The best network
in Switzerland, ready for 5G.
With 5G, the mobile network is now faster, more reliable and more powerful than ever before. It is opening up new opportunities – for our communities, for the economy and for Switzerland as a whole.
Winner of the connect mobile network test 2022
Swisscom Academy Trainer Marcel explains network expansion
Swisscom is constantly expanding the capacity and coverage of its network in cities, in the countryside and everywhere in between. Technology-neutral with 3G, 4G and 5G and convergent with our fibre-optic network.
(length 03:27 min.)
Better with 5G:
six benefits of 5G.
Internet speed
5G is between two and ten times faster than the current download speed on 4G. 5G will make download speeds up to 2 Gbit/s possible initially, with speeds of up to 10 Gbit/s following soon.
Response time
5G provides virtually delay-free communication in real time. Thanks to 5G, the response time will fall from the current 25 to 35 milliseconds to just a few milliseconds.
Capacity
5G enables far more devices to transfer far more data simultaneously. This is important because we now send as much data in half a day as we used to send in a week five years ago.
Sustainability
The network is more sustainable with 5G. Transferring 1 MB of data only requires 0.2 watts instead of 5400 watts with 2G.
Decentralised cloud
5G enables decentralised, mobile-connected clouds for applications that provide the required resources with greater agility and flexibility.
Guaranteed network capacities
5G enables guaranteed network capacity (network slicing), for example, for emergency services in the event of a major incident.
5G News
Mobile
telephony
and health
Bye Bye 3G
5G for companies
The 5G Campus Solution enables Swisscom to provide you with the opportunity to digitise your entire process chain. This provides manufacturing companies with significant efficiency gains and potential for cost savings.
FAQ
Here you will find the most important answers for 5G.
Is 5G available in my area?
Current 5G coverage can be seen on this maps (incl. 4G and 3G).
Is my smartphone compatible with 5G?
The manufacturer’s product details indicate whether your device supports 5G. Devices bought before spring 2019 do not support 5G.
Does the Internet Booster support 5G?
The 5G Internet-Booster is now available from Swisscom. This gives you speeds at home of up to 600 Mbit/s or even 1 Gbit/s from mid-2022.
More information
What are the benefits of 5G?
In short, 5G provides a higher internet speed and a shorter response time (latency). This is advantageous for a wide range of applications, from productive collaboration, streaming or gaming, to optimisation of processes in production facilities.
Does the introduction of 5G require new research to determine whether the technology is dangerous?
Initially, 5G will run on similar frequencies to 4G and 3G. So the existing studies are conclusive in this case.
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What’s the difference between 5G and 5G+?
- 5G offers good area coverage outdoors and indoors and enables speeds of up to 1 Gbit/s.
- 5G+ refers to the use of 5G with high bandwidths and offers download speeds of up to 2G Gbit/s.
Why can’t I get reception on my 5G smartphone everywhere in Switzerland?
Swisscom provides 5G mobile coverage to more than 90% of the Swiss population. However, the first generation of 5G devices (such as the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G or the Samsung Galaxy Note10+ 5G) can only support the 5G N78 band, meaning they can only use 5G+. Nonetheless, these smartphones are compatible with the latest 4G standards, thus ensuring that there are no limitations to network service.
Why is the speed slow even though the 5G symbol is displayed?
Due to the current stage of development of the 5G mobile communication standard, a device may display 5G even though it is using 4G (this does not only affect the Swisscom network). This mainly affects the first-generation 5G devices from 2019.
Overview of mobile communications technologies
5G
The latest mobile telephony standard currently offers speeds of up to 2 Gbit/s.
4G+/LTE Advanced
4G+/LTE Advanced enables a theoretical bandwidth of up to 700 Mbit/s on the mobile phone network. Speeds of up to 300 Mbit/s are already available to 90% of the Swiss population and 72% can access speeds of up to 500 Mbit/s.
4G/LTE (Long Term Evolution)
4G/LTE is the successor to 3G technology. It represents the fourth generation of mobile technology. 4G currently enables mobile broadband data rates of up to 150 Mbit/s.
3G
3G is the third generation of mobile technology and includes UMTS, HSPA und HSPA+. 3G enables speeds of up to 42 Mbit/s and covers 99% of the Swiss population.
2G
2G is the second generation of mobile technology that is being phased out by the end of 2020 after more than 25 years. It includes mobile technology such as GPRS, EDGE and GSM.
Carrier aggregation (frequency bundling)
Carrier aggregation is a way of increasing the data rate per user by connecting several frequency blocks together. It means a much larger number of users can use a radio cell simultaneously with higher speeds.
EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution)
EDGE is a feature of the second mobile technology generation and is being phased out by the end of 2020 after more than 25 years. EDGE enables data transfer speeds of up to 256 kbit/s.
GPRS
La rete GPRS appartiene alla seconda generazione di telefonia mobile e sarà disattivata entro la fine del 2020, dopo più di 25 anni di servizio. Sulla GPRS era possibile raggiungere velocità di trasmissione da 30 a 40 kbit/s.
GSM-Net (Global System for Mobile Communications)
GSM is a global digital mobile telephony standard within the second mobile technology generation and is being phased out by the end of 2020 after more than 25 years. As well as voice and data transmission, it supported services such as SMS and international roaming.
HSPA (High Speed Packet Access)
HSPA is a further development of the UMTS mobile telephony standard. HSPA allows a much greater number of customers than was possible with UMTS to use a radio cell at the same time and at a constantly high speed. A transfer rate of up to 14.4 Mbit/s is supported by HSPA.
HSPA+
HSPA+, also known as HSPA Evolution, is the expansion of HSPA for locations experiencing regularly high customer demand. Each radio cell offers a transmission capacity of up to 21 Mbit/s.
UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System)
UMTS is a third-generation international mobile telephony standard that combines mobile multimedia and voice services. Speeds of up to 384 kbit/s are possible with UMTS.