Swisscom submits 1,300 subsequent planning applications for 5G antennas
Published: Wednesday, Jul 31st 2024, 13:20
Volver a Live Feed
The Federal Supreme Court ruling, which requires retrospective planning applications for cell phone antennas that have been upgraded to 5G, has massive consequences. Swisscom alone will be submitting 1,300 retrospective planning applications, said CEO Christoph Aeschlimann in an interview with the news agency AWP on Wednesday on the occasion of the half-year results.
Together with the other mobile phone providers Sunrise and Salt, a total of 2,500 subsequent planning applications are likely to be submitted. This will result in an enormous flood of planning applications for the cantonal and municipal authorities, said Aeschlimann. This is because around 2,500 planning applications for mobile phone antennas are already pending.
This could lead to delays in the expansion of 5G. In this respect, the Federal Court's ruling is annoying, said the Swisscom CEO. "We are fighting to achieve the goal of 90 percent coverage with the fast 5G+ standard by 2025. But it hasn't gotten any easier with the Federal Court ruling." At the end of June, coverage was 83 percent.
Fiber optic expansion continues
In terms of fiber optic expansion in Switzerland, Swisscom should achieve coverage of 50% of households and businesses in the current quarter. The target is around 53 percent by the end of the year, said Aeschlimann. By the end of 2025, 57% coverage with ultra-fast data lines should be achieved. And by the end of 2030, 75 to 80 percent of households and businesses should have fiber optic lines.
"We are building a lot of connections. And we are also converting the blocked connections," said Aeschlimann. The number of blocked connections due to the fiber optic dispute with the Swiss Federal Competition Commission (Weko) has now fallen to under 400,000. This means that Swisscom converted around 50,000 connections in the second quarter.
The cartel watchdogs had imposed a fine of CHF 18.4 million on Swisscom because they considered the modified design of the fiber optic network to be anti-competitive. Swisscom had changed the network architecture to just one supply line from the telephone exchange to the street duct. However, the Competition Commission is insisting on an expansion with a supply line for every household.
Swisscom has lodged an appeal against this with the Federal Administrative Court and intends to take the case all the way to the Federal Supreme Court if necessary. Aeschlimann said that he expects the proceedings to take 5 to 8 years.
Fastweb enters the electricity business
Meanwhile, Swisscom is expanding in Italy. The Milan-based subsidiary Fastweb has entered the energy business. The sale of sustainably produced electricity to private customers has got off to a very good start, said Aeschlimann. The margins are interesting. The energy business has a certain potential, even if it will always remain a secondary business compared to the telecoms business.
Almost more interesting than the margins, however, is the fact that customers who are sold electricity in addition to telecommunications products are less willing to switch than other customers without bundled contracts.
In addition, the EUR 8 billion takeover of Vodafone Italia is on track. Swisscom has received the green light from the Competition Commission. The deal is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2025.
Stable business
In the first half of the year, Swisscom maintained its course in its actual business. While revenue remained stable at CHF 5.45 billion, operating profit (EBITDA) fell by 1.0% to CHF 2.28 billion. Net profit also fell by 1.4 percent to CHF 836 million. Switzerland's largest telecommunications group is sticking to its targets for the full year 2024.
©Keystone/SDA
Spanish 
English 
German 
French 
Arabic