Telephone, Internet:
Getting a telephone here can unfortunately turn out to be a real experience. Here are a few important tips which can smooth out the process considerably.
Telephone installations are done exclusively by Swisscom xxhttp://www.swisscom.ch/xx, which used to run a monopoly on calling as well. The market has since deregulated and recently, even local calling can be made through another provider. However you will still need to deal with them for the installation.
To get a telephone line installed into your house, you will need the following things:
- As a foreigner, you will need to provide a Sfr. 500 deposit which will be kept by Swisscom until you terminate the phone line. If you are a national of a 'higher risk country', eg. Brazil, this amount goes up to Sfr. 1000. The line will not be installed until they have the deposit.
- You need to bring your lease/rental contract, which indicates you as the legal tenant of your apartment. You can have additional names in the phone book for your line, but the line will legally be only under one person's name.
- You will need to show your Auslaenderausweis (your immigration permit). Copies or assurances are normally not accepted.
- You will need to ask your rental agency or landlord to supply you with the full name and phone number of the person who previously occupied your apartment. (No joke. I still haven't figured out why the phone company doesn't know this better that you.) For similar reasons it also helps to know exactly what your floor and apartment designation is (eg. 2nd floor 'left', or an apartment designation number).
The best way to go about actually getting the line is to go in person with all the above information and the deposit with you as cash, to the Swisscom shop. A good one to try is a main outlet like the Swisscom shop in the Bahnhofstrasse area (Füsslistrasse 6, Zurich). Be prepared to have to wait. Once you finally manage to speak to someone who speaks English, and there are few, you will need to fill out an application form. Get the person to help you. MAKE SURE that you
- get a receipt for your deposit and
- confirm that they really do have an entry for the previous tenant and they know where to install the line. Otherwise, you will find that out only when you phone them a week later to ask them why you still don't have a phone line.
If you go in person with a cash deposit, and provided that they really do know which apartment to wire, the whole process should take 3-5 days. If you do it by mail, pay a blue slip for the deposit, or have other problems such as the outlet in your apartment not being physically wired, the process can take a month and cost you another few hundred francs.
The Swiss have a different view of personal privacy than most English-speaking westerners. They not only list themselves in the phonebook, they often put their career titles and other information. You may or may not choose to do this. If you would like to be unlisted, there are several options to choose from. Ask for the form when you apply for the line, and it will be mailed to you shortly. A common compromise option is the 'liste noire' (black list), which means that your number is completely unlisted from all directories but that your number and name still appear on people's 'Caller ID' service.
Other options such as voice mail, mobile services etc are available from Swisscom as well as other companies, should you choose to have another service provider. Ask the company for details and fees.
Additional Notes:
1. Make sure you have a look at the time periods for calling charges. There are up to 7 different time periods a day in terms of the rates. Have a look at the chart at the front of the phone book.
2. ISDN / ASDL lines and other services are also available.
3. Swisscom sells an American RJ-11 plug to Swiss plug adapter which works - useful for computer modems.
4. If you have your cell phone and home line through the same provider, you only need one deposit.
5. The monthly fee for a telephone line is currently about Sfr. 25.00, which you have to pay regardless of whom your local and long distance providers are.
Links:
Swisscom homepage
Long-Distance Telephoning:
As a foreigner, chances are high that you will be phoning countries other than Switzerland. Fees of the main telephone company Swisscom) have greatly improved since the deregulation of the market, but there is still plenty of opportunity to get better prices.
There are a number of other service providers now available. A non-exhaustive list of links is provided below.
Some important points to keep in mind:
1. The countries you need to call.
2. What time periods you will be calling in.
3. Do you want a service provider for "on-access use" ie. dialing a prefix, or hard-wired service? Do you want only a long-distance service or do you want local and voice mail services through the company as well?
4. What languages do you want to be able to deal with the companies in?
5. Who will be your cell phone provider?
Make sure and read the fine print! Some companies ask a starting fee per phonecall, which can get relatively expensive if you call often but short.
See also our information about prepaid phone cards.
Links:
Swisscom
Sunrise
Orange
Tele2
Payphones:
What's up with the music in there? (Once you've been in one, you'll know what I mean).
But seriously, there are a few things that you should know about payphones in Zurich.
1. Most of them don't seem to take coins. You need to go to any Kiosk and buy a "Telefonkarte" from Swisscom, which comes in various amounts. It's credit card sized and has a 'smart card' chip on it. It's good to keep a Sfr. 5 card in your wallet for that evening when you really need to use the phone, and can't.
2. There is a free electronic directory in there, which can come in handy. AND it has an english language option. Unfortunately they are starting to switch over the directory to being pay per use...
3. You can send faxes using the directory computer, if you have a phonecard.
4. The rates for calling a cell phone number (usually with a prefix like 078 or 079) are really high compared to a regular phone line.
Prepaid Phone Cards:
What do you do when you first arrive, if you don't have a phone at home, if you are travelling, and you need to make long-distance phone calls?
The best way to deal with this is to buy prepaid phone cards. There is currently a huge number of companies that offer long-distance service, usually at extremely variable prices, service and quality. The easiest thing is if you can ask other people you know who phone the same countries you do. Many of the more obscure companies are often the cheapest, with reasonable quality - however there are also some bad apples so ask around.
A few examples of companies are Swisscom, Orange, diAX, Tele2, Gnanam, the list goes on, and who offers the best rates to a particular companies varies almost by the week. Cards are usually purchased either at one of the Kiosks or at a designated outlet or reseller for the company.
Apparently it is possible now to buy more effectively from the Post Office. you can go to the post office, tell them which country you would like a prepaid calling card for, and they will tell you which card is currently the cheapest for that country and the cost per minute.
ISETH 