After losing the network dispute against Sunrise in late November, Swisscom suffered another legal defeat. The Federal Administrative Court ruled in Sunrise’s favor in the dispute over interest payments.
Switzerland’s second largest telecom group had objected to Swisscom’s method of paying interest on claims of exorbitant prices for access to the Swisscom copper network. Swisscom wanted to pay interest on repayments based on a reference rate, the 12-month Swiss franc Libor rate, and a 1.3 percent surcharge.
Sunrise has paid too much over the years
This interest rate model was used for years until Sunrise called for a new rate regulation based on weighted average cost of capital (WACC) in April 2019. Sunrise argued that the repayment rate based on the Libor reference rate means that repayments have practically no interest due to negative interest rates in recent years.
As the two telecom companies failed to reach an agreement, Sunrise appealed to the Federal Communications Commission (Comcom). The telecom industry regulator decided in favor of Sunrise. Swisscom took the case to the Federal Administrative Court.
This, as can be seen from the ruling published Wednesday, dismissed Swisscom’s complaint: “In a nutshell, the lower court has properly exercised its discretion, relying on the industry’s WACC.”
According to the Federal Administrative Court, this decision cannot be appealed to the Federal Supreme Court either. So it is certain.
The exact amount is still open
Winner Sunrise was pleased with the decision: With interest based on the weighted average cost of capital in the telecommunications industry, Sunrise is being compensated for the initial inability to invest elsewhere due to Swisscom prices being too high. high. At the same time, the WACC rate of interest is intended to prevent Swisscom from charging access prices that are too high, thereby depriving Sunrise of money for a time.
Sunrise did not want to disclose the amounts in question. Swisscom also did not specify any amount. A company spokesperson said Swisscom regrets the decision of the Federal Administrative Court and will adjust the contracts according to the new interest rate regulation. (SDA/shq)