Swisscom is defeated by the Federal Administrative Court against Sunrise

Swisscom has suffered another legal defeat. The Federal Administrative Court ruled in favor of Sunrise in the interest payment dispute.

The second-largest Swiss telecom group had objected to the way Swisscom paid interest on claims for excessive prices for access to the Swisscom copper network. Swisscom wanted to pay interest on the recoveries based on a reference rate, namely the 12-month Libor interest in Swiss francs, plus a surcharge of 1.3 percent.

This interest rate model was used for years until, in April 2019, Sunrise advocated a new interest rate regulation based on the weighted average cost of capital (WACC). Because interest on chargebacks based on the Libor reference rate has ensured that the negative interest on chargebacks in recent years has meant that virtually no interest has been received, Sunrise argued.

Because the two telecom companies could not reach an agreement, Sunrise went to the Federal Communications Commission (Comcom). The regulator of the telecom industry ruled in favor of Sunrise. Swisscom has submitted the case to the Federal Administrative Court.

Swisscom complaint rejected

This dismissed Swisscom’s complaint, as evidenced by the judgment published Wednesday (today): “In short, the lower court correctly exercised its discretion in relying on the industry’s WACC.”

According to the Federal Administrative Court, this ruling cannot be appealed to the Federal Supreme Court either. So it is final.

In a statement, the winner Sunrise was satisfied with the verdict: With interest based on the weighted average cost of capital in the telecommunications industry, Sunrise will be compensated for the fact that the money could not initially be invested elsewhere because Swisscom’s prices were too high . high. At the same time, the WACC interest is intended to prevent Swisscom from charging too high access prices and thereby temporarily depriving Sunrise of money.

Sunrise does not want to disclose the amounts involved. Swisscom also did not mention any amounts. A spokeswoman for the company said Swisscom regretted the Federal Administrative Court’s ruling and would amend contracts accordingly to reflect the new interest rate regulation. (saw/sda/awp)