Switzerland delays 3G

date: November 27, 2001

Both TDC and Swisscom have announced plans to delay their 3G rollouts. According to chairman Jens Alder, Swisscom has said it is not confident that it can survive on its own and is looking for a merger partner when the Swiss government reduces its stake in the company. Swisscom also said it would delay the start of its 3G services to 2003.

TDC said that it was to delay its Swiss rollout until 2003 or possibly later, because of technical issues. TDC Switzerland controls Sunrise, the fixed-line operator, and mobile operator, diAx. TDC also revealed that it has asked for Polish regulators to allow it to postpone rolling out its services there for the same reason. Kim Frimer, CEO of Swisscom said: "We need to see substantial demand from customers before we invest in a UMTS network. I will not lose sleep if we don't launch until 2004."

At the auction on 6 December 2000, Swisscom Mobile bought a UMTS license for CHF 50 million ($32 million). The licence takes effect on 1 January 2002 and will be valid for 15 years.

Swisscom Mobile back in late 2000 said the first UMTS field tests can start at the end of 2001 and the UMTS network could be up and running sometime during 2002. UMTS will initially be launched in large urban centres. The first phones to appear on the market will be dual-mode, which means it will be possible to use them on the GSM/GPRS network and the UMTS network.

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