Business · Companies · 5 hrs ago
Swiss court overturns Swisscom’s 18 million-franc fibre-optic fine
Switzerland’s Federal Administrative Court overturned a competition authority ruling against Swisscom over how the telecom company builds its fibre-optic network.
The ruling cancels a fine of about 18 million francs imposed by the Competition Commission, known as Weko.
The dispute began after Swisscom switched its construction method in 2020 from separate fibre lines to each home to a system that splits the signal at a street distribution point.
Under the new system, rival providers would have to use Swisscom’s technology rather than their own on those connections.
Weko said the change could harm competition, but the court found that Swisscom was not dominant in the market Weko had defined.
The court said that market covered continuous fibre lines to customers, which Swisscom’s new system does not provide, and also included areas where the company had not started building.
The court’s decision is not yet final and can be appealed to Switzerland’s Federal Supreme Court.
Switzerland’s Federal Administrative Court overturned a competition ruling against Swisscom over its fibre-optic network.
The court found that Swisscom did not hold a dominant position in the market defined by the Competition Commission.
The ruling cancels a penalty of about 18 million Swiss francs and conditions on Swisscom’s network expansion.
The dispute followed Swisscom’s 2020 shift from point-to-point to point-to-multipoint network construction.
The ruling is not final and can be appealed to the Federal Supreme Court.
- Who
- Swisscom and Switzerland’s Competition Commission (Weko).
- What
- The Federal Administrative Court overturned Weko’s ruling and an approximately 18 million Swiss franc penalty against Swisscom.
- When
- The judgment is dated 21 September 2026 and was published on 13 October 2026.
- Where
- Switzerland; the Federal Administrative Court is in St. Gallen.
- Why
- The court found Swisscom was not dominant in the market as Weko had defined it.
Swisscom
Competition Commission (Weko)
Market position
Swisscom
The court agreed with Swisscom’s appeal, finding it did not hold a dominant position in the relevant market.
Competition Commission (Weko)
Weko found that Swisscom had abused a dominant position in fibre-network expansion.
Network construction
Swisscom
Swisscom switched to point-to-multipoint construction, in which fibre is split at a distribution point.
Competition Commission (Weko)
Weko imposed conditions to stop further expansion using that construction method.
Competition
Swisscom
The court said Swisscom could not be dominant in areas where it had not begun construction or in the narrowly defined market for continuous fibre lines.
Competition Commission (Weko)
Weko considered the new construction method a risk to effective competition because rivals would have to use Swisscom’s technology.
Swisscom announced it would use point-to-multipoint construction rather than point-to-point construction for its fibre network.
Weko opened an investigation and imposed interim measures restricting further expansion using the new method.
Weko imposed conditions on Swisscom’s network expansion and a penalty of about 18 million Swiss francs.
The Federal Administrative Court issued its judgment overturning Weko’s decision.
The judgment was published.
- Penalty
- About 18 million Swiss francs
- Judgment
- B-3186/2024, dated 21 September 2026
- Network method
- Point-to-multipoint (P2MP)
- Previous method
- Point-to-point (P2P)
- Blocked connections
- 170,000 remained blocked in the first half of the year, according to Swisscom’s chief executive
- Appeal
- The judgment can be challenged at the Federal Supreme Court
4 sources
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