Complaints Already Emerging on Swisscom Fixnet Unbundling
BERN, Switzerland -- Swisscom Fixnet debuted prices Tues. for a suite of new regulated products to be offered when the Revised Telecom Act takes effect April 1. Swisscom and rivals then have 3 months to work out differences, but the Swiss Competition Commission likely will be fielding complaints.
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Swisscom regulated products include re-billing of fixed network subscriber connections, unbundled access to the subscriber connection, co-location of competitors’ systems in Swisscom facilities, leased lines and conduits, said Swisscom documents. Inquiries couldn’t determine if Swisscom is a dominant provider of broadband Internet access, so access is not in the suite of products, Swisscom said. “Here we are really in a tough competition with the cable TV operators,” Ueli Dietiker, CEO of Swisscom Fixnet, told us. Cable has about 40% of the Swiss broadband market, comprising nearly 60% of Swiss households, Dietiker said.
Disputes are expected over Swisscom’s cost calculations, officials said. TDC Switzerland said the proposed price of $27.50 for the access line is unrealistic when the going rate is $21.80. The company, owner of the brands Sunrise and Yallo, also complained about Swisscom’s refusal to post a broadband offer. Implementation provisions in Switzerland’s Revised Telecom Act require Swisscom to offer competitors access services to the copper local loop based on Long Run Incremental Cost (LRIC) analysis, Swisscom documents said.
Swisscom doesn’t need to unbundle the last mile, just a portion of it, Patrice Haldemann, head of Wholesale Swisscom Fixnet told us: “Swisscom has nothing against this sub-loop unbundling of last [600-800]… meters provided the investments we've made in the VDSL (very high speed digital subscriber line) [to the] outdoor cabinets are not affected.” Investments in fiber networks are excluded from the regulation and are protected, Swisscom said. Swisscom, which installed 46,000 miles of fiber cable in 2006, will set up 5,800 street cabinets to route fiber into neighborhoods, it said.
Since Aug. 2006, Swisscom Fixnet has met with 8 competitors looking to roll out new products, Haldemann said. Universal service provisions require access to broadband connections starting in Jan. 2008. Satellite and wireless broadband may be used to reach 2% of Swiss territory fixed solutions can’t reach, Haldemann said. WiMAX will be trialed in 30 Swiss households starting in April, Swisscom documents said. Swisscom hopes to reach up to 50% of Swiss homes with VDSL by the end of 2007, documents said. Swisscom plans to have a VDSL Internet offer by this summer, but bit rate predictions aren’t certain, Haldemann said. Up to 30 Mbps service is expected for about 60% of the population by early 2009, he said.
The Swiss Federal Communications agency will circulate its opinion on implementing the law March 22.