Internet usage is notably extensive in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, with 96% of the population aged between 15 and 88 engaging online in 2021. This figure demonstrates a wide adoption across age demographics, highlighted by the fact that over half of those aged 75 and above are daily internet users. The country's advanced

broadband In telecommunications, broadband or high speed is the wide-bandwidth (signal processing), bandwidth data transmission that exploits signals at a wide spread of frequencies or several different simultaneous frequencies, and is used in fast Inter ...

infrastructure plays a key role in facilitating this level of usage. By the end of 2022, Switzerland was ranked highest in broadband penetration among the countries of the

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; , OCDE) is an international organization, intergovernmental organization with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and international trade, wor ...

(

OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; , OCDE) is an international organization, intergovernmental organization with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and international trade, wor ...

). In Switzerland, a universal service is offered which guarantees basic telecommunication services including public telephone, broadband internet, and provisions for the disabled. This service is required to be “affordable, reliable, and must be of a certain quality”. For the period from 2024 to 2031,

Swisscom Swisscom is a major telecommunications provider in Switzerland. Its headquarters are located in Worblaufen near Bern. The Swiss government owns 51% of Swisscom. According to its own published data, Swisscom holds a market share of 56% for mob ...

has been designated as the holder of the universal service license.

User statistics

* Internet users: 6.8 million, 49th in the world; 85.2% of the population, 19th in the world (2012)."Percentage of Individuals using the Internet 2000-2012"
International Telecommunication Union (Geneva), June 2013, retrieved 22 June 2013 * Fixed broadband: 3.3 million subscribers, 27th in the world; 41.9% of population, 3rd in the world (2012)."Fixed (wired)-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants 2012"
, Dynamic Report, ITU ITC EYE,

International Telecommunication Union The International Telecommunication Union (ITU)In the other common languages of the ITU: * * is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for many matters related to information ...

. Retrieved on 29 June 2013. * Mobile broadband: 3.3 million subscribers, 49th in the world; 41.4% of population, 39th in the world (2012)."Active mobile-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants 2012"
, Dynamic Report, ITU ITC EYE,

. Retrieved on 29 June 2013. * Internet hosts: 5.3 million, 20th in the world (2012)."Switzerland Communications"
''World Factbook'', U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 29 October 2013. *

Top level domain A top-level domain (TLD) is one of the domains at the highest level in the hierarchical Domain Name System of the Internet after the root domain. The top-level domain names are installed in the root zone of the name space. For all domains i ...

: .ch * IPv4 addresses: 20.9 million, 0.5% of worldwide total, 2.726 addresses per person (2012).

Internet usage

The 2020 study by the

University of Zurich The University of Zurich (UZH, ) is a public university, public research university in Zurich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing colleges of the ...

, as a part of the

World Internet Project The World Internet Project (WIP) is a collaborative research program that brings together academic institutions in 46 partner countries to study the social, economic and political impact of digital technology. Background The World Internet Project ...

, presents data on

internet usage Internet access is a facility or service that provides connectivity for a computer, a computer network, or other network device to the Internet, and for individuals or organizations to access or use applications such as email and the World Wide ...

in Switzerland. It shows that 97% of Swiss users employ

search engine A search engine is a software system that provides hyperlinks to web pages, and other relevant information on World Wide Web, the Web in response to a user's web query, query. The user enters a query in a web browser or a mobile app, and the sea ...

s, 92% search for word definitions, and 87% access online encyclopedias.

Fact-checking Fact-checking is the process of verifying the factual accuracy of questioned reporting and statements. Fact-checking can be conducted before or after the text or content is published or otherwise disseminated. Internal fact-checking is such che ...

online is conducted by 71% of users, and 85% look for news, ranging from local to international coverage. In terms of personal use and

e-commerce E-commerce (electronic commerce) refers to commercial activities including the electronic buying or selling products and services which are conducted on online platforms or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile co ...

, 83% of users search for travel information, 76% seek health-related content, and 71% book travel arrangements online. Job searching is conducted online by 33% of the population. In the realm of e-commerce, 87% of users research products, 82% make purchases, 76% compare prices, and 36% sell items online. The study also finds that 77% of Swiss internet users utilize online banking services.

Broadband

As reported by the Swiss Federal Communications Commission in November 2023, Switzerland shows a strong

infrastructure. By the end of 2022, 48.2% of the Swiss population had broadband internet connections, exceeding the rates in France (46.6%), Norway (45.7%), Korea (45.4%), and well above the

average of 34.9%. The

Federal Office of Communications The Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM) is a Swiss federal office that deals with issues relating to telecommunications, broadcasting and postal services in Switzerland. Created in 1992, the office is attached to the Federal Department of ...

(OFCOM) regularly publishes data on fixed networks, mobile network, and broadband in general and the current market situation. The data includes speeds and prices of providers.

Mobile broadband

In 2022, the Swiss mobile network market was primarily dominated by three providers:

, with a 57% share,

Sunrise Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning, at the start of the Sun path. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon. Terminology Although the S ...

with a 26% share, and

Salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...

with a 16% share. Additionally, other providers collectively made up approximately 1% of the market. Switzerland has progressively phased out its GSM (2G) network, introduced in 1993, by the end of 2022. The 3G network, covering 99% of the population, is also being retired, with Swisscom operating it until 2025. As of 2022, over 99% of Switzerland is covered by LTE (4G), and rapid 5G network rollout has led to Swisscom achieving 99% population coverage with speeds up to 1 Gbps, and Sunrise covering over 96% with similar speeds. Salt reached 99.9% of the population with speeds up to 750 Mbps by combining 3G, 4G, and 5G signals.

Fixed broadband

The merger between Sunrise and UPC in 2021 has significantly altered the landscape of Switzerland's broadband market, reducing the traditional distinctions between telecom providers and cable network operators. As of the fourth quarter of 2022, Swisscom was the market leader with a 48% share, followed by Sunrise with 28%. Other cable operators, including Quickline, collectively accounted for approximately 13% of the market. The remaining share is distributed among various other telecom operators (7%) and Salt (4%). In the context of

fiber to the home Fiber to the ''x'' (FTTX; also spelled "fibre") or fiber in the loop is a generic term for any broadband network architecture using optical fiber to provide all or part of the local loop used for last mile telecommunications. As fiber optic ...

(FTTH) deployment, Switzerland's standing is mid-range in Europe, with

optical fiber An optical fiber, or optical fibre, is a flexible glass or plastic fiber that can transmit light from one end to the other. Such fibers find wide usage in fiber-optic communications, where they permit transmission over longer distances and at ...

contracts forming around 27% of all broadband connections in the country, a figure below the OECD average of 37.7%. The expansion of fiber optic networks in urban centers across Switzerland saw a notable increase beginning in 2020. This growth was supported by contributions from local fiber optic consortia and national efforts by Swisscom. By June 2023, Swisscom's initiatives had extended ultra-fast internet connections to 2,065 municipalities. The following summary table provides details on the main municipalities affected by this expansion:

Internet censorship and surveillance

References

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