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AT&T cellular service

We are spending 15 days in Switzerland and plan to buy 200 minutes of cellular service from AT&T. We are planning on using these minutes t make calls home to family and friends and to stay in touch if needed with work. My question is about connections. We will be staying in Appenzell, Pontrisena and Interlaken. We will be spending the most nights (8) in Interlaken. I assume that the connections while we are hiking in the mountains will be limited even though we have the calling plan but will we be able to use the AT&T service in the towns we spend the night or will service be spotty?

Posted by
48 posts

Have used AT&T cell service in CH to call home in the US at least the last 10 years. Have not had any connection problems or spotty service including at St. Bernard Pass (high in the Alps).

Posted by
4870 posts

That's a lot of minutes. You should do the math to see if a local SIM card would be more cost-effective, even with a burner phone.

Posted by
11294 posts

When you travel outside of the US with an AT&T phone, you are no longer using AT&T's network, but a local network. Your phone will usually choose the strongest local signal, and in most of Europe, the GSM coverage is much better than in the US.

If you really want to look at coverage maps, here's Swisscom's: http://scmplc.begasoft.ch/plcapp/pages/gis/netzabdeckung.jsf?netztyp=lte&lang=en (remember to choose "2G" for voice, as opposed to 3G or 4G fpr data - you'll see how extensive it is).

Here's Sunrise's coverage map: http://www.sensorly.com/map/2G-3G/CH/Switzerland/Sunrise/gsm_22802#|coverage

And here's Orange: http://www.sensorly.com/map/2G-3G/CH/Switzerland/Orange/gsm_22803#|coverage

Posted by
32362 posts

I've never had any problems getting good network connections anywhere in Switzerland (or indeed anywhere in Europe). There are a LOT of towers, and one benefit of roaming with AT&T is that your phone will connect to the strongest signal with any network (as Harold mentioned). If you use a local SIM, you'll be limited to using ONLY the towers for that network, and there may be areas where one cell firm has "spotty" coverage.