Corporate strategy and objectives

Corporate strategy

Swisscom commands a leading position in the mobile, fixed, broadband and digital TV submarkets. It is also one of the leading providers in the IT services market. Technological change coupled with intensive local and global competition and changing customer requirements are steadily eroding prices and volumes in the classical usage-based business. The resulting lower revenue and income need to be offset in order to ensure that sufficient financial resources are available for major investments in new technologies.

Three key trends are changing the ICT sector and exerting a significant influence on ­Swisscom’s strategy:

  • Always online: A few years from now, ­Swisscom customers will be able to access all their private and work-related applications and data in real time from any digital device. Technical innovations are fundamentally changing the way in which customers interact and communicate with each other and with devices. As a result of digitalisation, not only people but also smart applications and devices are becoming increasingly interconnected. Networking and digitalisation are revolutionising value chains, production processes and customer contacts in all sectors of the economy.
  • Internet-based: In future, all products and services will be operated on the basis of Internet protocol. Storage space, processing power and software will increasingly be sourced from the Internet. This trend is driving new business models and generating better customer experiences.
  • Global competition: Digitalisation and the spread of Internet-based services are creating international markets. Worldwide competitors are benefiting from global economies of scale and are transforming business models through enhanced use of customer data. In the telecommunications industry, too, the trend towards consolidation looks set to continue. Many telecommunications providers are expanding their business to include offerings in the IT, media and entertainment fields.

Swisscom firmly believes that a competent and trustworthy partner is needed in this increasingly interconnected and digitalised world. In this capacity ­Swisscom aims to inspire people and play a key role in turning Switzerland into a leading ICT centre. It wants to play an active part in shaping connectivity for the community at large, and to position itself successfully as an exemplary company in a digital world. This objective is reflected in ­Swisscom’s vision and corporate strategy.

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The vision of ­Swisscom: The best in the networked world – always and everywhere

At ­Swisscom, people and their relationships are at the heart of all our activities. Customer focus, sustainability, passion, curiosity and reliability are the values that guide our employees’ actions. As the best partner in the networked world, ­Swisscom strives to ensure simplicity and is a trusted and inspiring partner for its customers. ­Swisscom helps customers feel secure and at ease, and enables them to find what they are looking for quickly and simply, and to experience and achieve extraordinary things. ­Swisscom also helps business customers to create a flexible ICT infrastructure, adjust their business processes to meet the new challenges of the digital world, and to optimise communication and collaboration among their employees. Due to the value that ­Swisscom creates and, indirectly, its high level of investment from which other companies in Switzerland benefit, ­Swisscom plays a major role in Switzerland’s competitiveness and contributes significantly to the country’s GDP and employment.

To be the best partner, ­Swisscom must meet the highest expectations in terms of infrastructure, customer experience and growth.

Building the best infrastructure

Infrastructure is the foundation that allows ­Swisscom to deliver its products and services and provide a consistently positive customer experience. ­Swisscom wants to offer its customers in Switzerland and Italy the leading IT and communications infrastructure: one that will generate the best experiences, enable ­Swisscom to differentiate itself from the competition, and enhance efficiency. ­Swisscom fulfils the ever-growing requirements of its customers with networks that are second to none in terms of security, availability and performance. In the fixed network area, ­Swisscom’s focus is on driving forward the continuous expansion of the ultra-fast broadband network – both in Switzerland and in Italy – with Fibre to the Home (FTTH) and Fibre to the Street (FTTS). In the mobile area, ­Swisscom aims to further expand the LTE fourth-generation mobile network and deploy additional technologies (for example, Voice over LTE) in order to meet the demand for higher capacity and to further improve the mobile communication experience.

Swisscom intends to increase its efficiency through a scalable infrastructure, increasingly virtualised infrastructure and services, and continual improvement processes. The new cloud infrastructure offers high-level quality and security and will also be used for ­Swisscom systems. In addition, ­Swisscom wants to accelerate technological transformation and for this reason is switching from proprietary to open, more powerful technology systems and infrastructures. In the first place, ­Swisscom plans to build an open cloud, provide simple programming interfaces to functions and drive forward both the technological transformation from traditional offerings to IP-based solutions and the related organisational transformation, so as to take full advantage of the available technological resources.

Creating the best experiences

To differentiate itself clearly in its core business, ­Swisscom is committed to delivering professional advice and first-class service to its customers, right along the entire experience chain. ­Swisscom aims to provide highly personalised and flexible customer care and offer an outstanding service experience to its customers.

By building full-service solutions and rolling out innovative digital services, ­Swisscom wants to inspire its customers and drive forward digitalisation and networking both for the business world and private individuals. Current examples include cloud products such as the successful, further-developed TV service (Swisscom TV 2.0), the storage solution Docsafe, the digital wallet Tapit, and the cross-platform communication application iO.

From the customer’s standpoint, the key to contact with ­Swisscom should be simplicity. This is why, when creating new offerings, ­Swisscom focuses on customer needs right from the development stage. A streamlined product structure and new self-service options simplify customer interaction and enhance efficiency.

Realising the best growth opportunities

The telecoms markets in Switzerland and Italy are expected to see moderate growth over the next few years, driven primarily by a slight increase in population and the number of households, the growing number of networked devices per individual, and a rise in the use of ICT in many sectors of the economy. Added to this, there is still pent-up demand in Italy due to the relatively low level of broadband penetration.

Against this backdrop, ­Swisscom aims to ensure existing revenues in its core business through the further development of its product portfolio. One key factor in this context is the development of national and international offerings based on a modern, high-speed cloud infrastructure. Vertical solutions offer growth opportunities for ­Swisscom in the banking, healthcare and energy sectors. New related business fields also harbour promising revenue potential for ­Swisscom. Examples include the development of new services and business fields in the area of Internet services (for example Big Data) and the “Internet of Things” (for example Smart Home), and the further development of ­Swisscom Energy Solutions. ­Swisscom intends to cater to the changed framework conditions resulting from increasingly global competition by developing business models and by further developing its Natel infinity pricing plans, in order to ensure a sustained source of revenue.

Fastweb in Italy is focusing on new customer acquisition by extending its coverage of the optical fibre network, enlarging partnerships and offering new convergent products.

Forerunner in corporate responsibility

Swisscom’s corporate responsibility activities focus on issues which have high relevance for stakeholder groups and at the same time are closely linked to the company’s core business and thus entail market opportunities. ­Swisscom’s vision is of a modern, forward-looking Switzerland: a country of great opportunities, particularly in the field of sustainability. Specifically, ­Swisscom focuses on the following six areas as strategic priorities. For each of these it has formulated a long-term target for 2020:

  • Climate protection: With the help of its customers, ­Swisscom wants to save twice as much CO2 as it emits throughout the entire Group and along the entire supply chain; for example, by avoiding commuting thanks to Home Office solutions, or by promoting the use of TV set-top boxes that consume less energy than older boxes.
  • Work-life balance: ­Swisscom is aiming to support one million customers with its offerings in the healthcare sector; for example with the ­Swisscom health platform with fitness sensors included, electronic patient dossiers and products from its subsidiary Datasport.
  • Media expertise: Swisscom aims to be the market leader in data security, helping one million people to use media safely and responsibly; for example, with a router that allows customers to set age-appropriate browsing times and protects minors against inappropriate use.
  • Attractive employer: ­Swisscom wants to be one of the most attractive employers in Switzerland, offering employees the opportunity to develop their knowledge and skills and promoting work-life balance. Fair terms and conditions of employment are as important to ­Swisscom as an active social partnership and an above-average commitment to vocational training.
  • Fair supply chain: In the interests of a fair supply chain, ­Swisscom is committed to improving employment conditions for more than two million people. To this end, ­Swisscom has forged international partnerships that will ensure the implementation of relevant measures in close collaboration with suppliers.
  • Networked Switzerland: ­Swisscom will extend ultra-fast broadband coverage to 85% of all homes and offices and bring mobile ultra-fast broadband to 99% of the population.

Swisscom’s targets

Based on the strategy, ­Swisscom has set itself various short- and long-term targets that take economic, ecological and social factors into consideration.

ObjectivesEffective 2014
Financial targets
Net revenueGroup revenue for 2014 of around CHF 11.5 billion.CHF 11,703 million
Operating income before depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA)EBITDA for 2014 of more than CHF 4,4 billionCHF 4,413 million
Capital expenditure in property, plant and equipment and other intangible assetsCapital expenditure for 2014 of around CHF 2.4 billionCHF 2,436 million
Other targets
Ultra–fast–broadband homes and offices SwitzerlandCoverage of 85% by the end of 202041% or more than 1.4 million of homes and offices
Ultra–fast–broadband homes and offices ItalyCoverage of 30% or of around 7.5 million of homes and offices by the end of 201620% or 5.5 million of homes and offices
Mobile ultra–fast–broadband SwitzerlandCoverage of 99% with 4G/LTE by the end of 201697%
Energy efficiency Switzerland+25% by the end of 2015 to the efficiency of energy Switzerland 1 January 2010+26%
CO2–emissions Switzerland–12% by the end of 2015 to 1 January 2010–17%

The following sections describe the targets and key performance indicators.