Telecom network operator Swisscom is set to slash its Capex (capital expenditure) in 2016 to $2.3 billion from an investment of $2.4 billion in 2015.
Swisscom’s investment towards capital expenditure in Switzerland, its home market, will be reduced to over CHF 1.7 billion in 2016.
Swisscom CEO Urs Schaeppi said. “The expansion of the national infrastructure and new offerings according to the needs of our customers will continue to call for high capital expenditure.”
Swisscom is also reducing its 2015 cost base by over CHF 300 million by 2020. The telecom operator will focus on headcount reductions, process optimization, and migration to All-IP technology to cut costs.
The company’s decision for job cuts follows 0.2 percent drop in revenue to CHF 11,703 billion and 20.2 percent dip in net income to CHF 1,706 million in 2015.
The European mobile operator will reduce the number of call center sites from 14 to 8 in 2016, as part of the cost optimization strategies.
The company’s employees at the sites in Zurich, Berne, Basel, Geneva, Lucerne and Rapperswil will be concentrated at the remaining eight sites in Lausanne, Neuenburg, Biel, Olten, Sion, St. Gallen, Chur and Bellinzona. Headcount at the Olten, St. Gallen and Biel sites will increase by more than 50 percent in some cases.
Swisscom will create up to 500 jobs in growth areas in Switzerland in the current year. It will reduce the workforce in other areas by several hundred posts, mainly in supporting units. Overall, the headcount in Switzerland in 2016 will be slightly lower than in 2015.
The technology company has made investment in network expansion in Switzerland. Its capital expenditure fell by CHF 27 million or 1.1 percent to CHF 2,409 million in 2015. In Switzerland, Capex rose by CHF 71 million or 4.1 percent to CHF 1,822 million due to the expansion of broadband networks.
In 2015, Swisscom connected around 2.9 million homes and businesses to its ultra-fast broadband service with speeds in excess of 50 Mbps. Of this number, around 2.0 million lines were equipped with the latest fiber-optic technology.
98 percent of all Swisscom customers can benefit from 4G LTE network. 73 percent of mobile data traffic at Swisscom is already transmitted on the 4G LTE network. In 2015, the volume of mobile data of Swisscom transmitted doubled.
Swisscom will discontinue the 2G network in Switzerland in 2020, in order to free up frequencies for the new 5G technology.
By launching Advanced Calling, Swisscom improved voice quality and coverage indoors in 2015.
Baburajan K
[email protected]
