TelecomTV TelecomTV
  • News
  • Videos
  • Channels
  • Events
  • Directory
  • Smart Studio
  • Surveys
  • Debates
  • Perspectives
  • DSP Leaders World Forum
  • DSP Leaders
  • Great Telco Debate
    • |
    • Follow
    • |
    • Subscribe
  • |
  • More
  • Webcasts
  • Surveys
  • Debates
  • Perspectives
  • Great Telco Debate
  • |
  • Follow TelecomTV
  • |
    • Subscribe
    • |
  • About
  • Privacy
  • Help
  • Contact
  • Follow TelecomTV
  • About
  • Privacy
  • Help
  • Contact
  • Sign In Register Subscribe
    • Subscribe
    • Sign In
    • Register
  • Search

Tracker

TelecomTV TRACKER

Sourced by TelecomTV's TRACKER platform
from Swisscom Press Releases

Tracker

No to new regulations means yes to investment

Via Swisscom Press Releases

Dec 11, 2015

Berne, 11 December 2015

The Swiss ICT market is characterised by rapid connections nationwide, dynamic competition, a wide range of services and moderate prices. In the proposal adopted today on the partial revision of the Telecommunications Act, the Federal Council acknowledges the successful expansion of the infrastructure and consequently sees no urgent need for action with regard to network access regulation. Swisscom welcomes this position as extremely good broadband provision, the dynamic expansion of ICT infrastructure and the extensive range of new services support the retention of the applicable regulatory regime.

Swisscom will assess the Federal Council's proposal on the partial revision of the Telecommunications Act over the coming days and will explain in detail our opinion on the matter by the end of March 2016. Today, however, it is clear that Switzerland has one of the most modern ICT infrastructures in the world thanks to forward-looking legislation that promotes investment. The basis for Switzerland's outstanding coverage with high bandwidths and a high level of investment in comparison with other countries is the intensive competition between various network operators including mobile providers, cable network companies and electrical utilities.

It is not just customers who benefit from competition between the networks in the form of increasingly high-performance networks; providers that do not have their own networks also reap the rewards. They can hire network services – at market rates – from electrical utilities or Swisscom, thus enabling them to provide their customers with attractive ICT services. Access to the networks is also in the interests of the network providers as it allows them to amortise their high investment costs.

Competition is working – pre-emptive regulation curbs investment

Cable network providers and electricity companies have invested in the expansion of existing infrastructure and the set-up of new infrastructure over recent years. Swisscom alone is investing CHF 1.75 billion in Switzerland this year. There is no end in sight to the expansion owing to the continued strong growth in demand for fast data connections. “The main objective of regulation must be to permanently create incentives for high levels of investment,” remarked Urs Schaeppi, CEO of Swisscom. “It would be a mistake to change the prevailing network access regime and effectively pre-emptively regulate intact competition, thus jeopardising investment. New networks will only be set up and expanded if there is the prospect of sufficient compensation for high investment risks.”

Swisscom disapproves of the proposal to allow the Communications Commission (ComCom) to intervene ex officio. The current primacy of negotiation has proven effective, as is shown by the dynamic market.

Unnecessary regulation of roaming charges and network neutrality

The regulation of roaming charges is also unnecessary. These have been falling for years and there is growing competition from alternative services, such as the iO and WhatsApp communications apps. With respect to roaming charges alone, price erosion at Swisscom in 2015 stood at over CHF 100 million. Since 13 April 2015, Swisscom has also been offering unrestricted use of the roaming service abroad in the EU, i.e. unlimited calls and SMS, and 1 GB of data transmission are included in all infinity plus subscriptions.

There is also no need for the statutory regulation of network neutrality. There have been no cases in Switzerland to date where services or offerings have been blocked. Swisscom, Sunrise, Salt Mobile SA, UPC and the Suissedigital association also signed a code of conduct on network neutrality in November 2014. The companies ensure an open Internet and the competition between infrastructures provides a guarantee of network neutrality. As of September 2015, an ombudsman’s office has mediated in disputes between customers and Internet service providers in the event of breaches of the code. In contrast to legal provisions, such industry solutions can be implemented quickly and easily, can be flexibly adapted to new requirements and are consistent with proven Swiss principles.

The individual adjustments to the technical developments and with regard to the protection of consumers and minors are nevertheless worthy of consideration. However, they do not require the Telecommunications Act to be revised in any way. Swisscom shares the opinion that unwanted calls from telemarketers must be prevented and has already joined together with the rest of the telecoms sector in entering into discussions with consumer protection organisations, authorities and competitors to find a customer-friendly solution that meets both technical and legal requirements. Swisscom participated in the round table discussions organised by Allianz der Konsumentenschutzorganisationen (“The Alliance of Customer Protection Organisations”) in September 2015 and will continue to support the working groups.

Swisscom holds the same opinion as the Federal Council that today's market provides the most varied and attractive range of offerings possible, as high-speed Internet access is available on the Swiss market without having to take a bundled telephony, Internet and TV package. We therefore believe that bundled services do not need to be regulated.

Related Topics
  • Access Evolution,
  • Announcement,
  • Broadband,
  • Device Software & Apps,
  • Digital Platforms & Services,
  • Europe,
  • News,
  • Policy & Regulation,
  • Swisscom,
  • Tracker

More Like This

Edge

Akraino Release 4 enables Kubernetes across multiple edges, integrates across O-RAN, Magma, and more

Feb 26, 2021

5G

MyDIGITAL is critical to advance Malaysia and the key is in its execution

Feb 26, 2021

5G

Swisscom selects TEOCO for 5G network planning

Feb 25, 2021

Access Evolution

ADVA announces record Q4 2020 results and reports full year 2020 figures

Feb 25, 2021

Access Evolution

Telefónica’s net income grows 38.5% in 2020 to reaches €1.582 billion

Feb 25, 2021

This content extract was originally sourced from an external website (Swisscom Press Releases) and is the copyright of the external website owner. TelecomTV is not responsible for the content of external websites. Legal Notices

Email Newsletters

Stay up to date with the latest industry developments: sign up to receive TelecomTV's top news and videos plus exclusive subscriber-only content direct to your inbox – including our daily news briefing and weekly wrap.

Subscribe

Top Picks

Highlights of our content from across TelecomTV today

On-demand Workshop: How to build your cloud native 5G core platform

16:48

The case for mmWave in 5G networks

25:55

The Private Mobility Opportunity for Enterprises

12:04

VMware learnings from DISH 5G rollout

  • TelecomTV
  • Decisive Media

TelecomTV is produced by the team at Decisive Media

Menu
  • News
  • Videos
  • Channels
  • Directory
  • Smart Studio
 
  • Surveys
  • Debates
  • Perspectives
  • Events
  • About Us
Our Brands
  • TelecomTV Tracker
  • TelecomTV Perspectives
  • DSP Leaders
  • DSP Leaders World Forum
  • The Great Telco Debate
Get In Touch
[email protected]
+44 (0) 207 448 1070

Request a Media Pack

Follow
  • © Decisive Media Limited 2021. All rights reserved. All brands and products are the trademarks of their respective holder(s).
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Legal Notices