Swiss incumbent Swisscom has announced it has amended a JV with local utility ewl to allay concerns of the country’s Competition Commission (ComCo).
According to Swisscom, by removing certain clauses regarding exclusivity and investment protection,…
Swiss incumbent Swisscom has announced it has amended a JV with local utility ewl to allay concerns of the country’s Competition Commission (ComCo).
According to Swisscom, by removing certain clauses regarding exclusivity and investment protection, the two companies can now proceed with their fibre expansion plans for Lucerne.
“Both partners are now offering passive, unlit fibre-optic cable, and have therefore complied with one of the ComCo Secretariat’s key requirements,” Swisscom said in a statement.
“The mechanism for compensation payments was also clarified. This will kick in at the earliest once basic connection has been completed, probably in 2015. Swisscom is investing around CHF 54m (US$57.7m) in fibre-optic expansion in Lucerne.”
Back in September, Swisscom announced the suspension of its fibre deployments in the country in accordance with a “de facto ban” from ComCo.
The group was forced to review all fibre partnerships previously secured with utility companies in Lucerne, Basel, Berne, St. Gallen and Zurich, after ComCo “criticised various clauses in the agreements that are elementary key aspects of the partnership model”.
Since then, Swisscom has made amendments similar to those announced with ewl to agreements in Berne and Basel, while negotiations with other partners are still ongoing.
Under the original terms of these partnerships, the utilities would own the rights to lease fibre lines to third parties, whilst Swisscom utilises several itself. Regulators were concerned that Swisscom would be able to influence the pricing structure of rivals using its fibre network through setting minimum prices for certain services.