Landline and mobile telephony
Almost every Swiss citizen has access to a landline or mobile phone network. In mobile communications, almost the entire country is covered by the 4G and 5G standard. Mobile phones have become extremely popular and are gradually replacing landline phone services.
The state ensures basic landline telephony coverage throughout the country. But Switzerland's mobile and landline networks both operate in a free market. Today most communicating is done via mobile phone networks: in fact, just 10% or so of all calls are still made via a landline. On average, the Swiss population uses the telephone at least once a week, with one in two people using it every day. Overall, the number of calls made is declining, as are the call minutes.
Mobile telephony
Almost 100% of the population in Switzerland has access to a mobile phone network. The number of mobile phone contracts exceeds that of the total population: this is partly due to the wide range of communication options that smartphones offer by combining telephony and the internet. The good network quality also contributes to the widespread use.
Around 20,000 transmitters in three national mobile networks enable interactive voice and data traffic almost exclusively via 4G/LTE and 5G. The expansion to 5G+ with transmission rates of up to 2 Gbit/s is now under way. Switzerland is pursuing a multi-layer approach: it is expanding its networks with different frequencies in order to find a compromise between coverage and speed.
The mobile phone network operates in a free market in which almost 40 service providers compete for customers. The market leader is Swisscom, a public limited company in which the Swiss Confederation is the majority shareholder. Other major providers include Sunrise and Salt. These three companies operate the mobile phone networks on which the services of the other providers are based.
Landline telephony
The majority of landline telephony in the private sector has been replaced by mobile telephony. Not so in the business sector, where landline numbers are still widely used. This applies to larger companies with switchboards and several telephone numbers as well as small companies and self-employed persons. In addition to technical, legal and cost reasons, a landline number remains a sign of professionalism, regional ties and reliable accessibility.
The capacity of telecommunications networks has increased significantly thanks to the widespread replacement of copper cables with fibre optic cables. But development is also progressing in terms of transmission technology, with IP telephony (via the internet) replacing conventional analogue and digital (ISDN) technologies.