Swiss Post has announced that it has branched out and become a mobile phone provider. It is hoped that the newly launched Post Mobile will make the postal service more profitable by offering phone and data subscriptions at a competitive price.

Swiss Post unveils new, cheap mobile phone subscriptions

In a statement, Swiss Post announced that, 20 years after it first started selling mobile phones and landlines in its stores, it had thrown its hat into the ring and launched its own cell phone packages. The new product, called Post Mobile, will be available in all branches of the post office across Swiss cities and cantons, as well as on the internet.

Swiss Post wrote that the packages are intended for “price-conscious people” who want phone access for less than the traditional providers offer. Initially, four subscriptions will be offered starting at just 14,95 francs a month for unlimited calls, texts and eight gigabytes of data per month in Switzerland.

The top-of-the-range package, priced at 49,95 francs a month, gives unlimited talk, text and data in Switzerland, unlimited calls and texts in Europe, 10 hours of calls a month worldwide, 20 gigabytes of data a month in Europe and five gigs a month in the "Travel" zone - a collection of 31 different countries and territories worldwide.

Post Mobile to use 5G network from Salt.

In Switzerland, Post Mobile phones will join packages provided by supermarkets like Aldi Suisse in using the 5G network run by Salt. - this network is said to cover 99,9 percent of the country. Once the package is purchased, customer service and support will be provided by Salt.

Speaking to the Tages-Anzeiger, Swiss Post's head of postal branches Thomas Baur confirmed that the firm will no longer sell mobile deals from other companies. This is quite a blow to other providers as between 30.000 and 40.000 mobile subscriptions from Swisscom, Sunrise and Salt. are sold at the post office every year. However, “Customers of Swisscom and Sunrise, for example, can continue to top up their prepaid credit mobile deals at the post office,” Baur added.

Post Mobile designed to make Swiss Post more profitable

Baur explained that the measures are designed to make a visit to the post office more attractive and therefore make the postal service more profitable. Swiss Post has been beset with financial issues due to a decline in the number of letters being sent, so much so that Federal Councillor Albert Rösti recently submitted a proposal to cut delivery services down to three days a week to help save money. 

However, questions have been raised as to whether Swiss Post, a publicly run company, is allowed to launch the service considering that they would be competing with not just private companies like Sunrise but also the state-owned provider Swisscom. In response, Baur explained that Swiss Post can “arrange services on behalf of third parties”, and that because the service is technically run by Salt., it is not going beyond its remit.

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