WhatsApp on the rise, especially in French-speaking Switzerland: How Switzerland makes phone calls

The independent Internet comparison service Moneyland.ch conducted a representative survey to find out how the Swiss population makes phone calls. The result: Telephoning is still very popular with the Swiss. However, there are significant differences in usage between the various telephone services. WhatsApp has also conquered Swiss telephony: half of the population in French-speaking Switzerland and a third in German-speaking Switzerland already use WhatsApp every day.

Phone calls are still popular

Despite messaging apps, making phone calls is still popular in Switzerland: 94% of respondents make a call at least once a week. 57% of the population make phone calls every day, 30% several times a week, 6% once a week, 5% several times a month and 1% once a month.

In general, residents in French-speaking Switzerland make more phone calls - this applies to various telephony services. While around half (53%) of the population in German-speaking Switzerland use the telephone every day, this figure is almost three quarters (72%) in French-speaking Switzerland.

The under 25s make fewer phone calls than the older age groups surveyed. However, many boys still like to make phone calls: almost every second respondent between the ages of 19 and 25 makes a call every day. 89% of all boys surveyed make a phone call at least once a week.

Comparison of telephony services

The most common way to make calls is directly via the cell phone network (without apps): 99% of Swiss people make calls "directly" using their cell phone. However, WhatsApp has caught up in recent years: 85% of respondents already use WhatsApp to make calls. This is followed by other telephony services: 75% of the population make calls from home via the landline network, 50% with Skype, 33% with Facebook, 25% with FaceTime from Apple, 11% with Viber and 6% with Threema.

French-speaking Switzerland uses the telephone differently than German-speaking Switzerland

There are hardly any differences in telephony behavior between the urban and rural populations. The comparison between western and German-speaking Switzerland is quite different. "The Röstigraben is also evident in telephony behavior," says telecoms expert Ralf Beyeler from the online comparison service moneyland.ch.

51% of those surveyed in French-speaking Switzerland make calls every day using the phone function on their cell phone via a mobile provider. 47 percent in French-speaking Switzerland use WhatsApp every day. In German-speaking Switzerland, the proportion of daily use is only 29% in the case of cell phone calls and 32% in the case of WhatsApp.

Landline telephony is slightly more popular in German-speaking Switzerland (76% use landline telephony) than in French-speaking Switzerland (71% use landline telephony). French-speaking people are more open to new communication technologies. In general, telephony apps (such as WhatsApp, Skype, FaceTime from Apple and Viber) are much more widespread in French-speaking Switzerland. This is particularly evident in the example of Facebook: 27% of German-speaking Swiss use Facebook to make phone calls, compared to 56% in French-speaking Switzerland.

How women and men talk on the phone

There are clear gender differences in the choice of payment methods and financial investments, as studies by moneyland.ch have shown. The situation is different when it comes to the choice of telephony services, where there are no major gender differences.

72% of women use landline telephony from home (with varying frequency), compared to 77% of men. Video calls, Threema, Viber, Facebook and Skype are also used slightly more frequently by men than women. The reverse is true for WhatsApp: 83% of men use WhatsApp, compared to 87% of women. Telephony with a cell phone via the mobile network and with Apple FaceTime is roughly equally popular with men and women.

Phone apps particularly popular with boys

Among the youngest age group surveyed, aged between 19 and 25, "only" 66 percent use landlines for phone calls, but 93 percent use WhatsApp, 59 percent Skype, 47 percent generally use video calls (regardless of provider), 42 percent Facebook for phone calls, 41 percent FaceTime from Apple, 20 percent Viber and 10 percent Threema.

In comparison: 81 percent of over-50s use WhatsApp, 47 percent Skype, 28 percent Facebook to make calls, 20 percent video calls (regardless of provider), 18 percent FaceTime from Apple, 8 percent Viber and 4 percent Threema.

Dominant telephony app: WhatsApp

"WhatsApp and other free apps are becoming an ever greater challenge for local telecoms providers," observes telecoms expert Ralf Beyeler from moneyland.ch. Swiss mobile phone providers have responded to this: "Mobile phone subscriptions today differ primarily in terms of their Internet offering. Even low-cost subscriptions often include a flat rate for calls to all Swiss networks," explains Ralf Beyeler.

"Despite data scandals, WhatsApp has managed to become a constant companion for the majority of Swiss people in just a few years." 35% use WhatsApp every day to make calls (and therefore even more often than using their cell phone directly via their telecom provider), 18% several times a week, 8% once a week, 9% several times a month, 6% once a month and 9% only a few times a year.

WhatsApp is more widespread among younger people than among older age groups: 93% of 19 to 25-year-olds use WhatsApp to make calls, compared to 87% of 26 to 49-year-olds and 81% of 50 to 74-year-olds. Women use WhatsApp slightly more frequently than men: 87% of women use WhatsApp, 38% of women even use it daily. Among men, 83% use WhatsApp; 32% of men use the app daily for phone calls. In French-speaking Switzerland, 87 percent use WhatsApp, in German-speaking Switzerland 84 percent. The difference in daily use is particularly striking: in German-speaking Switzerland, around one in three (32%) use the app every day to make calls, while in French-speaking Switzerland it is almost one in two (47%).

Skype

Skype is now significantly less popular than WhatsApp in Switzerland. However, Skype is still widely used for occasional internet calls: 50% use Skype (with varying frequency). 26 percent use Skype only a few times a year, 7 percent once a month, 6 percent several times a month, 5 percent once a week, 3 percent several times a week and 3 percent daily. Skype is somewhat more common among younger people: 59% of 19 to 25-year-olds use Skype, compared to 51% of 26 to 49-year-olds and 47% of 50 to 74-year-olds. Skype use is slightly more popular among men than women.

Facebook

Phone calls with the Facebook app are significantly less common than with WhatsApp - which also belongs to the Facebook group. Nevertheless, 33% of respondents use the Facebook app (with varying frequency) to make calls, 12% even use it every day. 7 percent use Facebook calls several times a week, 2 percent once a week, 3 percent several times a week, 2 percent once a month and 7 percent a few times a year.

There is a big difference between German-speaking and French-speaking Switzerland: only 27% use Facebook calls (with varying frequency) in German-speaking Switzerland, compared to 56% in French-speaking Switzerland, which is more than half. There are also differences in usage between age groups: 42% of 19 to 25-year-olds use Facebook to make calls, compared to 37% of 26 to 49-year-olds and 28% of 50 to 74-year-olds.

FaceTime from Apple

FaceTime from Apple is used by 25% of respondents (with varying frequency). 1 percent of respondents use FaceTime every day, 12 percent only a few times a year. FaceTime is used by around a third (32%) of the population in French-speaking Switzerland and only around a fifth (23%) in German-speaking Switzerland. Among the over-50s, only 18% use FaceTime (usually only rarely), compared to 29% of 26 to 49-year-olds and 41% of 19 to 25-year-olds.

Comparison of the use of video telephony

Video calls (regardless of the provider, for example with Skype or FaceTime) are already fairly widespread in Switzerland. Around 29% of respondents make video calls (with varying frequency). 2 percent use video calls daily, 3 percent several times a week, 3 percent once a week, 4 percent several times a month, 4 percent once a month and 13 percent only a few times a year.

Video telephony is used slightly less by women than by men. In French-speaking Switzerland, 34 percent make video calls (with varying frequency), compared to 27 percent in German-speaking Switzerland. Almost half (47%) of the youngest age group surveyed between the ages of 19 and 25 make video calls (albeit often only sporadically), compared to just 22% of 26 to 49-year-olds and only 20% of 50 to 74-year-olds.

Viber

Phone calls with the Viber app are significantly less popular than with WhatsApp, but slightly more common than with the Swiss app Threema. 11% use Viber (with varying frequency), 5% of whom only use it a few times a year. Younger people are more likely to use Viber than older people, men are more likely to use it than women and French-speaking Swiss are relatively more likely to use it than German-speaking Swiss.

Threema

The telephony app Threema has not yet been able to assert itself against WhatsApp as a secure Swiss alternative. Only 6 percent of respondents use the Swiss app to make calls, of which 1 percent use it daily, 1 percent several times a week and 1 percent several times a month. Men use Threema slightly more often than women. Threema is much more widespread among young people: 10 percent of 19 to 25-year-olds use Threema (although usually not frequently), compared to only 4 percent of 50 to 74-year-olds.

Mobile telephony without apps

The most common way to make calls in Switzerland is by cell phone without an app directly via telecom providers such as Swisscom, Sunrise or Salt. 34% make calls in this way every day, 33% several times a week, 11% once a week, 11% several times a month, 5% once a month and 5% only a few times a year.

There are no significant age differences: 98% of 50- to 74-year-olds use cell phones to make calls directly via mobile phone providers (with varying frequency), compared to 99% of 26- to 49-year-olds and 19- to 25-year-olds. There are also no significant differences between the genders. The clearest difference between German-speaking and French-speaking Switzerland relates to daily phone calls: 29% of German-speaking Swiss use their cell phone daily via a mobile phone provider, compared to 51% in French-speaking Switzerland.

Landline at home in comparison

With the advance of mobile telephony, landline telephony from home is steadily losing ground. 13% of respondents still use landline telephony daily, 26% several times a week, 11% once a week, 10% several times a month, 6% once a month and 8% only a few times a year.

There are clear differences in landline use between age groups: 86% of 50 to 74-year-olds use landline telephony, compared to just 64% of 26 to 49-year-olds. Landline calls are even less common among women than men.

About the study

The market research institute GfK Switzerland conducted a representative survey on telephony behavior on behalf of Moneyland.ch at the end of April 2018. The survey asked how and how often (daily, several times a week, once a week, several times a month, once a month, a few times a year, never) people make phone calls. A total of 1517 people in German-speaking and French-speaking Switzerland were surveyed. Among other things, they were asked about the following telephone instruments: Landline at home, mobile phone/smartphone via mobile phone provider, WhatsApp, Skype, Facebook, FaceTime from Apple, Viber, Threema, other VoIP apps, video telephony in general.