Swisscom, utility company to bring FTTH to Berne

Swisscom, a provider of fixed line telephony services in Switzerland, and local utilities provider Energie Wasser Bern (EWB) signed an agreement to finance and construct a fiber-optic network that will cover a third of all buildings in Berne by the end of next year.  

According to TeleGeography CommsUpdate, four fibers will be laid per household with Swisscom and EWB taking one each for its sole use and the rest open to lease as required. 

Deployment schedules expect that by 2017, 90 percent of all buildings will have a fiber-optic connection, and by 2020, the network will cover the entire city. Overall construction costs for the project will be around CHF172 million and Swisscom will provide 60 percent of the investment required while EWB will provide the remainder. 

EWB will take on the fiber-optic network deployment for 70 percent of the city, while Swisscom will take responsibility for the remaining 30 percent of households and lay the necessary cables between neighborhood cabinets and telephone exchanges.