Swisscom announced it is expecting to keep its capital expenditure (Capex) of around CHF 2.3 billion for 2019 in line with the aggressive 5G investment plan.

The costs of acquiring mobile spectrum at auction are not included in the capital expenditure forecast, Swisscom said.

Swisscom’s capital spending, accounting for a fifth of revenue or 20.5 percent, reached CHF 2.404 billion (+1.1 percent) in 2018. Swisscom made an investment of CHF 1.645 billion (–2 percent) last year in Switzerland alone.

Swisscom’s 5G test networks are in operation in Burgdorf, Lausanne, Geneva, Zurich, Berne, Davos and Lucerne. This makes Swisscom one of the first providers worldwide to have fully standardised 5G networks. 5G test networks will be available in around 60 selected cities and municipalities by the end of 2019.

The nationwide coverage of Swisscom’s LTE network reached 99 percent at the end of 2018. 95 percent of the Swiss population can surf at speeds of up to 300 Mbps, over 72 percent at speeds of up to 500 Mbps, and some 27 percent at speeds of 700 Mbps.

Swisscom recently took first place in the Ookla speed test and connect network test for mobile services.

Swisscom has connected around 4.2 million homes and businesses to its 50 Mbps broadband speeds. 2.9 million homes and offices benefit from more than 100 Mbps speed. Swisscom aims to make 50 Mbps broadband speed available in every Swiss municipality by the end of 2021.

Swisscom said the number of fixed-line broadband connections rose by 19,000 or 0.9 percent to 2.03 million, while TV connections increased by 52,000 or 3.5 percent to 1.52 million in Q4 2018.

Swisscom said its revenue reached CHF 11,714 million (+0.4 percent). Swisscom generated revenue of CHF 8,817 million (–2.7 percent) in Switzerland due to price pressure in various segments and fixed-line telephony. Fastweb reported revenue growth of EUR 160 million (+8.2 percent).

Fastweb increased revenue 8.2 percent to EUR 2,104 million in 2018. EBITDA totalled EUR 674 million.

Swisscom aims to continue to reduce its cost base after 2018, by some CHF 100 million annually in 2019 and 2020.

Swisscom exceeded its target of cutting its cost base in Switzerland by CHF 100 million each year until 2020.

The company aims to save mainly by simplifying work processes, using priced systems and reducing the number of vacancies in divisions with declining business.

Baburajan K