Salt marks a first in Swiss telco with an advertising campaign exclusively starring team members
Dec. 19, 2017
Salt has once again chosen a refreshing approach for its latest online advertising campaign putting Salt’s team into the spotlight – a real innovation in the Swiss telecommunications industry. The result is providing customers with a rare insight into Salt’s brand essence as well as conveying a unique feeling of both ownership and ambassadorship to participants.
The call to participation to what started as a «Mr. and Mrs Salt» photo contest attracted more than 50 employees from all Salt offices and Stores nationwide. Thirteen shortlisted candidates took part in the photo shooting in Lausanne and Zürich, directed by three young talented Swiss photographers: Térence Spagnolo, Sam Diener and Patrick Caçador Mateus.
Snapshot, as the campaign is called, has generated more than 200 visuals reflecting different moods for marketing, public relations and employer branding purposes. The image variety will ensure a diverse online presence – notably on social media.
To watch the short film about the shooting click here.
Salt continues to stand out through Snapchat
Dec. 15, 2017
On Saturday, December 16, Snapchat users will be able to use a unique “filter” during 24 hours that has been configured by Salt especially for the occasion.
This year we are committed to making our mark with a contest using Snapchat's facial recognition technology. The most daring users of the community can give it a try and participate in our “do not blink challenge”!
Follow the campaign closely, play the game and share the experience with your loved ones!
November Network Update
Nov. 27, 2017
Last week, Salt was lauded for its significant progress in terms of 4G availability – almost 10% increase between May and November 2017, reaching a level of 78,8% in OpenSignal’s latest Mobile Networks Update for Switzerland. Salt is proud of that result.
To learn today that Connect has decided to rate Salt’s network with “good” comes as a big surprise and generates incomprehension at Salt. Obviously, there is a clear disconnect between what Connect is measuring and customers’ everyday network experience. Also, there appears to be several flaws with the test:
- Connect allocates a disproportionally high amount of points to Voice over LTE (VoLTE), a technology which is marginal for customer experience and was exclusively measured intra-network for this occasion;
- Connect is lacking any crowdtesting component, which over the last 12 months has rapidly established itself as the new standard of network testing;
- Connect is lacking metrics covering indoor coverage, which is where mobile users spend most of their time;
- Connect does not consider the question of volume and/or speed limitations, which is a key differentiating factor in the Swiss mobile landscape with Salt being the only operator providing unrestricted access to 4G+ – without any speed or volume limitations – to its entire customer base.
October network update
Nov. 8, 2017
In October, Salt’s 4G+ technology, which is based on the aggregation of at least two different radio frequencies and allows data transmission rates of up to 300 Mbit/s, is reaching more than 50% of Switzerland’s population. Cities such as Lucerne and Winterthur both roughly reach a 4G+ coverage rate of 80% of the population respectively, Bern around 73% and Zurich and Geneva still more than 60% each.
Salt also upgraded several existing antenna sites with 4G technology. In October, antenna upgrades took place in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Bad Zurzach, Stein, Brione, Pratteln and Lucerne where our clients can perceive a technology upgrade.
Salt enters new partnership with Switzerland Tourism
Nov. 1, 2017
Today, Salt proudly announces its multiannual partnership with Switzerland Tourism in the context of their yearly winter campaigns advertising Switzerland as a leisure and business destination to visitors from near and far.
Salt will extend the country’s famed hospitality into the mobile realm – providing a first class mobile customer experience while on the go and promoting Switzerland’s world heritage by facilitating seamless mobile communications between visitors, their Swiss interlocutors and with their community back home.
The exclusive collaboration underlines Salt’s commitment to strengthening Switzerland’s attractiveness as a tourism hotspot. The partnership will also allow Salt to foster its relationships with key players of the Swiss tourism industry, reach customers through dedicated communication activities and at targeted events.
A terrific deal: the new iPhone X for CHF 389.- with Plus Europe
Oct. 27, 2017
The long wait is finally over. The new iPhone X (64 GB) is available now for pre-order in both space grey and silver in all 87 Salt Stores and on salt.ch at an attractive price of CHF 389.-.
The special iPhone X offer is available to all new customers of a Plus Europe subscription when signing for a contract duration of 24 months. Existing Salt customers who want to renew their device also benefit from attractive tailor-made offers. The launch of physical sales will start as Salt Stores open their doors on Friday, November 3.
Salt goes green by means of a fully renewed car fleet powered by natural gas/biogas
Oct. 24, 2017
Within the coming 6 months, Salt will renew a significant portion of its corporate car fleet switching to Seat’s hybrid Leon 1.4 TGI EcoFuel powered by both petrol and natural gas/biogas. A respective order has been placed with Salt’s fleet management partner in October – a first among Swiss telecommunications operators.
The concomitance of two separate tanks allows for an easy switch from one type of fuel to the other with a reach of 400km using natural gas and 900km using petrol. Salt’s goal is to use natural gas/biogas for at least 80% of the kilometres driven. This will allow Salt to reduce its CO2 emissions by up to 40% when compared to an equivalent petrol only fleet.
On this occasion, Salt is also partnering up directly with Gaznat SA, which is offering biogas fuel for the first 1000 km driven on each vehicle as well as issuing CO2 compensation certificates, the proceedings of which will allow Salt to invest in ecological projects near and far.
September network update
Oct. 5, 2017
On September 20, Zurich’s Letzigrund stadium hosted the only Swiss stopover of the Rolling Stones’ «No Filter» tour. The event, which drew some 50’000 visitors, was the first to benefit from a recent revamp of the venue’s infrastructure in terms of mobile technology, which is particularly conspicuous for live streaming enthusiasts.
In collaboration with other network operators, Salt participated in the installation of 12 brand new sectors in the stadium which significantly improved the customer experience in both voice and data transmission. During the whole concert, which lasted about 3 hours, a total uplink traffic of 43 GB was generated and call setup rates peaked at 1’400 per hour with a success rate of more than 99%.
Several other stadiums such as St. Jacob in Basel but also La Praille in Geneva still need to undergo similar upgrades in the coming months. This is part of Salt’s network development strategy and dedicated investment programme for special venues.
The new iPhone 8 for CHF 0.-
Sept. 15, 2017
Following last Tuesday’s keynote, Salt uncovers today its strapping deal celebrating the next iPhone generation in the anniversary year with the iPhone 8 (64 GB) available now for pre-order in all 87 Salt Stores and on salt.ch at an amazing price of CHF 0.-.
The special iPhone 8 offer is available to all new customers of a Plus Swiss, Plus Swiss Young or Plus Swiss Senior subscription when signing for a contract duration of 24 months.
The launch of physical sales will start as Salt Stores open their doors on Friday, September 22. An official celebration will take place in Salt’s Flagship Store in Zurich Bahnhofstrasse, which is opening early for the occasion.
Salt too welcomes the Federal Council’s announcement and demands a swift revision of the outdated Telecommunications Act
Sept. 7, 2017
SUISSEDIGITAL, UPC, Sunrise, and Salt are calling for the urgent revision of the Telecommunications Act (TCA), backed by other competitors, such as Green, Init7 and VTX. Other supporters of a swift TCA revision and delegation of authority to the Federal Council include Swiss Fibre Net AG, the cooperative of local and regional utility companies, which represents large cities and smaller municipalities with open fiber-optic networks, and openaxs, the association of Swiss electricity supply companies for the promotion of open broadband networks.
Since the current TCA addresses the outdated copper technology only, there has not been any fair competition for quite some time. In the event of a market failure, which has repeatedly been found to benefit Swisscom in the past, the Federal Council must, with this TCA revision, be able to intervene quickly and effectively to guarantee effective competition in broadband infrastructure access.
"Neither the economy nor the Swiss people should be subjected to yet another monopoly situation. And this includes rural areas. After the copper network monopoly, we must not have yet another high-broadband network monopoly. That is why the Telecommunications Act must be revised quickly, as proposed by the Federal Council," demands Andreas Schönenberger, Salt CEO.
August network update
Sept. 6, 2017
In August, Salt continued the deployment of its 4G+ technology, now reaching 45% of the Swiss population.
The latest generation of 4G+ antenna sites now simultaneously allow for a fourfold increase of the general traffic capacity in their vicinity, thereby significantly improving the individual download and upload speed of Salt customers’ connected devices – notably during peak data consumption hours.
This is particular good news for consumers of mobile video services as present in applications such as FaceTime, Skype but also Snapchat, Periscope and certain functionalities of Instagram and Facebook. Interruption-free and on the go downloading, watching, sharing and live streaming of video content is now a reality for Salt customers in the vicinity of all these antenna sites.
Young Swiss talents direct advertising spot for Plus Swiss Young
Aug. 28, 2017
It's back-to-school time and with the new academic year just around the corner, Salt's new TV spot is being aired for the first time today featuring a fast motion sequence in rewind telling the story of the emotional rollercoaster experienced by young lovers. The TV spot promotes Plus Swiss Young currently available at CHF 39.95 instead of CHF 49.-.
Fabrice Brisotto, student at the Geneva School of Economics and Management (GSEM) and winner of last year's «Show Me Your Mobile» video contest, imagined and directed Salt’s back-to-school spot. The shooting took place in Geneva under the auspices of Térence Spagnolo, a young Swiss filmmaker and graphic designer. The almost 20 seconds long clip illustrates the importance of modern means of communication for teenagers and young adults when it comes to networking and staying in touch.
July network update
Aug. 7, 2017
In Switzerland, July rhymes with Paléo, Gurten, St.Gallen OpenAir, Frauenfeld, Montreux Jazz and many more. While the weather might not always have shown its best side, Salt put a lot of efforts to make sure its clients were able to share unforgettable moments with friends and family – both live and as memorable souvenirs.
In today’s era of live-streaming and mass sharing, ensuring a seamless mobile customer experience for festival-goers is more than ever an engineering tour de force. Not only do festivals gather impressive crowds of smartphone equipped visitors, their evolving data consumption habits and ensuing connection and transmission peaks also require innovative network solutions – both in terms of hardware and operations. New records are broken every year.
A Salt também fala português!
July 26, 2017
Today, Salt proudly announced the addition of Portuguese to the club of languages supported by its customer service thereby allowing the company to serve its lusophone customer base in their mother tongue. The initiative is possible thanks to multilingual contact center em-ployees in Biel as well as the presence of a Salt contact center in the Portugese capital, Lisbon.
Anyone who wishes to benefit from this new service can either send an SMS with "START PT" to 5155, ask to be enrolled by staff in Salt stores or when calling Salt’s award-winning helpline.
June network update
July 4, 2017
Last month, Salt increased the capacity of several of its antenna sites equipped for the so-called 4G+ technology – notably in the cities of Basel, Zurich, Geneva and Lugano. The upgrade allows for a doubling of the general traffic capacity on the sites highlighted in green in the attached antenna site maps with the side-effect of significantly increasing the individual download and upload speed of connected Salt customers – notably during peak data consumption hours.
This specific initiative carries on throughout the entire summer, both in terms of sites covered and further improvement of the data traffic capacity, which by the end of August will have increased fourfold at the designated antenna sites. This is particular good news for heavy users of capacity-intensive over-the-top (OTT) applications such as FaceTime, Skype but also Snapchat, Periscope and certain functionalities of Instagram and Facebook.
May network update
June 6, 2017
Salt’s ongoing investment effort into coverage and capacity improvements is clearly yielding fruits. The rate at which our antenna sites are currently being upgraded will allow us to catch up the already narrowing gap in terms of 4G availability fast. In May, more than 88% of our macro antenna sites were equipped with 4G technology and more than 40% of the Swiss population benefitted from Salt’s 4G+ network with downloading speeds of up to 300 Mbit/s.
Our deployment programme of low-band frequencies also leads to specific coverage improvements. Various middle-size cities such as Winterthur, Biel/Bienne and Thun have seen tangible coverage improvements both in city centres as well as in their periphery. The example of Winterthur is particularly striking with the neighbourhoods of Breite, Deutweg, Grüze and Schlosstal experiencing significant coverage improvements – both indoors and outdoors – over the last 24 months.
April network update
May 5, 2017
Last month, Salt upgraded several of its existing antennas and also linked up new built sites to its national mobile network. A new macro antenna was built in the booming municipality of Gland and an existing antenna site in Horgen was retrofitted with low frequency bands – thereby making 4G+ technology available in its surroundings. In Sion, a new antenna on the West bank of the Rhône now allows for much improved coverage at both Hôpital de Sion and Stade de Tourbillon. Last but not least, Salt customers travelling between Sargans and Ziegelbrücke now experience a more seamless and constant network experience along the shores of Lake Walensee thanks to a new antenna site in Murg.
March network update
April 4, 2017
Last month, Salt upgraded several of its existing antennas and also linked up new built sites to its national mobile network. The area around the Swiss transport museum in Lucerne, for example, saw its coverage improved to the latest 4G+ technology. The municipality of Gais (AR) experienced a significant improvement of its 3G and 4G coverage. A new antenna site was built in Hauterive (NE), covering the municipality’s upper neighbourhoods. Similarly, Zurich’s Seefeld district north of Zurichhorn – notably the popular lakeside spots around the Chinagarten – experienced an upgrade to 4G+ technology. This is particularly good news for all those who like to use this unique urban green to do sports, spend some time with their children or simply meet friends for a picnic after work or on weekends.
Salt and Melectronics seal a distribution partnership
March 30, 2017
Today, Salt and Melectronics, the electronics specialty market of Migros, are officially launching a distribution partnership for Salt’s mobile telecommunication products. The agreement will add more than 100 points of sale to Salt’s retail distribution network. This connection will pay off in many ways: a larger reach of Salt products all over Switzerland, even more proximity with our clients and professional advice at everyone’s doorstep.
With the exception of special offers and dedicated promotions, Melectronics will carry the same product lines as those available in Salt’s own stores and combine Salt’s product and service quality with a broad and long-lasting electronic goods expertise and with the spirit of Migros – fairness in price and neutrality in technical advice.
February network update
March 3, 2017
Salt continuously invests into its network to improve both coverage and speed. This is true for urban centres but also for rural areas and along important lines of communication – both by train and by car. Last month, Salt has built new and upgraded existing antenna sites in places such as Pfaffnau (LU), Geneva and Jaun (FR). Also, coverage along major transport routes was improved, such as on the Transjurassienne at Boncourt (JU) and the A13 at Roveredo (GR).
Salt opens Flagship Store on Zurich's Bahnhofstrasse
Feb. 28, 2017
Salt’s 86th store is opening today in the heart of Zurich’s shopping mile. With its 130m2 in best location, the new Salt Store on Bahnhofstrasse 94 provides Salt with a unique retail space in Zurich’s city centre. This new flagship store will be the only telecommunications business of its size on the lower Bahnhofstrasse and is expected to reach an excellent sales performance from day one.
On Friday March 3, our advertising partner Matthias Glarner, who was crowned Swiss wrestling champion at the triennial national wrestling festival which took place in Estavayer-le-Lac last year, will be available for selfies, autographs and exchanges with his fans between 16:00 and 18:30.
From February 28 to March 14 new customers will be made advantageous special offers. Upon conclusion of a 24 months subscription for our Plus Swiss offering, customers will benefit from a 50% discount on their monthly fee for the first twelve months.
January network update
Feb. 2, 2017
Last month, Salt has built new and upgraded existing antenna sites in many selected ski resorts such as Davos, Gstaad, Grächen (VS) and Klosters, thus improving network coverage and increasing transmission speeds on the slopes and in the ski resorts.
Salt is also offering perfect network conditions to cover many of this year’s key winter events live: the FIS world cup in Adelboden, Château-d'Œx’s balloon bonanza, the world ski championships in St. Moritz or all and sundry’s freeride exploits in Verbier.
Bon à Savoir: Salt's customer service ranked very high among Swiss telephone operators
13 Jan. 2017
In an anonymous survey carried out jointly by the magazine Bon à Savoir and RTS-La Première's On en Parle in December, Salt's customer service appears to be the most efficient among the three telephone operators in Switzerland. In its online article, the magazine states: "With a stopwatch in hand, we were able to see that the treatment was, on average, a little more expeditious at Salt".
The full article from Bon à Savoir can be downloaded here.
The comparative table can be consulted here.