SIM card for Switzerland trip

Dear Sir,

We will be going to Switzerland in May from India. Please advise if:

1. Our mobile handsets will function there ?

2. Where can we get simcards for the phones ? What will be the calling rates - incoming and outgoing ?

3. What about calling cards ? Are they cheaper than simcards ? How to buy them - from where, how much and how to use them ?

Thanks

Sumeet

If you have an unlocked iPhone or Android it will work in Switzerland. For data sim cards you can refer to the link www.myswissalps.com/si mcard

You can preferably use VOIP calling like Skype or Whatsapp to call back to India. Wifi is free for an hour at many stations (about 9 in Switzerland). After one hour you need to wait for a couple of hours before you get another 1 hour free.

If you do want to buy a calling card, you can do so in India itself. You can buy an online calling card from www.dial91.com/ . There rates are extremely cheap $0.011 per minute to India. For a $2, refill you will get 182 minutes to landline or mobile. For $5 refill you get 455 minutes. You can install their mobile app, connect to wifi and directly call any India number. It also works via skype. All instructions and FAQs on their site. I have been using this for all my international trips if you don't want to buy a sim card (all you need is 3G/4G data or a wifi).

@Sskundu......can this service be also used for data service..... or else what service u will be using in switzerland for internet use through your phone or tablet?

Dear sskundu,

Thanks for thetip.

I too would like to know if wifi is unavailable, how then to use the internet/skype/whatsapp via the calling card ?

Please advise how you manage to do it.

Tks

Well getting a local sim card is surely an option (the first link in my message above) but it provides you with :

1. 1 GB for 30 days @ Euro 36 (approx INR 2800)

2. 3 GB for 90 days @ Euro 50 (approx INR 3800) plus Euro 54 deposit

3. 12 GB @ Euro 90 (approx INR 7000) plus Euro 54 deposit.

The above is only for the Switzerland data sim card from simply which you can't ship to India (have to buy there only). The Europe data sim card also provides equal data for the same prices and is valid in other countries (names mentioned on the site: www.simlystore.com/en/ buy-prepaid-sim-card/europe-prepaid-data-sim-card-10-gb.html)

What I plan to take along is data sim card from CLAY (www.clay.co.in/) . They are providing unlimited data @ INR 3200 in multiple countries. You can contact their customer service to enquire more about their rates.

Yes that's okay. But that would mean buying 2 cards if I'm getting this right. One would be the data sim card (simly/clay) and the other would be the calling card (dial91). Is that correct ?

Another option could also be the calling cards which can be used at any of the local phone booths simply by inserting them into the slots and dialling a code and then the required phone nos.. Is this system present in Switzerland ? I know it was there in Italy when we went there.

Please clarify.

Thanks

Hi sumeet,

I don't know about calling cards, but I've used Skype and WhatsApp calling with data only SIM cards as mentioned here and that worked fine for me.

No you need not buy two sim cards. I will be taking the Clay sim card which probably allows tethering also i.e. you can use you iphone or android as a hotspot and the other person can connect from it. Not sure if same thing is allowed by the Simly card or not.. Arno can tell better.

The Dial91 calling card comes as cheap as $2 (INR 130) and gives 3 hours of talk value. the $5 (INR 350) gives you 455 mins of talk. If you use their mobile app (also available for windows laptop and mac) then you need not dial any access number - directly your destination number like 0091983xxxx

If you use skype then yes you would have to dial an access number. Since skype provides free US calling hence you can dial any US access number (not the toll free) for free and then your destination number as per prompts.... Its quite easy and cost effective option.

The Simly card can be used as a hotspot (see myswissalps.com/simcar d). Technically, tethering is slightly different than a hotspot: it's connecting a phone to a laptop (e.g. through a cable) to use the internet connection of the phone. This is not possible, but it's not required either as the hotspot approach is simpler en more efficient as multiple devices can connect.

Yes sorry I used that term and might confuse others. I meant to say the hotspot method only. But I am not sure which android phones have that hotspot feature. I have an iPhone and it does so was suggesting others accordingly.

No problem! All the options are quite confusing anyway; I had to look it up as well. I used the hotspot feature on an Android phone with the Simly card and it worked fine.

Ok... As the creator of this post said Simly does not dispatch to India and my trip is starting next Monday, 11/4 from India to Paris so I guess that's not an option for me anymore.