Swisscom has achieved milestones during 2019 under the guidance of CTO / CIO Christoph Aeschlimann.
Swisscom CTO and CIO Christoph Aeschlimann has set out its network expansion strategy until the end of 2025. The company aims to double its fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) coverage and upgrade the existing network.
Swisscom said capital expenditure (Capex) touched CHF 2,438 million (+1.4 percent) in 2019, accounting for 21.3 percent of group revenue.
Swisscom invested CHF 1,770 million (+7.6 percent) in Switzerland alone. This included CHF 196 million for buying 5G spectrum in Switzerland during the auction in the first quarter.
Swisscom connected around 3.9 million or 7.4 percent of homes and businesses to its ultra-fast broadband service (speeds in excess of 80 Mbps) at the end of 2019. Some 2.5 million or 47 percent of homes and offices benefit from fast connections with bandwidths of more than 200 Mbps.
Swisscom aims to offer ultra-fast broadband in every Swiss municipality by the end of 2021.
Swisscom said 1.5 million customers have upgraded to FTTH. FTTH coverage of Swisscom is set to double by the end of 2025 as compared to 2019.
Swisscom grabbed first place in 2018 and 2019 for all relevant network tests, including the CHIP test, Ookla’s speed test and – for the tenth time – the mobile network test carried out by connect.
Swisscom became in April the first provider in Europe to present a commercially available 5G smartphone.
As at the end of 2019, the nationwide coverage of Swisscom’s 4G / LTE network was 99 percent. More than 97 percent of the Swiss population surf at speeds of up to 300 Mbps, more than 72 percent at speeds of up to 500 Mbps, and some 27 percent at speeds of up to 700 Mbps.
Swisscom revenue
Swisscom Group revenue fell 2.2 percent to CHF 11,453 million. Swisscom generated revenue of CHF 8,563 million (–2.8 percent) in Switzerland due to competitive and price pressure in various segments. EBITDA totalled CHF 4,358 million, up 3.4 percent on the previous year.
Swisscom expects revenue of around CHF 11.1 billion, EBITDA of around CHF 4.3 billion and capital expenditure of around CHF 2.3 billion in 2020.
Swisscom aims to cut its cost base by CHF 100 million in 2020. Swisscom is also planning cost reductions of CHF 100 million in both 2021 and 2022. The company will realise savings mainly through simplified workflows, the use of more cost-effective systems and a reduction in the number of jobs offered.
