Salt and Sunrise plan shared rural mobile antennas

Salt and Sunrise are examining whether they can share mobile phone antennas in rural and remote parts of Switzerland, SRF reported on Tuesday. The cooperation could improve coverage while reducing operating costs.

Telecom and finance expert Ralf Beyeler told SRF that the providers could divide the work between them. Salt could expand some antennas that Sunrise customers could also use, while Sunrise could do the same with other antennas for Salt customers.

Sharing would make little economic sense in cities, where mobile networks are heavily used and have little spare capacity for customers from other providers. In rural and mountainous regions, however, relatively few residents and hikers use the networks, leaving many antennas underused.

Switzerland also needs many antennas because its mountains and hills limit the distance signals can travel. Unlike in the Netherlands, where one antenna can cover a large area, individual villages in Switzerland often require separate antennas to achieve good coverage.

Beyeler said joint use could improve coverage in places where one provider currently has a weak signal. He added that customers in rural areas remain important because providers cannot sell mobile phone plans that work only in major cities.

Swiss mobile networks are already among the best in the world, according to Beyeler. All providers have very broad coverage, although each has places where its signal is better or worse.