Swisscom Cuts Interconnect Rates

BERN, Switzerland -- On 1 June, 2005, Swisscom Mobile is to introduce significant price cuts to stimulate customers' calling habits. The company will be offering a new tariff based on only 50 centimes per call, irrrespective of the length of the call. This means that, for the first time, longer mobile calls will be charged on a par with fixed-network rates. On top of this, Swisscom Mobile is cutting prices for termination of calls on its network to 20 centimes. This 40% reduction clears the way for cheaper calls between networks.

The price adjustments were prompted by the reticent calling habits of NATEL® customers as well as pressure from business customers objecting to high fixed-to-mobile charges. Last year, for instance, average minutes per user (AMPU Postpaid) on the NATEL® network dropped by 7.2 minutes to 153.4 minutes a month, while the average number of minutes for calls from the fixed network to the Swisscom Mobile network fell by 3%. According to surveys, the main reason for this drop is the general perception that mobile charges are too high and not sufficiently transparent. Swisscom Mobile has introduced the price cuts in a bid to address customers' concerns, and expects these reductions to stimulate calling habits and boost growth in the mobile market.

Swisscom AG