Swisscom AG is a leading telecommunications provider in Switzerland, with its headquarters located in Worblaufen near Bern. The company was first established in 1852 as the Swiss telegraph network, which was then combined with the postal service and telephone network in 1920 to form the Postal Telegraph and Telephone (PTT). In 1997, the Swiss telecommunications market was deregulated and Telecom PTT was spun off and rebranded as Swisscom, marking the start of its partial privatisation. The Swiss government currently owns 51 percent of Swisscom AG.
3G Network
The company began providing 3G UMTS services in March 2006 over the B1 (2100 MHz) band. 3G data services were upgraded to support HSPA+ in October 2009 and DC-HSPA+ in June 2011.
Shutdown of Swisscom's 3G network would occur 31/12/2025.
3G Frequency Bands
| Network Frequency Band | Status |
|---|---|
|
Shutting Down
|
3G Network Events
| Date | Event | Subtype |
|---|---|---|
|
|
Launch of 3G Network
|
Launch
|
4G Network
Its 4G LTE journey began in November 2012 with the launch of 4G services over B3 (1800 MHz), B7 (2600 MHz), and B20 (800 MHz), and then later adding B1 (2100 MHz). The network was upgraded to LTE-A in June 2014, supporting data rates up to 300 Mbps using 2C carrier aggregation of B3+B7. Following the addition of B1 in September 2015, 3C CA brought peak data rates to 450 Mbps.
Holding 45 MHz of TDD 2600 spectrum, Swisscom has conducted a number of TDD-LTE and FDD+TDD trials. B38 (2600 MHz) TDD LTE was reportedly added to the network in Summer 2016. In May 2017 Swisscom added LTE-A Pro technologies including 256QAM, 4X4 MIMO, and 4C CA, taking the network's theoretical peak to 1.2 Gbps.
The company secured additional spectrum in February 2019 auctions, with the award of 15 MHz B28 (700 MHz) and 25 MHz of B75 (1500 MHz) SDL compatible spectrum.
Swisscom IoT
Having trialled both technologies since mid-2017, Swisscom launched NB-IoT and LTE-M (Cat M1) networks in late 2018. Both networks operate over Swisscom's B20 (800 MHz) band.
4G Frequency Bands
| Network Frequency Band | Max. Channel Bandwidth | Status |
|---|---|---|
|
20
|
Active
|
|
|
20
|
Active
|
|
|
20
|
Active
|
|
|
10
|
Active
|
|
|
15
|
Active
|
|
|
20
|
Active
|
|
|
20
|
Active
|
4G Network Events
| Date | Event | Subtype |
|---|---|---|
|
|
Launch of 4G Network
|
Launch
|
5G Network
An early tester of 5G technology, Swisscom has been actively involved in the development of its 5G network since 2016. Numerous trials in partnership with Ericsson have been conducted, primarily using the n78 (3500 MHz) band. Swisscom was awarded 120 MHz of 3.5 GHz spectrum during the country's February 2019 auctions. In November 2018 the company announced it would begin rolling out 5G to 60 cities during 2019. Swisscom announced the activation of its network on the 17th April 2019 using n1 and n78 bands.
The network was upgraded to Standalone (SA) 5G in December 2020.
5G Frequency Bands
| Network Frequency Band | Max. Channel Bandwidth | Status |
|---|---|---|
|
30
|
Active
|
|
|
100
|
Active
|
5G Network Events
| Date | Event | Subtype |
|---|---|---|
|
|
Launch of 5G Network
|
Launch
|