Having completed the rollout of fibre-to-the-node (FTTN), Swisscom has announced that it will begin the second phase of connecting residential customers and SMEs to the network. Work has already started in Zurich, Basel and Geneva, with the aim of connecting 100,000 households by the end of 2009. The plan is then to extend the network to include residential premises in the cities of St. Gallen, Berne, Fribourg and Lausanne. The first offerings for residential customers and SMEs will be launched in the first half of 2009.

Since October 2008, Swisscom has been expanding its fibre-optic network to cover residential customers and SMEs, with the goal of retaining its position in the broadband market. The existing infrastructure will support this expansion, since thanks to investments in the backbone fibre-optic network and the extension of fibre-optic cabling for VDSL distribution to residential neighbourhoods, Swisscom already has a dense high speed network.

 Source:telegeography