Internet, calls & SMS abroad
Your phone abroad & in the Swiss border area
Even abroad you are always reachable under your mobile number. You can call, send SMS and surf the Internet as usual.
Check the benefits of your subscription by country:
Don't know your mobile subscription? Check your subscriptions in the Customer Center.
- If you are abroad, you can make phone calls, send SMS and go online as usual. If you want to use data roaming (e. g. for surfing the Internet), check your smartphone settings if data roaming is switched on.
- If you are in the Swiss border area, we recommend that you switch off automatic network selection.
Roaming days in EU/Western Europe Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Guernsey, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Jersey, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, Vatican City State
Residential customers with inOne mobile or NATEL infinity 2.0 subscriptions and SME customers with inOne SME mobile or NATEL® infinity 2.0 business subscriptions have a certain number of days included in their mobile subscription. During those days they can use the Internet, make phone calls and send SMS messages in the EU/Western Europe at no additional cost.
You can check your roaming day balance in the Swisscom Cockpit at https://cockpit.swisscom.ch.
Example:
You have an inOne (SME) mobile M subscription
If you have an inOne (SME) mobile M subscription, you can write SMS, make phone calls and surf for 6GB during 60 days in the EU/Western Europe at no extra cost. If you use your roaming days and 6GB data allowance at different speeds, one of the following can happen:
Example 1: You have used up the 6GB data allowance before using the 60 roaming days:
Example 2: You have purchased a data package. Two days later your subscription is renewed:
Roaming outside of EuropeThe inclusive units apply to all countries outside the EU/Western Europe. With the exception of: Afghanistan, Angola, Bahamas, Belize, Bhutan, Burundi, Cuba, Djibouti, East Timor, Ethiopia, French Polynesia, Guam, Liberia, Libya, Mali, Nepal, New Caledonia, Zimbabwe.
The roaming days cannot be used outside the EU/Western Europe. If you have an inOne (SME) mobile XS - L subscription, you have 1000 SMS/MMS per month and 100MB per year included in your subscription. If you want to use the internet or make phone calls outside Europe, we recommend that you buy a data package and/or use the Travel Voice Option for cheaper phone calls.
Validity of roaming days
- Roaming days are valid from the start, down/upgrade or renewal of your mobile subscription and are automatically renewed after 365 days.
- A roaming day is deducted when you make or receive a call, send or receive an SMS, send or receive an MMS, use data traffic (e. g. surf the Internet or send e-mails)
- Roaming days are charged by calendar day in Swiss time and end midnight (UTC+1/ summer time applies).
You can check your current usage for surfing abroad at any time via the Swisscom Cockpit. The current usage for phone calls and messages are shown in the Customer Center with a delay.
If you use your COMBOX® abroad, increased costs may be incurred or roaming days may be charged: If you do not accept a call and the COMBOX® switches on, an incoming connection and an outgoing connection (for accepting the call through COMBOX®) will be charged.
Therefore, we recommend that you switch off conditional call forwarding to your COMBOX® (if you do not answer):
- Open the cockpit at https://cockpit.swisscom.ch
- Click on "Call settings".
- Switch off "Incoming Call Forward".
- Click on "Save".
Your prepaid abroad
You can also use your prepaid mobile phone to make calls, send SMS messages and surf the Internet in most countries. Rates vary by country. We recommend that you check them before you leave for your trip:
If you use your prepaid phone frequently abroad, it may be worthwhile to buy a data package or a Travel Voice Option.
FAQ
What is roaming?
Roaming means that you use another provider's network when you are abroad - for example, you are a Swisscom customer and use Orange's network during your holiday in France.
Foreign providers charge Swisscom for calls, SMS and surfed kilobytes made in their networks. This is a service that Swisscom has to buy and for which there are currently over 600 contracts.
Why can't I go online?
If you don't (or can no longer) access the Internet abroad, try the following:
- Check your phone's settings to see if data roaming is turned off.
- If yes, you can activate data roaming on your device.
If the Internet still does not work, please do the following:
- Visit the cockpit (https://cockpit.swisscom.ch) and check your data allowance/roaming days (e. g. inOne (SME) mobile M subscription 6GB data volume included) or a data package.
- If you have used up your data allowance and the base rate is deactivated (in the menu under "Base rate"), you have to buy a data package in order to surf.
The base rate should be deactivated by default, as surfing with the base rate can quickly lead to higher costs.
How can I go online abroad without wasting money?
With the inOne (SME) mobile and NATEL® infinity (business) 2.0 subscriptions, surfing in the EU/Western Europe is easy. For example, customers with an inOne (SME) mobile M can surf the Internet for 60 days per year for 6GB in the EU/Western Europe at no extra cost.
In addition, you can surf the Internet outside Europe with the Data Travel packages at a low price and at low cost. You can buy the package in the Swisscom Cockpit(https://cockpit.swisscom.ch). They are valid for 30 days.
How can I make cheap calls when I am abroad?
Swisscom offers very cheap standard rates for calling in the EU and Western Europe. Therefore, in most cases, you do not need an additional option there.
If you have an inOne (SME) mobile or NATEL® infinity (business) 2.0 subscription, you can make calls within the EU/Western Europe and back to Switzerland during the roaming days included in the subscription at no extra cost. Calls from the EU/Western Europe zone to another zone are charged at the standard rate.
Outside Europe, we recommend the Travel Voice Option (for private and SME clients), which pays off if you don't make many phone calls.
With the Travel Voice 30 days option for SME clients you can call and send messages cheaper for 30 days worldwide.
How much does it cost to send or receive SMS abroad?
- Incoming SMS are always free of charge, regardless of the subscription
- Sending messages is categorically with costs.
- inOne mobile (SME) and NATEL® infinity (business) clients benefit from included SMS.
SMS are charged per character. For messages of more than 160 characters, an SMS is charged for every additional 160 characters or part thereof. By using special characters and other alphabets, the calculated number of characters may differ from the number of characters displayed on the mobile phone.
Can I make calls abroad via a WLAN access (so-called Wi-Fi calling)?
No, for technical reasons Swisscom doesn’t currently support Wi-Fi calling.
I was charged for roaming even though I wasn't abroad. Why?
If you are near the border, it is possible that your mobile phone may connect to a foreign mobile network – for example if there is poor or no reception on the Swisscom network. This can also happen if foreign networks are available further away from the border, for example in the Lake Geneva region and the mountains close to the border (Jura, Alpstein, Graubünden or Valais Alps, etc.).
Since much lower radiation limits apply in Switzerland than in the EU, foreign networks reach much further into Switzerland than vice versa.
To avoid roaming charges we recommend that you switch off the automatic network selection.
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