Plan for mobile communications even during blackouts fails with telecoms companies
Published: Friday, Feb 16th 2024, 09:40
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The Swiss mobile phone networks should continue to function even after a major power outage. The federal government wants to oblige telecommunications companies to install thousands of batteries and diesel generators at an estimated cost of CHF 145 million per year. The bill was completely rejected by the industry during the consultation process.
According to the consultation that ends on Friday, the Federal Council wants to require Swisscom, Sunrise and Salt to maintain certain telecommunications services for up to 72 hours without interruption or 14 days in the event of cyclical interruptions in the power supply. By way of comparison: today, certain mobile communications sites can only continue to operate for up to one hour without electricity.
The Confederation argues that an outage of the mobile network would cause enormous damage, estimated at over CHF 16 billion: Emergency calls could fail, more deaths and injuries as well as security problems would result, and some companies would no longer be able to work properly.
The planned amendment to the Ordinance on Telecommunications Services (TSO) would mean that the three mobile telephony providers would have to install batteries or diesel generators at their total of over 9,000 antenna sites or purchase mobile devices for emergencies. The federal government estimates that this would cost telecoms providers a total of CHF 145 million per year.
Higher cell phone bill
The federal government is therefore assuming price increases for mobile phone users of around one franc and 50 centimes per subscription and month. The bill also provides for telecom companies to be allowed to restrict the transmission of video services via the Internet in an emergency to relieve the networks.
The telecoms industry waves it off. The proposals "cannot be implemented in practice", as the Swiss Telecommunications Association (Asut) wrote. It would not be possible for the telecoms industry to set up its own power supply. It is also a "luxury solution". In an emergency, the federal government not only wants to enable text messages or short telephone calls, but also access to the Internet.
Asut criticized the fact that some of the proposed measures lacked a legal basis. The association proposed a round table to tackle the hardening of critical infrastructures with all parties involved.
Swisscom: "Too expensive and not sustainable"
The largest network operator considered the measures demanded by the Federal Council to be "oversized and technically only partially feasible, too expensive and also not sustainable due to the use of diesel generators". According to a press release, Swisscom is currently considering improving the power autonomy of its systems by up to four hours based on the latest battery technology.
The rest of the economy echoed similar sentiments. The umbrella organization Economiesuisse stated that companies were interested in a secure supply of telecom services, but that energy self-sufficiency in an emergency could not be the responsibility of the demand side. It called for a "marching halt". So far, there has been insufficient dialog between the relevant parties - the federal government, the cantons, the energy industry and the telecoms sector.
The Federal Council received fundamental support from the cantons. From the point of view of crisis management and civil protection, the efforts to strengthen telecommunications services were welcomed. Certain cantons called for some additions. For example, the population's access to the major Swiss news portals via mobile communications must be guaranteed even in the event of a blackout.
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