The Federal Council updated the Universal Service Obligation to mandate 10Mbps for all.
Background: Switzerland was the first country in the world to include broadband in the scope of the Universal Service Obligation (USO) for telecoms. In 2006, the Federal Council introduced the obligation on Swisscom to provide at least 1Mbps broadband for all. This was reviewed several times, and raised to 2Mbps in 2015 and to 3Mbps in 2018.
A significant rise in speed: This week, the Federal Council adopted a motion tabled by parliament, and ruled the most significant increase in the minimum broadband speed since the introduction of the obligation. As of 2020, Swisscom will have to provide broadband speeds of at least 10Mbps download, as part of the USO. The upload speed will also rise accordingly, from 300Kbps to 1Mbps. The motion was initially proposed in 2016; at the time, the Federal Council proposed to reject it, foreseeing high costs for Swisscom and the risk to distort market dynamics which had successfully worked until then.
What next? Swisscom is the designated Universal Service Provider until 2022. Any review of the USO is likely to occur after the USO licence has been re-awarded.
