More Products:
Switzerland - Market Intelligence Report
|
Market Intelligence Reports provide an invaluable mix of vital market data and background information, including telecoms regulation. Although Switzerland is not a member of the European Union (EU) and is therefore not subject to EU legislation relating to telecommunications, liberalisation of the Swiss telecommunications market has moved in parallel with deregulation in the EU. EU directives and legislation have served as points of reference for the development of the Swiss regulatory regime. Legislation passed in 1997 provided for the full liberalisation of the Swiss telecommunications market from January 1, 1998, but incumbent operator Swisscom - while facing significant competition in the mobile market (from TDC and Orange) - has been reluctant to lessen its grip on the local loop. During 2000, Swisscom’s dominant position in the local loop was challenged by TDC. However, despite support from regulator ComCom the challenge was ultimately denied by the Federal Court. In February 2002, ComCom was forced to quash another challenge when it rejected an application from TDC Switzerland for the unbundling of the local loop. ComCom said that unbundling was not explicitly written into the Telecommunications Reform Act of 1997 (LTC) and that it was therefore a matter of interpretation as to whether unbundling should be considered a case of interconnection under the LTC. As a result, ComCom was forced to make its decision based on a Federal Court decision in October 2001. In that case, in which Commcare had applied for interconnection, the Federal Court adopted a restrictive form on the interpretation of the term "interconnection". Given ComCom's inability to make progress in obliging Swisscom to unbundle its local loop, the regulator had to call on the Federal Council to make changes at decree level - an action which it took in February 2003. In February 2002, ComCom announced that, after concerns were raised relating to the protection of the environment and the countrywide and technological developments, it had decided to allow the country's four third-generation (3G) licensees to share radio infrastructure. In a statement, ComCom said that, on the basis of clarifications from the Federal Office for Communications (OFCOM), it had come to the conclusion that the 3G licences were sufficiently flexible to allow extensive common use of the radio infrastructure and that competition in the area of infrastructure would not be adversely affected. The likelihood of greater competition in the Swiss mobile market, however, was seriously reduced in July 2002, when Telefónica SA decided to freeze the activities of its Swiss mobile telephone business. Telefónica SA had been a recipient of a licence to offer 3G services in Switzerland, along with three incumbent GSM operators. In order to bring Swiss telecommunications legislation in line with new European Union legislation, a revision to the Telecommunications Act was drafted, debated and amended during late-2002/early-2003. The amendments to the Telecommunications Act were submitted to the Swiss parliament in November 2003. The modifications of the law were adopted by Parliament on March 24, 2006. The amendments were put of out for further consultation in June 2006, until the end of August 2006. It is expected that the new law will not enter force until the first quarter of 2007. The privatisation of Swisscom is now on-hold indefinitely following the rejection, in May and June 2006 respectively, by both houses of parliament of amendments to the Telecommunications Enterprise Act, which would have enabled the government to sell its remaining 62.45% (at the time, but 58.41% at the time of writing) stake.
|
Order the 
Download the