Swisscom is a major telecommunications provider in Switzerland.[4] Its headquarters are located in Worblaufen near Bern.[5] The Swiss government owns 51% of Swisscom.[6] According to its own published data, Swisscom holds a market share of 56% for mobile, 50% for broadband and 37% for TV telecommunication in Switzerland.[7] Its Italian subsidiary, Fastweb, is attributed 16% of private clients and 29% of the corporate clients share of Italian broadband and is also active in the mobile market.[8]
The Swiss telegraph network was first set up in 1852, followed by telephones in 1877. The two networks were combined with the postal service in 1920 to form Postal Telegraph and Telephone (PTT). The Swiss telecommunications market was deregulated in 1997. Telecom PTT was spun off and rebranded Swisscom ahead of a partial privatisation in 1997. The present-day Swisscom owns the protected brand NATEL, which is used only in Switzerland.[9]
In 2001, 25% of Swisscom Mobile was sold to Vodafone. In 2007, Swisscom acquired a majority stake in Italy's second-biggest telecom company Fastweb.
History
Pioneers (1852–1911)
Switzerland's entry into the telecommunications era came in 1851, with the passage of legislation giving the Swiss government control over the development of a telegraph network throughout the country. The government's initial plans called for the creation of three primary telegraph lines, as well as a number of secondary networks. In order to lay the infrastructural groundwork for the system, the government established the Atelier Fédéral de Construction des Télégraphes (Federal Workshop for the Construction of Telegraphs).
In July 1852, the first leg of the country's telegraph system — between St. Gallen and Zürich — was operational. By the end of that year, most of the country's main cities had been connected to the telegraph system. In 1855, the network was extended with the first underwater cable, connecting Winkel-Stansstad and Bauen-Flüelen. Night service was also launched that year, starting in Basel, St. Gallen and Bellinzona.
Telegraph traffic continued to rise in the following decade, but was nevertheless overtaken by the telephone.
Switzerland's entry into the telephone age came in 1877, when the first experimental telephone lines
Business areas
Swisscom consists of the customer segments Residential Customers, Business Customers & Wholesale and IT, Network & Infrastructure. The Group also comprises the Digital Business division and Group companies such as Fastweb in Italy.[50] In addition, there are other Group companies in the individual business lines.[51]
Swisscom (Switzerland) Ltd
As of 1 January 2008, all operational activities of Swisscom Ltd in Switzerland were outsourced to Swisscom (Switzerland) Ltd. While Swisscom Ltd has since operated purely as a holding company, the activities of its wholly owned subsidiary Swisscom (Switzerland) Ltd encompass the former Fixnet, Mobile and Solutions business units, whose activities have been restructured into Residential Customers and Business Customers according to customer segment. In addition, the IT platforms and the fixed-network and mobile communications infrastructure have been merged into the IT, Network & Infrastructure division.[52]
Residential customers
Brands
In Switzerland, Swisscom offers products and services from its core business under the main Swisscom brand. Swisscom also sells lower-cost products and services under the Wingo flanker brand as well as third-party MVNOs such as Coop Mobile, M-Budget Mobile (in cooperation with Coop and Migros respectively) and Lycamobile. Other brands, such as cablex and localsearch, are in Swisscom's portfolio and characterise the company's other areas of business. Abroad, Swisscom's presence is primarily in Italy through the Fastweb brand.[51]
Business figures
The Group's financials for 2022 are as follows:[1] Number of customers and market share
Governance
Locations
Swisscom is headquartered in Worblaufen. In addition, Swisscom owns 90 other office buildings in which around 18,000 Swisscom employees and partners throughout Switzerland work. Swisscom also operates 120 shops across Switzerland.[57]
Innovation
Swisscom StartUp Challenge
The Swisscom StartUp Challenge provides selected tech startups the opportunity to join a week-long business acceleration program in Silicon Valley. The Challenge is organized in collaboration with VentureLab.[58]
Swisscom Ventures
Through its venture capital arm, Swisscom promotes start-ups developing solutions in the field of information, communication and entertainment technology.[59]
Competition
In the Swiss Telecommunication market, the main competitors are Sunrise and Salt. In Italy, Swisscom's main competitors are Telecom Italia (TIM), Vodafone Italy and Wind Tre.[60]
Connect network test
In 2021, Swisscom was rated the Swiss mobile communications provider with the best network by the trade journal "Connect", closely followed by Sunrise.[61]
In 2023, Swisscom was again rated the Swiss mobile communications provider with the best network by the trade journal "Connect".[62]
Criticism
In a survey in 2016,[64] conducted by the Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger, some consumers criticized Swisscom's international roaming rates and its subscription rates for mobile phones. The main concern of the consumers in the survey was that they found the rates to be too high.
External links
References
- Annual Report 2023 Swisscom, retrieved 24 March 2024^
- Annual Report 2023 - Balance Sheet Swisscom, retrieved 24 March 2024^
- PeeringDB^