Swiss mountain webcams to go dark when 3G switched off

The Gibloux Tower in canton Fribourg Keystone / Adrien Perritaz

Several webcams installed at Swiss mountain resorts, such as Chasseral, Mont Gibloux, and Mont Pèlerin, will be deactivated next year when the 3G network is switched off.

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Swiss telecoms operator Swisscom says the cost of upgrading the webcams on its transmitters is too costly, but the measure is meeting with some opposition.

Such webcams are very popular by helping people to escape the fog and bad weather that can hang to mountain plateaus.

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For Elias Vogt, the owner of the Hôtel Restaurant Chasseral, the webcam is much more than a gadget. “It’s very important for people who want to know if the weather is good or not in Chasseral. “Is there enough snow or not? It’s an important public service,” he told Swiss public broadcaster RTS.

The camera at the Mont Pèlerin transmitter will also be deactivated by Swisscom. So why shut down webcams that are so popular, especially with tourists?

“Because these Roundshot cameras operate via 3G, a network that has become obsolete, is over 20-years-old and will be shut down at the beginning of next year,” said Swisscom spokesperson Alicia Richon. Updating the cameras would be too expensive, she added.

The Roundshot camera is the ‘Rolls Royce’ of webcams. It would need to be equipped with a 4G or 5G module to continue transmitting images, which would cost some CHF2,000 to CHF3,000 per camera.

Swisscom has been contacted by partners willing to invest to save the webcams on certain transmitters.

“For us, there is no alternative. We need a 360-degree camera at Chasseral. If we can’t find a solution with the transmitter, we’ll install a camera on our hotel,” said Vogt.

Knowing where the weather is good might be a little more difficult next year because of the 3G shutdown.

Adapted from French by DeepL/mga

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