Mobile in Switzerland

[Kimberlin]

I might be wrong and happy to be corrected, but I'm assuming that BT Mobile effectively operates as an MVNO using the EE Network?

I use a EE based MVNO and I don't have any issues using the roaming facility within Europe, though to be fair, I haven't used it in Switzerland, indeed I've not been to Switzerland since around 1972 when I believe there were no such things as mobile phones 😂

It is correct that many countries are abandoning the use of older network technologies, though my own MVNO still lists 2g, 3g, 4g and 5g as possible network choices in my mobile netowork menu. I'm fortunate enough that 5G seems to be fairly reliable almost everywhere I go, especially in the UK and Spain. EE has many partner networks spread throughout Europe. Where I live, I even get EE French partner telecom providers pop up on my list of available networks.

For info, I have a iPhone 17 and I've used it successfully a number of times in Europe using EE partner networks so far in 2026.

Worth having a look at the following article if you're unsure of what is happening:

https://whereversim.com/en/3g-sunset

[msmobile]

Thank you

Our phones were saying they were on 4G and 5G, and we have been using them in Switzerland for a few years without problem. The only thing I am aware of is that has changed since we were last there in January is that Switzerland has dropped 3G. I spoke to someone at Swisscom who thought the 3G point might be relevant, but I have no idea why

[Colin_London]

Just because EE has a roaming partner in a country doesn’t mean that BT mobile will as well. I have found BT mobile choices to be much more restrictive than EE with only one network available, and it is not always the most extensive one.

if you want premium roaming you need to go with a premium operator.

[msmobile]

Thank you

We have been using BT mobile for several years and have never before had a problem in Switzerland (probably over 20 visits). So something must have changed since we were last there in January this year

Family members on the same BT sim plan have used them in Italy, Czech Republic and Greece this year without problem

[Kimberlin]

@Colin_London  What's premium these days? I'm with Spusu, a Austrian MVNO that operates by piggybacking off EE in the UK and I don't have any issues connecting anywhere where there's a signal or clearly, a roaming partner. If there isn't, I just use free WiFi through a VPN if it's available.

There could be a number of reasons why particular phones even, don't connect to various networks. I use a iPhone 17 that's fully up to date on O/S. There are people out there who just don't bother updating, so network carrier settings don't get updated, so for instance, on Apple phones, network carrier settings are now on v.70. Keeping network carrier settings updated is important, for the reasons outlined in the following link:

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/109324

Although I do own a Android phone, I rarely use it, but I assume it would be a similar situation.