A defective component caused the Swisscom landline network to crash last Friday, affecting most of the country, Switzerland’s main telecoms operator has revealed.
This content was published on
2 minutes
Keystone-SDA/sb
But a Swisscom official stressed to the Keystone-SDA news agency that the crash of its landline network, which affected its coverage across most cantons, had only had a small impact on the Swiss air force, which is providing security for the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos this week.
Swisscom said the problem with its landline network occurred on Friday morning between 10am and 11:22am on January 17. It was able to overcome the technical issue by relaunching the network. Out of 26 cantons, only Geneva, Graubünden and part of Vaud were spared.
The operator said on Monday that technical procedures have been put into place to prevent similar outages in the future, as well as an in-depth analysis of the problem.
Emergency numbers were affected. On Friday, Swisscom as well as the police and other emergency services, recommended to users via Twitter to use the mobile network to contact them.
The technical fault also hit the Swiss air force. According to the SonntagsZeitung newspaper, the landlines at the army’s operations centre in Dübendorf near Zurich – from which operations are coordinated and dangers are assessed – were affected.
Links were guaranteed
On Monday, the army clarified the extent of the problem. Army spokesman Daniel Reist said the Dübendorf centre had been contactable via the landline, but officials could not make out-going calls.
He added that the army uses four communication systems. “With three [functioning] independent communication channels, all our links to all our partners were guaranteed all the time,” said Reist.
World leaders, including US President Donald Trump, chief executives, thinkers and celebrities are gathering in the Swiss mountain town of Davos for the WEF meeting, which runs from January 21-24.
Switzerland is responsible for ground and air security during the annual meeting. The defence ministry may deploy up to 5,000 of its staff, costing around CHF32 million ($33 million), which comes from the regular defence budget. Much of the support is provided via Swiss soldiers or pilots doing their regular military service training.
More
More
Ten questions about the World Economic Forum
This content was published on
How much does Switzerland spend on WEF security? How much does it cost to be a WEF partner or member? We answer all your questions.
Davos 2020: What to watch for at this year’s World Economic Forum
This content was published on
World leaders, chief executives, thinkers and celebrities are gathering in the Swiss mountain town of Davos for the World Economic Forum.
Living longer: What do you think about the longevity trend?
The longevity market is booming thanks in part to advances in the science of ageing. What do you think of the idea of significantly extending human lifespan?
More Swiss soldiers involved in accidents during training in Austria
This content was published on
The Swiss army has reported various accidents involving Swiss soldiers during the exercise “TRIAS 25” in Austria. Some have led to hospitalisations.
Swiss court rules vegan meat substitutes can’t use animal names
This content was published on
Vegan meat substitutes may not bear animal names such as “planted.chicken” according to a ruling by the Swiss Federal Supreme Court.
Swiss cantons spared duty to create new traveller transit sites
This content was published on
Swiss cantons will no longer be formally obliged by the government to create new transit sites for the travelling community.
Swiss politicians bemoan limited access to EU treaty details
This content was published on
Protests that only a few Swiss parliamentarians will be able to read the contents of a new agreement negotiated with the EU.
This content was published on
For the first time, most Swiss residents favour withdrawing their pension pot as a lump-sum over regular annuity payments.
This content was published on
The cost of buying a home in Switzerland rose by 4.1% year-on-year in the last quarter and by 0.7% compared to the previous three months.
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
Read more
More
Davos 2020: What to watch for at this year’s World Economic Forum
This content was published on
World leaders, chief executives, thinkers and celebrities are gathering in the Swiss mountain town of Davos for the World Economic Forum.
How Zurich Airport prepares for Trump visit to Davos
This content was published on
Newspaper: American secret service agents granted access to Zurich Airport’s control tower as they prepare for US President Trump’s visit to WEF.
This content was published on
An inspection of F/A-18 fighter jets has been completed and the air force is ready to defend Swiss air space during next week's WEF meeting.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.