Swisscom CEO rejects accusation of preferential treatment in 5G auction
Shortly before the frequency auction for the new 5G mobile phone generation, Swisscom takes a swipe at its competitors Sunrise and Salt. Swisscom CEO Urs Schaeppi is once again defending himself against accusations of being given an advantage in the allocation of 5G frequencies.
"The accusations of the competition are false and far-fetched," he said in an interview with the Keystone-SDA news agency on Wednesday on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Rather, in his view, Swisscom is at a disadvantage. In relation to the number of customers, the Swiss telecom group can only bid for fewer frequencies for the next mobile communications generation 5G than its competitors, Schaeppi said in Davos.
This is because the regulator has defined the award criteria in such a way that Swisscom cannot bid for frequencies in line with its market share of around 60 percent. The frequency per customer is what matters, Schaeppi said.
This is because customers all use cell phones about the same amount. Swisscom's networks would then be much more heavily loaded, which would be a competitive disadvantage, Schaeppi repeated arguments already familiar to Switzerland's largest telecommunications group.
Swisscom now wants to wait for the spectrum auction and, if necessary, comment on it later. However, 5G networks must now be built urgently. Delaying this would not be good for Switzerland.
Sunrise, on the other hand, had criticized that the current auction rules would lead to a cementing of Swisscom's market power and a restriction of competition. The maximum limit of frequency blocks that a single bidder would be allowed to acquire was too high.
This would allow Swisscom to secure around half of all the frequencies that are important for the upcoming next mobile communications generation 5G. That is why Sunrise is calling for a restriction on the maximum limit that a group can bid for. Salt also finds the bidding restrictions far too loose.
If the Federal Communications Commission Comcom sticks to the planned design of the frequency auction, Sunrise is threatening to take legal action against the outcome of the auction before the Federal Administrative Court. This would significantly delay the introduction of the new 5G technology.
The spectrum auction is scheduled to begin shortly. Exactly when is unknown. According to the company spokesperson, Swisscom is not allowed to provide any information on this before and during the award procedure. (SDA)
