As at the end of June 2020, Swisscom had connected more than 4.1 million, or over 77% of homes and businesses in Switzerland to its ultra-fast broadband service (speeds in excess of 80 Mbps), reported the Operator during the announcement of its half-year results for 2020.
Some 2.8 million or 53% of homes and businesses benefit from fast connections with bandwidths of more than 200 Mbps. Of these, more than 1.6 million have been upgraded to FTTH. Swisscom said it intends to make ultra-fast broadband available in every Swiss municipality by the end of 2021, even in remote locations.
Swisscom has also set itself ambitious expansion targets up to 2025, with the claim of offering all customers the best network in Switzerland everywhere and at all times. By the end of 2025, FTTH coverage is set to double compared to 2019, reaching to up to 60%. Swisscom also wants to make more convergent use of its network technologies.
The markets for broadband and TV are saturated and driven strongly by promotional offerings. The number of fixed broadband connections and TV lines declined slightly in the first half of the year. The downward trend in traditional fixed-line telephony is slowing due to the migration to IP, which is now complete: at the end of June 2020, Swisscom had 1.56 million fixed-line phone connections, equivalent to a decrease of 30,000 connections in the first half of 2020.
Urs Schaeppi, CEO, Swisscom
The great importance of a reliable and well-developed network was clearly demonstrated by the sometimes massive increase in use as a result of COVID-19. Our investments remain high, both in further expanding mobile telephony with 5G and in doubling fibre-optic coverage (FTTH) by the end of 2025.
