As the Neue Züricher Zeitung (NZZ) reports, Switzerland could face harsh restrictions due to the high network load due to the corona crisis. Video streaming and similar data-intensive services are in danger of being blocked.
What is the situation in Switzerland?
According to the NZZ, the network of the Swiss Confederation's largest telecommunications provider, Swisscom, had not passed the stress test due to the increased data traffic.
According to this, the mobile network is currently loaded three times more than normal, and the same applies to the fixed network. As a result, interruptions are said to have increased.
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The data network is therefore not yet so badly affected there are sufficient reserves, nevertheless, there may be selective overloads. The Swiss Federal Council therefore appeals to the citizens' common sense to use the services of the telecommunications providers with caution.
Nevertheless, the Federal Council is quoted as saying that there could also be more drastic measures:
"If serious bottlenecks arise, the federal government has the option of restricting or blocking non-supply-related services."
Why the threat?
The Swiss are obviously particularly concerned about the view to Spain, as the NZZ writes. There, the telecommunications companies also issued a joint statement warning against the cautious use of the network infrastructure.
But Spain even has a better digital network than Switzerland. According to Statista, Spain is in sixth place internationally with a fiber share of 68.5 percent (as of June 2019), Switzerland in 23rd place with 19.9 percent.
Could something similar threaten for Germany?
With a share of 3.6 percent (as of June 2019), Germany is once again significantly behind Switzerland in 33rd place.
Nevertheless, according to Deutsche Telekom, there is no risk of failure of the telecommunications network in this country. So far, however, it has not been possible to conclusively assess whether there could be restrictions in an emergency.
