730 Million for Fiber Optic: Cantons Decide on Funding
Federal government and cantons plan joint funding for remote connections. Voluntary cantonal participation may lead to unequal expansion based on residence.
The most expensive meters of Switzerland's fiber optic network are not in cities, but between the last developed street and a remote house. A new funding program aims to address this very issue. The federal government and cantons are jointly planning 730 million Swiss francs to build connections that telecom companies would not find profitable on their own.
According to estimates by the Federal Office of Communications (BAKOM), approximately 19 percent of buildings or about 10 percent of households and businesses might not receive modern fixed-line access without support. This difference arises because a multi-family house counts as one building but contains many households. The goal is fixed connections offering at least one gigabit per second.
Federal Funding Requires Cantonal Matching Funds
The federal government intends to contribute 365 million Swiss francs, earmarked for the years 2030 to 2037. This share is to be financed from future mobile radio license revenues. The other half of the subsidy must be borne by the respective canton. A project can only receive federal money if the canton participates.
This creates a political peculiarity: cantonal participation is voluntary. Consequently, two similarly remote municipalities could be treated differently, even if their expansion costs are comparable. Funds would flow in a canton with a funding program, but possibly not in a neighboring canton. The place of residence then determines not only the technical distance to the network, but also the willingness of the cantonal government and parliament to provide resources.
Funding Exclusively Targets Areas Not Served by the Market
The program is not intended to replace private investment. Support is provided for areas where neither a high-performance connection exists nor an economically viable expansion is planned. This is crucial: if the state were to pay for profitable projects, providers could postpone investments and await subsidies.
The demarcation, however, is likely to be challenging. Telecom companies plan years in advance; costs change, and alternative technologies evolve. A municipality must therefore demonstrate that a modern connection would not materialize without funding. At the same time, the process must not take so long that businesses and households live with insufficient performance until a decision is made.
One Gigabit: Beyond a Mere Comfort Issue
For a private household, the debate initially appears technical. However, fixed-line network quality impacts home office work, cloud services, telemedicine, education, and a location's value. For a commercial business, stable uploads, data backup, or digital production processes can be crucial. Mobile connectivity helps in many places, but it does not replace a reliable fixed-line connection in every building.
The problem is becoming more urgent because old copper networks are scheduled to gradually disappear in the 2030s. A merely minimal interim solution could then trigger further investments. The gigabit target therefore aims not only to remedy current undersupply but also to create infrastructure with a longer-term horizon.
730 Million is a Ceiling, Not an Expansion Guarantee
The sum sounds large, but it is distributed over eight years, many cantons, and costly individual connections. How many projects are actually realized depends on applications, expansion costs, and cantonal decisions. Therefore, the credit does not imply that every currently slow connection will automatically receive fiber optic access.
A technological gradation also remains planned. The predominant portion is to be served via wired networks. For particularly difficult-to-reach cases, terrestrial wireless solutions may play a role. The crucial factor is not the medium alone, but whether performance, stability, and capacity in daily use meet the funding objective.
The True Last Mile Challenge Lies in Federalism
The draft addresses a classic conflict of objectives: regions should not be digitally isolated, while local costs should be shared, and private investments protected. The half-and-half funding compels cantons to prioritize projects. However, it also creates the risk of a patchwork.
For affected municipalities, work therefore begins long before the first cable is laid. They must document supply gaps, be aware of provider expansion plans, and convince their canton to co-finance. Ultimately, whether the last mile is built is decided not only in the cable trench but also in the cantonal budget.
