself well before traveling abroad.
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