Swisscom discontinues Connect 1811 switching service
Swisscom will stop routing calls to cell phones at the end of the year. The reason is the revised Telecommunications Services Ordinance, which takes effect on January 1, 2010.
Due to the new regulatory framework, Swisscom has decided to discontinue the Connect 1811 switching service as of December 28, 2009. This was announced by the company on Wednesday. This service made it possible to transfer calls to a Swisscom cell phone. The Telecommunications Services Ordinance, which comes into force on January 1, 2010, obliges Swisscom to pass on customer data to third-party providers if the service is continued. This would affect the cell phone data of customers who are not listed in the public telephone directory and who have not consented to their data being passed on. "However, Swisscom will continue to protect the privacy of its customers and is therefore discontinuing the Connect 1811 exchange service," the company writes in the press release. Since the launch of Connect 1811 in January 2009, Swisscom has been committed to a common industry solution that protects customer privacy and at the same time enables all providers to offer a comparable switching service. "Instead of an industry solution, an ordinance is now coming into force that takes insufficient account of these proposals. With Connect 1811, it was possible to call Swisscom private customers' cell phone numbers, even if the number is not listed in the public telephone directory. The number was not disclosed and privacy was protected at all times."
