Berne, 18 January 2012, 13:15
Fibre-optic expansion in Zurich moves aheadSwisscom and ewz (Zurich city power utility) have reached agreement on further joint expansion of the city's fibre-optic network after renegotiation of the main elements of the cooperation agreement in the past few months. Individual clauses were required to be deleted or amended following the negative decision of the Competition Commission (ComCo) concerning fibre-optic cooperation. Zurich municipal council and the electorate will vote in the coming months on the next steps.
The goodwill of both contracting parties allowed
substantial amendments to be made to the agreement within a
very short space of time. Investment protection as well as
Layer 1 exclusivity have been deleted in full. Both ewz and
Swisscom will now offer passive, unlit fibre-optic cable
(Layer1) and by so doing comply with one of ComCo's key
requirements. The mechanism for compensation payments was
also clarified. Swisscom is pleased that agreement has been
reached as it means that expansion can now be driven
forward quickly and with an acceptable level of business
risk. Swisscom is investing around CHF 300 million in
fibre-optic expansion in the city of Zurich and will
therefore bear around 60 percent of the basic connection
costs for the city. Zurich city council has applied to the
municipal council for a property loan for the part of the
city that will be connected to the fibre-optic network. The
final decision rests with the electorate of the city of
Zurich. Swisscom is responsible for fibre-optic expansion
covering roughly a quarter of Zurich's residential and
business property. This work will be completed by summer
2012 so that all customers in these areas will be able to
use the new fibre-optic services.
Swisscom agreed similar contract amendments in Basel, Berne
and Lucerne. The amendments were necessary because the
final report of the ComCo Secretariat raised questions over
key elements of the partnership model. Negotiations with
other cooperation partners are still ongoing.
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