3400-3500MHz will be made available in multiples of 10MHz
Switzerland’s Federal Office of Communications (BAKOM) has given the green light for 5G private campus networks from 1 January 2024.
The new radio licences will be allocated in the 3400-3500 MHz range with 10MHz as the minimum lease and will only cover a limited and clearly defined area, preventing metro-size deployments. If several licence applications are submitted in the same area, the frequency resources may be divided between the applicants.
The cost for the licences will be CHF48/MHz/year meaning the minimum cost will be CHF480 per campus.
However, unlike other jurisdictions, the Swiss Government has not opted for a cost/square km meaning that, as it stands, a small enterprise would cost the same as a large manufacturing facility or airport.
Are part of the licence conditions, campus network frequencies can only be used for terrestrial networks and not satellite. They also can’t be used to provide telecommunication services to third parties.
To help manage potential interference issues, EIRP of 6 Watts must not be exceeded for transmitters. The field strengths permitted at the border of a campus network will be specified in each concession.
And while the final decision on the exact duration of frequency ownership is still pending, the frequencies will be allocated for several years.
The design of the regulatory and technical framework for campus networks is still ongoing in Switzerland and will be completed in the course of 2023.
More noise around Huawei
The new availability of private 5G spectrum licences will inevitably raise concerns about which vendors will be involved.
Some Swiss politicians have been recently reading the room around the EU’s concern over “high-risk” vendors and as a result have been making more noises about Chinese vendor Huawei’s position in the country’s telecom networks – Swisscom and Sunrise are both customers and the latter built its 5G network with the vendor’s kit.
Parliamentarian Jon Pult, who heads the telecommunications commission in the House of Representatives told the Tages-Anzeiger he is against considering Huawei as a supplier of critical infrastructure in Switzerland because of its links to the Chinese Communist Party.
Meanwhile president of the Senate telecommunications commission Hans Wicki has called for a “zero-trust approach” towards suppliers from telecom providers.
Sunrise – which also built a 5G joint innovation centre with Huawei (pictured) – ruled out having been the victim of similar “unfair methods” to the type uncovered in Denmark. “Sunrise was not and is not spied on by Huawei,” a telco spokesperson told Tages-Anzeiger, adding that it would continue to take security precautions in general.
Regulation aims to cover any perceived threats
Huawei’s strong presence in the country means the Swiss may end up approaching things differently to the EU out of necessity.
From a regulatory standpoint, as of 1 January 2023, the Federal Council has revised the Ordinance on Telecommunications Services (revised OTS) with provisions relating to mobile networks that comply with the internationally defined technical specifications for 5G [and onwards] networks in order to create additional security requirements.
“According to the revised OTS, operators must develop, implement and continuously review an information security management system including a business continuity management plan and a security incident management plan,” states law firm CMS. “Network and security operation centres shall exclusively be operated in Switzerland or in countries whose legislation guarantees adequate data protection.”