She is the highest competition watchdog in Switzerland. Laura Baudenbacher is President of the Competition Commission (Weko). In this role, she recently fined Swisscom millions. In an interview with SRF she answers the most important questions.
Laura Melusine Baudenbacher
President of the Competition Commission (Weko)
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Laura Melusine Baudenbacher is a Swiss lawyer. She has been President of the Swiss Competition Commission since January 1, 2023.
SRF News: Why did you condemn Swisscom?
Laura Baudenbacher: Swisscom has started laying just one fiber optic line to households instead of four. If this had been allowed, other Internet providers in the area would not have been able to offer better speeds at a lower price for the next 50 years, or several generations.
Swisscom does not agree with the fine. We are considering whether to refer the decision to the Federal Administrative Court. Swisscom says its design is cheaper and faster. Has ComCo done us a disservice?
We are aware of these arguments. But if more competition can offer fiber optic technology, then that will also lead to lower prices and more innovation. With our decision, we have ensured that the costs will continue to fall and that the offers will become even greater, to the benefit of all of us in the country.
Weko fines Swisscom 18 million francs
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Legends: KEYSTONE/Ti-Press/Carlo Reguzzi
Last year, the Competition Commission (Comco) carried out 27 investigations and initiated 17 preliminary investigations. With the latest decisions, it set a deadline for Swisscom in the fiber optic dispute and imposed a fine of over 18 million francs.
In this way, Comco will ensure competition in the use of the network for the next 50 years when expanding the Swisscom fiber optic network. She announced this at the annual media conference.
Swisscom must therefore convert its multipoint connections by the end of 2025. The connections that have already been put into operation with only one line from the telephone exchange to the street shaft are not permitted under antitrust law.
ComCo already warned Swisscom in 2020. Now there is a fine. So the warning was of no use at the time. Is the Comco a toothless authority?
We opened the procedure in 2020 and immediately took precautionary measures. They were confirmed about a year later by the Federal Administrative Court and then about a year later also by the Federal Court. Swisscom decided to continue building during this time, and we of course took that into account in our judgment.
Swisscom is violating the law, particularly the antitrust law, and will be fined for it.
Although your decision leads to more competition, it also means that around 500,000 Internet connections cannot be put into operation. Because of the ruling, lines have to be converted. This is not consumer friendly.
This is an unsatisfactory situation and we are fully aware of it. On the other hand, it must be taken into account that we intervened immediately when we found out about this expansion of the network. If we had done nothing, we would have de facto rewarded a violation of the law by tolerating an illegal expansion of the fiber optic network. Swisscom is violating the law, particularly the antitrust law, and will be fined for it.
Swisscom’s great market power always causes trouble for the competition. Is Swisscom abusing its power or do you see a system error in Switzerland due to Swisscom’s historical dominance as a semi-state telecommunications provider?
I think it’s normal that former state-owned companies tend to be stronger than other competitors in the market. In a specific case, we always have to check how the company behaves. In this case, we have come to the conclusion that Swisscom has a dominant market position through the construction of a fiber optic infrastructure and has also abused this position.
The interview was conducted by David Karasek.