Swisscom: Fiber optic launch in Upper Valais
In April, Swisscom will begin expanding its high-speed fiber-optic network in Brig. At the same time, planning for the expansion in Gampel-Bratsch has begun.
The activities are part of the planned Upper Valais construction cooperation, as Swisscom writes in a press release on Monday. As part of the cooperation, around 16,000 homes and businesses in the Upper Valais will be connected to the fiber optic network in a first step by 2015. Swisscom will begin with the expansion in Brig-Glis and will include the fiber optic connections in the cooperation as soon as it has been signed. The cooperation agreement is due to be signed in summer 2012. Around CHF 40 million will be invested in the first phase of the expansion of the new fiber optic network in Upper Valais. Swisscom will cover 50 to 60 percent of the necessary investment.
In Switzerland, a home or business is connected to the fiber optic network approximately every two minutes. By the end of 2011, Swisscom and its cooperation partners had connected around 364,000 homes and businesses with fiber to the basement. By the end of 2015, this figure should be around one million - which corresponds to a third of households. To date, around 10 percent of Swiss homes have been connected.
