BERNE, Switzerland -- Swisscom will equip the city of Zug with a full fibre-optic network. This will involve running fibre-optic cables to around 13,000 households and 3,400 businesses in the central Swiss town over the next three years. Rollout will begin in the town's Oberwil, Räbmatt and Lüssirain districts. The first house owners were contacted this week and work is scheduled to begin in the summer. The first residents of Zug will have access to Swisscom's fibre-optic services beginning in 2012.

Swisscom will rollout the next-generation high-speed communications network in Zug over the next few years. FTTH (Fibre to the Home) deployment is essential in order to be able to meet the future bandwidth requirements of businesses and private households, i.e. the need for even faster Internet access. Swisscom will initially push ahead w! ith the rollout on its own. However, it is also open to cooperation with the Zug water utilities company, Wasserwerken Zug (WWZ). Both companies are already holding discussions concerning a coordinated approach. Swisscom will install at least four fibres per household and business. Thanks to non-discriminatory access to the Zug fibre-optic network, providers not wishing to invest in the new network will still have access, thereby continuing to promote competition in the telecommunications market. Customers in particular will benefit from supplier diversity since they will be able to choose from a wide range of offerings.

Swisscom AG (NYSE: SCM)