Living in Annemasse and working in Geneva: which mobile plan?
A French plan that includes Switzerland both ways, like Flytel’s. From Geneva, you call France; from Annemasse, you call a Swiss number: both calls are included, as are texts, and you get 20 to 50 GB of mobile data in Switzerland. In France, you are on the Orange network. The plans have no commitment, from €14.99 a month, with activation from €5. When you work in Geneva, five things matter.
- Being called in Geneva. A call you receive at the office is included, like those you make to France or to a Swiss number. Dialling a Geneva landline starting with 022 from France is explained below.
- Mobile data for Switzerland. You get 20 or 50 GB a month depending on the plan, for your days in Geneva. Once this allowance is used up, mobile data stops outside France until the following month, unless you add a top-up for your Switzerland and Europe allowance (in French), valid for the current month. The guide explains how much mobile data to plan for Switzerland (in French).
- The Swiss network picked up in France. Near Geneva, your phone can connect to a Swiss mast before the customs post, sometimes at home. Your calls stay included, and mobile data is then taken from the allowance for Switzerland. Why this happens, and how to bring it back to the French network.
- Your number. It moves to Flytel with the RIO code from your current operator, and your old contract ends by itself on the day of the transfer: see how to keep your number.
- What the contract says. Flytel plans are for people who live in France. Calls, texts and MMS are unlimited within a reasonable use limit: 50 hours of calls, 2,000 texts and MMS, and 199 different contacts a month. The clause on use outside France is explained in your plan day to day in Switzerland (in French).
One question is enough to choose between Essentiel and Confort (in French). To see what other operators offer, the dated comparison of cross-border plans surveys their contracts. Already a customer elsewhere? See what is included in Switzerland with Free, with Orange and with Sosh, contract by contract (pages in French).
How many cross-border commuters work in Geneva?
According to OCSTAT, the Geneva cantonal statistics office, 118,067 cross-border commuters of foreign nationality were working in the canton of Geneva at the end of June 2026, out of 414,262 in the whole of Switzerland, that is 28.5%. So more than one in four cross-border commuters works in this canton. The figure is provisional. Source: OCSTAT monthly statistical bulletin, August 2026 (in French), table T 06, read on 23 September 2026.
On the French side, INSEE counted 135,000 cross-border workers in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes in 2021, 85% of whom worked in the canton of Geneva. In the French Genevois employment area, 53% of employed residents worked in Switzerland, 89% of them in the canton of Geneva, with journeys of 21 km on average. Source: INSEE, Insee Analyses Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes No. 185 (in French), 28 November 2024.
So your phone makes the journey with you: it crosses the border on the way there and on the way back, every working day.
Where Geneva’s cross-border commuters come from
The 2022 census shows, commune by commune, where employed residents work. In these figures, Geneva is the commune of Geneva, the city itself: Meyrin, Carouge or Plan-les-Ouates are other communes in the canton. Here are the 12 communes in France from which the most people commute to the commune of Geneva, and how many (linked commune pages are in French, except Ferney-Voltaire and Saint-Genis-Pouilly):
- Annemasse: 6,431
- Annecy: 4,648
- Saint-Julien-en-Genevois: 3,073
- Ferney-Voltaire: 2,624
- Saint-Genis-Pouilly: 2,470
- Gaillard: 2,274
- Prévessin-Moëns: 2,000
- Vétraz-Monthoux: 1,633
- Thonon-les-Bains: 1,513
- Ville-la-Grand: 1,455
- Gex: 1,405
- Douvaine: 1,260
Annecy, second behind Annemasse, is not on the border. The Léman Express links it to Geneva, and in its employment area the number of cross-border workers more than doubled from 2010 to 2021 (+129%, INSEE).
All workplaces combined, here is the share of working residents who work in Switzerland, for seven communes of departure described on this site.
| Commune of departure | Working residents who work in Switzerland |
|---|---|
| Divonne-les-Bains | 69.0%, i.e. 3,266 |
| Saint-Genis-Pouilly | 68.0%, i.e. 4,856 |
| Ferney-Voltaire | 67.0%, i.e. 3,826 |
| Saint-Julien-en-Genevois | 63.2%, i.e. 4,846 |
| Gex | 56.3%, i.e. 3,969 |
| Annemasse | 50.4%, i.e. 8,503 |
| Thonon-les-Bains | 21.7%, i.e. 3,581 |
After the commune of Geneva, the second place of work is Meyrin, where CERN stands, for Saint-Genis-Pouilly (1,252) and Ferney-Voltaire (366), and Nyon for Gex (437) and Divonne-les-Bains (467). In Thonon-les-Bains, more working residents work in the commune of Geneva (1,513) than in that of Lausanne (840), reached by the Thonon and Évian crossing (in French), across the lake. For the others, see the communes people leave to work in Switzerland (in French).
Source: INSEE, Mobilités professionnelles en 2022 (in French), commuting flows database published on 26 June 2025, employed people aged 15 or over, read on 23 September 2026. INSEE asks for flows of fewer than 200 people to be read as orders of magnitude: none is quoted here.
The area, commune by commune: Annemasse, Ferney-Voltaire, Saint-Julien-en-Genevois, Gex, Valserhône, Cluses, Gaillard, Annecy, Douvaine, Thonon-les-Bains and Saint-Genis-Pouilly. Each one describes the network as seen from home. Ferney-Voltaire and Saint-Genis-Pouilly are in English, the others in French.
The journey: Léman Express, tram and customs
According to INSEE, the Léman Express has been running since 2019: it links 45 stations over 230 km, from Coppet, in Switzerland, to Bellegarde, Annemasse, Évian-les-Bains or Annecy. Since December 2019, a tram has also linked Annemasse to Geneva in 25 minutes. In the French Genevois, 16% of cross-border workers take public transport; across the whole region, 77% take the car.
The train and the tram cross the border without stopping at customs, and your phone changes network during the journey. By car, you cross to the east at Moillesulaz or Thônex-Vallard, to the south at Bardonnex or Perly, and in the Pays de Gex at Ferney-Voltaire, Prévessin-Moëns, Sauverny or Versonnex. Each side has its own page, in French: the Moillesulaz, Thônex-Vallard and Bardonnex crossing, from Annemasse and Saint-Julien; the Pays de Gex customs posts and CERN, from Ferney-Voltaire, Prévessin-Moëns and Saint-Genis-Pouilly.
Why your phone switches to a Swiss network before the border
Radio waves don’t stop at borders, as OFCOM, the Swiss Federal Office of Communications, points out: in border areas, a phone can connect to the neighbouring country’s network. And in an area served by several networks, it connects by default to the strongest one, explains the French ombudsman for electronic communications, the Médiation des communications électroniques. Around Geneva, where you sometimes change country by crossing a street, this can therefore happen before the customs post, and even at home.
CERN, whose site straddles the border, even has its own French-Swiss agreements for mobile service: three, dated 22 September 2015, 17 December 2015 and 1 June 2023, according to the list published by ANFR, the French national frequency agency.
With Flytel, you stay within your plan, whatever the mast. Your calls and texts are included; on a Swiss mast, even at home, mobile data is taken from the allowance for Switzerland. At home, it is therefore best to bring your phone back to the French network, to keep that allowance for your days in Geneva: turn on airplane mode for about ten seconds, then restart the phone and check that network selection is set to automatic. Choosing the network manually remains the last resort. It’s all in the guide: why your phone picks up a Swiss network from France, and what to do.
Coverage at a precise address can be checked on Arcep’s “Mon réseau mobile” map (in French).
Calling a Geneva number: 022
A landline number in the Geneva region starts with 022. From a French phone, replace the zero with +41: 022 345 67 89 becomes +41 22 345 67 89, and a Swiss mobile such as 079 345 67 89 becomes +41 79 345 67 89, according to OFCOM’s E.164 numbering plan (in French). With Flytel, the call is included from France as from Switzerland. Special and premium-rate numbers are charged extra, and unlimited use is subject to the reasonable use limits of the terms and conditions (in French).
Save your contacts in international format, with the + and the country code: they then work on both sides of the border. The details: what is included when you call between France and Switzerland, and the +41 code and the codes of Swiss regions (in French).
The plans
| Plan | France | Switzerland, Europe, Andorra and overseas departments | Network | Per month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flytel Essentiel | 20 GB | 20 GB | Orange 4G | €14.99 |
| Flytel Confort | 100 GB | 50 GB | Orange 5G | €19.99 |
Frequently asked questions
An operator whose plan includes Switzerland both ways, like Flytel. With a Flytel mobile plan or phone contract, you call France from your office in Geneva, and a Swiss mobile from your home in Annemasse: both calls are included, as are texts. You also get 20 to 50 GB of mobile data in Switzerland, depending on the plan. In France, Flytel plans use the Orange network, and they have no commitment, from €14.99 a month.
118,067 cross-border commuters of foreign nationality at the end of June 2026, out of 414,262 in the whole of Switzerland: more than one in four. This is the provisional figure from OCSTAT, the Geneva cantonal statistics office.
No. On a Swiss mast, you stay within your Flytel plan: your calls and texts are included, and mobile data is taken from the allowance for Switzerland. At home, it is best to bring your phone back to the French network, to keep that allowance for your working days: turn on airplane mode for about ten seconds, then restart the phone and check that network selection is set to automatic. Choosing the network manually remains the last resort.
Replace the zero with +41: 022 345 67 89 is dialled +41 22 345 67 89. With Flytel, the call is included from France as from Switzerland; only special and premium-rate numbers are charged extra.
Yes. The train and the tram cross the border without stopping at customs, and your phone changes network during the journey. With Flytel, your calls stay included from start to finish; once your phone is on a Swiss network, mobile data is taken from the allowance for Switzerland.
The other areas
Working elsewhere in Switzerland? The plan is the same, and each area has its own page:
- cross-border commuters in Basel, from Saint-Louis and Mulhouse;
- cross-border commuters in Lausanne (in French), from Lake Geneva or the Jura;
- cross-border commuters in Nyon (in French), from Divonne and La Cure;
- cross-border commuters in Le Locle and La Chaux-de-Fonds (in French), from Morteau;
- cross-border commuters in Porrentruy and Delémont (in French), from Delle;
- cross-border commuters in Martigny and Monthey (in French), from Chamonix and Saint-Gingolph.
And for the overall picture: the Swiss cross-border mobile plan.
