| By signing the cooperation agreement, Swisscom and Energie Wasser Bern have committed themselves to work together to construct Berne's fibre-optic network. Both companies will be responsible for laying the cables. Swisscom will connect 30 per cent of households to the network and will also be responsible for laying the fibre-optic cables between the neighbourhood cabinets and the telephone exchanges. Energie Wasser Bern will build the fibre-optic network for 70 per cent of the city. Both companies will make a substantial contribution to the investments required. Constructing the network will cost CHF 172 million, of which Energie Wasser Bern will bear 40 per cent and Swisscom 60 per cent. Both partners have granted each other long-term usage rights for the fibre-optic network.
Customers benefit from competition
Four fibres will be laid per household. Swisscom and Energie Wasser Bern will receive one fibre each for their sole use. The others will be assigned as required or made available to other companies prepared to invest in them. Laying several fibres per household allows open access to the network. Since the network offers non-discriminatory access, fibre-optic network suppliers who do not want to invest in the development work themselves will also be able to use it. This promotes competition in the telecommunications market and minimises the risk of a fibre-optic monopoly, which will benefit customers. Energie Wasser Bern and Swisscom are therefore acting in accordance with the fibre-optic principles agreed at the round-table talks led by the Federal Communications Commission (ComCom) in early October 2009.
Reduced costs thanks to joint expansion
The existing cable ducts of both Energie Wasser Bern and Swisscom will be used for the Berne fibre-optic network. This will optimise the costs of building and operating the network and keep the total cost of the investment low. Residents of the Länggasse area can already choose from the products offered by the various providers. It is expected that by the end of 2011, more than a third of Berne's residents will be able to use the new services. By 2017, 90 per cent of properties will have a fibre-optic connection, and by 2020, the network will cover the entire city of Berne.
Energy Water Bern is largely based on the requirements for listed companies in terms of information on corporate governance. This will ensure a consistent and comparable reporting.
We are an independent, autonomous public company in possession of the city of Bern and thus given the power to order. Energy Water Bern is quite capable and registered in the Commercial Register. The head office is located on the Monbijoustrasse 11 in Bern. Energy Water Bern is only operative in Switzerland.
In the city of Bern, we operate the energy and water supply and waste recycling for 70,000 households, 8,000 SMEs and 100 large customers. In around 30 municipalities of the enlarged region of Bern, we supply customers directly or indirectly with our services.
With the new Electricity Supply Act, large customers consuming more than 100,000 kilowatt hours of electricity to choose their electricity supplier since January 2009. Energy Water Bern has faced the challenges of electricity market liberalization and intensified their activities in the area of customer acquisition. Our main focus is on a high quality advice and service.
Since the founding of Energy Water Bern in 2002 by the merger of the power station of Bern (EWB) and the gas-water and district heating (ARC) is the city of Berne our owner. According to Article 25 of the Regulations Energy Water Bern (ewr) oversees the council our company.
Berne, 22 December 2010, 10:00
p.s. Grahame Lynch points out many errors in the Australia NBN business plan at http://www.commsday.com/commsday/?p=1975. He's on target; the particulars are out of line. My guess is that NBN for political reasons is overpaying Telstra and trying to bury that. They had to have a reasonable sounding price ($24 for 12/2 speeds) and to achieve that over priced future backhaul in the model.
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