Resellers sell bargain telecom subscriptions – with pitfalls!

On Black Friday, you can get not only cheaper mobile phones, but also subscriptions. Many cell phone subscription providers advertise with promotions on bargain day. But these aren’t always time-limited price hits.

“It’s worth hitting at the right time,” Oliver Zadori (39), founder of the Dschungelkompass.ch comparison platform, tells Blick. His company compared offers from various providers along with consumer protection. Despite the bargain prices, customers should not rush into anything. “It’s important to consider exactly what you need for a quote,” says Zadori.

The cheapest flat rate subscription is offered by GoMo, a Salt brand. Everything unlimited for CHF 9.95. High-speed data volume is limited to 100GB per month. You can watch many movies with it.

This is not a Black Friday special offer. Certain promotions, such as those from GoMo, are offered separately throughout the year or for a longer period of time.

Consistently low prices

“The Digitec subscription is pretty cheap at 18 francs and you can also surf the EU for 1GB per month. But if you need more roaming data, it’s better to use Yallo,” Zadori advises.

Swisscom offers the most expensive subscription for CHF 59.90. This doesn’t look like a bargain. After six months, the subscription already costs CHF 69.90 per month. Other providers also offer the Swisscom network. For example, Mucho Mobile costs 19.90 per month.

Attention: Minimum contract period

Mobile subscriptions from Swype, Salt, Lebara and Quickline are available for CHF 20 to 30 per month. M-Budget and Sunrise also offer offers of around 30 francs. But beware: Sunrise offer is limited to 24 months. After that, the subscription is twice as expensive.

“You should always pay attention to the minimum contract period and whether the price is permanent,” says Zadori. For most providers, the notice period is two months.

Talktalk, for example, offers a subscription of 11 francs. Everything is off limits, according to provider Mobilezone. However, the minimum contract period is 24 months. “If you land earlier, you still have to pay the price,” says Zadori.

In some cases, the discount is valid even below the minimum contract period. “Personally, I would never sign a prank contract like this, and I would advise everyone to oppose it,” says Ralf Beyeler, telecom expert at Moneyland.ch.

Providers fight for customers

In general, cell phone subscriptions have become increasingly cheaper in recent years. “There’s probably something to do with competition,” says Zadori.

There are relatively few new customers in the telecommunications industry. This means that providers compete for existing customers. That’s why many offer special offers for new customers. “Switching the provider can therefore be beneficial,” says Zadori. “But it’s important to compare offers against each other.”

According to Beyeler, telecom companies talk about “marketing and all that” on Black Friday. “With telecom providers, there are no repositories that need to be cleaned.”