Mobile coverage
Coverage of the mobile networks
Switzerland enjoys almost complete mobile coverage with state-of-the-art 4G and 5G technologies.
While operators have already shut down their 2G networks, their 3G networks are also being gradually phased out. This is a global trend. Swisscom announced that it would decommission the 3G network in Switzerland at the end of 2025, while Sunrise will no longer support the 3G standard from the middle of 2025. Salt has still to announce a date for its 3G network shutdown.
At the end of 2024, almost 100% of the population was covered by LTE (4G), which was launched in Switzerland over ten years ago. All carriers also report high mobile coverage and high download speeds with LTE Advanced technology (4G+) and 5G.
Including all network generations, Salt claims to cover 99.9% of the population. By aggregating 3G, 4G and 5G signals, the Salt network offers transfer rates of up to 750 Mbps when 4G+ and 5G services are available, and up to 1.7 Gbps in regions with 5G+ coverage.
By the end of 2024, Swisscom reached 99% of the population with 5G and transfer rates of up to 1 Gbps, and 86% with 5G+ and transfer rates of up to 2 Gbps. Swisscom is aiming to reach 90% coverage with 5G+ by 2025. Sunrise covered over 99% of the population with 5G and transfer rates up to 1 Gbps, plus 79% of the population with 5G and transfer rates up to 2 Gbps.
In relation to the speeds indicated by the operators, it is important to bear in mind that mobile networks have a cellular structure and the transfer rates are shared between users within a cell.