Billions in investment for fibre-optic network in rural Swiss regions

The Federal Council is concerned about a potential "digital divide" in sparsely populated regions of Switzerland. Keystone / Carlo Reguzzi

The Swiss government's plans to expand ultra-fast internet access to remote regions is projected to cost between CHF3.7 billion ($4 billion) to CHF6 billion.

The goal is to ensure a minimum connection speed of one gigabit per second in remote regions across the country to ensure they are not disadvantaged by slow internet speeds.

According to Swisscom and Sunrise, the major telecoms operators in the country, approximately 80% of households and businesses already have access to ultra-fast internet. However, a Federal Council’s report highlights that private providers will only extend their high-speed networks in regions where it is financially viable. To address this challenge, the government intends to equip 70% to 80% of homes with fibre-optics by 2030.

+ Fibre-optic network: court setback for Swisscom

The governing Federal Council is concerned about a potential “digital divide” in sparsely populated regions and aims to mitigate this. However, the report from the German WIK institute, commissioned by the Swiss government, indicates that these investments are unlikely to yield profitability in 75% of cases. Therefore, it is recommended that the network expansion be subsidised with CHF3.8 billion.

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The Swiss plan to connect remote regions to high-speed internet network has been a topic for several years. In 2012, the president of the Federal Communications Commission (ComCom) at the time, Marc Furrer said, “For those zones, there are two questions; firstly, is there a cheaper technology – cable or mobile that can provide more bandwidth – and then who pays for it? That’s a political question that is connected to the universal service obligation”.