Sustainability Report
2018

Annual Report 
publications
The Annual Report, Sustainability Report and 2018 at a glance together make up Swisscom’s reporting 
on 2018. The three publications are available online at: swisscom.ch/report2018
“Inspiring people” concept
The networked world offers countless opportunities that we can begin to shape today.  
Top quality, groundbreaking innovation, deep-rooted commitment – we feel lucky to be able  
to inspire people and to lead them to embrace the opportunities that a networked future offers.
The images used in our reporting show how and where we inspired people in 2018:  
from high in the Alps to people’s homes, in business and in our Swisscom Shops.
A big thank-you to all who took the time to pose for these photographs: Pius and Jeanette Jöhl 
with their kids at the Oberchäseren alp, a houseshare with friends in Zurich (Seraina Cadonau, 
Anna Spiess,  Linard Baer and Johannes Schutz), Ypsomed AG in Burgdorf, Stefan Mauron,  
our customer  Jeannette  Furter, and the entire crew at House of Swisscom in Basel.
Annual Report
2018
Sustainability Report
2018
at a glance
 2018

Fulﬁlling the  
expectations of our  
stakeholder groups in  
a responsible manner.
Corporate Responsibility

Introduction
Stakeholders’ letter  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Sustainable environment  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Material issues  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
Corporate 
Responsibility strategy
Priorities and objectives up until 2020 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
Priorities and objectives up until 2025 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14
Swisscom’s contribution to the SDGs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
CR targets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16
Corporate responsibility – governance and implementation  . . . .21
Ethics in the digital world . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22
Management approaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
Responsibility towards 
the public
Swisscom’s commitment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26
Actor in public debates  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26
Accessibility  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27
Energy efficiency and 
climate protection 
Management approach  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29
Energy efficiency: energy consumption and savings at 
Swisscom  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30
The 2:1 climate protection target in detail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33
Portfolio: offers for CO2 savings  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34
Carbon footprint  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36
Other environmental aspects in the company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37
Environmental key figures in Switzerland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41
Work and life 
Management approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42
Portfolio: offers in the healthcare sector  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43
Low-radiation communications technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44
Media skills and 
security
Management approach  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46
Data protection  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46
Media protection for minors and promoting media skills  . . . . . . .47
Internet for Schools initiative  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48
Responsible employer
Management approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50
General terms and conditions of employment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50
Training and education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52
Diversity and equal opportunities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54
Occupational health and safety  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56
Fair supply chain 
Management approach  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60
Supplier risk management  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60
Circular economy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64
Networked 
Switzerland 
Management approach  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66
Basic service provision  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67
Net neutrality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67
Internet of Things . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67
Innovation and 
development 
Management approach  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69
Innovation focused on specific topics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71
About this report 
Scope of the report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74
Reporting: procedure and organisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74
SGS verification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
GRI Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77

3
Corporate Responsibility | Introduction
Introduction
The Sustainability Report was drawn up in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards 
“Comprehensive” option and forms part of Swisscom’s reporting. It addresses sustainability as a Swisscom 
Corporate Responsibility and contains information on the topics that are relevant for Swisscom and its 
stakeholder groups. This report is also based on the “SDG Compass”, i.e. the guide for implementing the 
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations (UN). In addition, Swisscom publishes a complete 
climate report in accordance with ISO 14064. Both reports were independently verified by the Société Générale 
de Surveillance (SGS). The statement of verification by the SGS is provided at the end of this Sustainability 
Report. Swisscom also voluntarily chose the opting-in option and registered its Sustainability Report with SIX 
Exchange Regulation AG. Fastweb, the Italian subsidiary of Swisscom, publishes its own Sustainability Report 
and follows the “Core” option in the GRI Standards.
N See www.swisscom.ch/climatereport2018

4
Corporate Responsibility | Introduction
 Stakeholders’ letter 
Dear Readers
When referring to our country’s excellent economic performance and political stability, Switzerland is often 
deemed an “exceptional case”. But Switzerland is exceptional in other respects as well, as illustrated by the latest 
rankings awarded by the Digital Access Index, which measures access to information and communication technol-
ogies in different countries. Of the 157 countries using digitisation to increase sustainability, Switzerland ranks an 
impressive number eight. How much did Swisscom, as the leading telecommunications enterprise and one of the 
leading IT companies in Switzerland, contribute to this result? What do you think? Can we take credit for a small 
part of this? If not today, then definitely tomorrow! During the reporting year, we gave intensive consideration to 
the relationship between digitisation and sustainability and made it our goal to become even better at what we 
already do well and to become really good at what we are not yet so good at. Internal staff as well as external 
partners helped us identify the key levers in Swisscom’s sustainability system and use them effectively. 
The outcome of this critical self-assessment undertaken with the assistance of external partners was a positive 
one. Namely, it showed us that we are on the right track. You, our stakeholders and the public at large all want 
Swisscom to be actively committed to climate protection and energy efficiency, media competency and 
security, quality of life and work, a fair supply chain and a networked Switzerland.
Your expectations motivate us to achieve even more. We are not afraid to say that we can do better and more 
fully realise our potential in the following areas:
● Climate protection – by offering flexible working options, services delivered from our energy-efficient data centres 
and remote monitoring and optimisation of vehicles and buildings via machine-to-machine  connections.
● Being a responsible employer – by training around 1,000 apprentices, enhancing the employability of our 
staff, including people with impairments and promoting staff involvement in our Corporate Volunteering 
Programme “Give&Grow”. 
● Fair supply chains – by means of audits and campaigns among our suppliers, geared towards improving 
working conditions.
But, we are also looking ahead to the future and want to facilitate sustainability at Swisscom in the coming 
years by adopting positions. What we do and what we don’t do should always serve the good of people, the 
environment or the economy. People, the environment and the economy are at the heart of our new Corporate 
Responsibility strategy. Many of our current commitments we want to maintain, some we want to build up, 
and others we want to withdraw from, always with the goal of better supporting the people, environment and 
economy in Switzerland.
The “Swiss” part of Swisscom’s name means we have an obligation to contribute to Switzerland’s welfare and 
standard of living through the actions we take in the interest of sustainability. It is another interesting fact 
that, according to the Human Development Index of the United Nations, Switzerland is the country with the 
third highest quality of life in the world. In this and many other respects, Switzerland proves yet again to be 
exceptional in the best sense of the word.
Kind regards
Stefan Nünlist
Head of Group Communications & Responsibility
Res Witschi
Head of Corporate Responsibility

5
Corporate Responsibility | Introduction
Sustainable environment 
Swisscom attaches a great deal of importance to 
sustainability. Our main aim is to use resources 
efficiently, to think ahead and make provisions for 
future changes, and to ensure that our communica-
tion is based on dialogue and credibility. As a market, 
technology and innovation leader, a national 
 infrastructure provider and a company committed to 
Switzerland, Swisscom holds a special position. 
Coupled with the expectations of the various 
stakeholder groups – especially customers, employees 
and the federal government as principal shareholder 
and as legislator – this position places high demands 
on the company as regards sustainability. Sustainable 
management and long-term responsibility are among 
the core values to which Swisscom is committed. 
They are reflected in Swisscom’s vision, values, 
promise, corporate business strategy and code of 
conduct and are addressed in detail in the Corporate 
Responsibility (CR) strategy 
Framework conditions and 
implementation of 2030 Agenda
The framework conditions for sustainable action are 
determined by the expectations of target groups and 
by politics and Swiss law. The “Sorgenbarometer” 
(literally “worry barometer”) measures the concerns 
of Switzerland’s population about issues such as 
employment, joblessness among the young, educa-
tion, family, climate change and economic growth. 
In 2015, the United Nations adopted its agenda for 
sustainable development (2030 Agenda) and the 
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The UN’s 
2030 Agenda is the first comprehensive roadmap for 
sustainable development. It serves as a guide to both 
the public and private sectors. In 2016, Swisscom 
analysed the potential of the Agenda and subse-
quently followed its development. In a first step, 
Swisscom evaluated its contributions to the SDGs, 
and 169 individual SDGs were reviewed to ascertain 
their relevance for Swisscom. In a second step, 
Swisscom participated in two progressive projects 
focused on implementation of the SDGs. Swisscom 
cooperated on the “Gap Frame Tools” project of the 
Business School Lausanne and participated in the 
federal government’s consultation process. The 
consultation was a participatory process in which 
stakeholders contribute to determining Switzerland’s 
SDG status. The SDGs were incorporated into 
Swisscom’s Sustainability Report for the first time in 
2017, thus positioning Swisscom as a pioneer in the 
implementation of the 2030 Agenda in Switzerland. 
In 2018, Swisscom took part in the study “Enabling 
the Global Goals” conducted by the Global e-Sustain-
ability Initiative (GeSI), an umbrella organisation for 
companies in the information and communication 
sector. Urs Schaeppi, CEO of Swisscom, commented 
on the importance of the SDGs and this study as 
follows: “Swisscom will make its contribution to 
meeting the development goals of the UN and will 
rely on the GeSI study in formulating the measures 
needed to achieve this. This study clearly shows that 
digital solutions drive sustainable development.”
Opportunities and challenges provided by 
digitisation for Swisscom
The digitisation of society is a fundamental develop-
ment that on the one hand influences Swisscom’s 
actions and strategies, and on the other hand 
influences Swisscom itself. It harbours both risks and 
opportunities, as surveys and discussions with 
interest groups have shown. 
Swisscom makes use of the opportunities, while 
remaining conscious of the risks, and has established 
an office that is dedicated to addressing ethical issues. 
Here are a few examples of opportunities and risks:
● Digitisation creates jobs, but also makes other jobs 
redundant in turn.
● Artificial intelligence can offer added value but can 
also be considered a threat. 
● Information and communication technology plays 
an important role in facilitating a sustainable way 
of life in metropolitan areas (SDG 11 “Sustainable 
Cities and Communities”), but also results in an 
increase in the consumption of resources and 
energy. 
Can sustainability and smartness of a city be 
measured?
To answer this question, the International Telecom-
munication Union (ITU) joined with other UN 
organisations to found the U4SSC (United for Smart 
and Sustainable Cities) initiative. One of the goals of 
the initiative was to provide cities with a tool for 
measuring sustainability and smartness. Another was 
to promote the idea of sustainable, intelligent cities. 
The town of Pully in the canton of Vaud decided to 
join forces with Swisscom to become the third such 
place in the world – after Dubai and Singapore. The 
town’s administrative bodies gathered information 
on around 100 economic, environmental and social 
indicators that describe the town’s current status. The 
economic, environmental and social indicators 
measure, for example, public transport offerings, the 
unemployment rate, air quality and the number of 
intelligent remote meters for water and power 
consumption. After the first phase of evaluating the 
indicators and obtaining U4SSC certification, it 
became clear that threshold and target values had to 
be defined in order to ensure that this work could 
actually be applied and communicated. In other 
words, laws, ordinances and regulations had to be 
identified that can provide target values for each of 
the indicators evaluated? After determining these 
target values, the project team is now drawing up a 
report that is to be published in 2019. The aim of this 
project is to provide a tool that aids policy-making, so 
as to facilitate intelligent and sustainable manage-

6
Corporate Responsibility | Introduction
ment of cities and to ultimately be able to better 
define priorities when implementing new projects.
UN Sustainable Development Goals

7
Corporate Responsibility | Introduction
 Value chain, supply chain and key aspects 
of Corporate Responsibility 
Swisscom generates the bulk of its added value in 
Switzerland. In 2016, activities abroad accounted for 
8% (prior year: 9%) of the Group’s added value from 
operations. Swisscom’s business is described in detail 
in the Management Commentary.
Swisscom’s supply chains for direct suppliers (Tier 1 
and 2) are located mainly in Europe, the US and Asia. 
They are part of the electronics sector, mainly 
entertainment electronics, hardware for data process-
ing and network equipment. The raw materials 
contained in Swisscom’s various products stem from 
a wide range of countries and regions. Questions are 
increasingly being raised on the origin of the raw 
materials used and the associated environmental and 
sociological risks. Swisscom’s active collaboration on 
the Global e-Sustainability Initiative (GeSI) indirectly 
makes Swisscom a supporter of the Responsible 
Mining Initiative (RMI) of the Responsible Business 
Alliance (RBA). The goal of this initiative is to more 
strictly monitor the origin of conflict minerals. The 
products in question are manufactured abroad and 
imported into Switzerland for final consumption. 
They support the services and brands of the Swisscom 
Group. Both positive and negative effects on the 
environment, economy and society are created along 
the value and supply chains: 
● The provision of consumer and investment items 
and their transport to Switzerland have ecological 
effects on the use of energy and resources as well 
as on CO2 emissions.
● The provision of infrastructure and telecommuni-
cation services plays a role in ensuring Switzer-
land’s economic development and competitive-
ness. 
● Using Swisscom services offers advantages to 
customers, but also entails certain technical and 
social challenges.
● Creating and maintaining jobs in Switzerland and 
within the supply chains has social and macroeco-
nomic implications.
Swisscom assesses the effects on the environment, 
economy and society mentioned above according to 
their importance. It also involves stakeholder groups 
in the assessment, enabling strategic priorities to be 
defined precisely.
The added value statement and the distribution of 
added value are addressed in the Management 
Commentary of the Annual Report, in the “Financial 
review” section on page 44 ff.
Stakeholder involvement 
Swisscom fosters dialogue with its most important 
stakeholder groups through electronic media, over 
the phone, through surveys, information events, 
business meetings and conferences, as well as in 
customers’ homes and in the Swisscom Shops. The 
stakeholders selected for inclusion in the survey are 
chosen based on the themes relevant to the sustaina-
bility strategy. The stakeholders surveyed have to be 
active in the core Swiss market and their interests not 
yet systematically recorded. In 2018, as in previous 
years, Swisscom acknowledged the concerns of the 
various stakeholder groups, treated them with 
priority and, for instance, took them into account in 
the implementation of its current Corporate Respon-
sibility (CR) strategy. In 2018, Swisscom surveyed its 
most important stakeholder groups. The survey is 
conducted every two years, i.e. the next time will be 
in 2020. The expectations of the stakeholder groups 
have changed, which led to the CR strategy being 
further developed during the reporting year. In order 
to ensure the proximity to and continuous contact 
with the individual stakeholder groups, Swisscom 
decentralised its stakeholder group management. The 
CR Executive Dialogue was continued in 2018 by 
mandate of the Group Executive Board as part of the 
CR strategy revision process. In this dialogue, mem-
bers of senior management, including the Group 
Increasing positive impact
Minimizing negative impact
Supplier
Business
Use
Recycling 
and disposal

8
Corporate Responsibility | Introduction
Executive Board, discuss one or more of the six 
strategic Corporate Responsibility targets with 
leaders of stakeholder groups. Among other things, 
this included engaging in dialogue with WWF Switzer-
land about how digitisation promoted sustainability 
in 2018. With regard to social sustainability, an 
intensive exchange took place at management level 
with NGOs concerning the shut-down of the letshelp.
ch crowdfunding platform. An alternative crowdfund-
ing platform solution was found.
In-depth stakeholder analysis for the new CR 
strategy
The revision of the CR strategy included a comprehen-
sive internal and external analysis of stakeholder 
interests. The strengths and weaknesses of the 
existing CR strategy were evaluated from the point of 
view of the stakeholders, as well as the impacts of the 
business activities of Swisscom stakeholder groups. 
Particular attention was paid to the expectations the 
different stakeholder groups have of Swisscom as a 
“corporate citizen”.
Internal analysis
● Board of Directors / Group Executive Board 
members: in qualitative interviews, members of 
the Board of Directors and Group Executive Board 
addressed the challenges that ecological, social 
and governance issues present.
● CR Team / CR SPOCS (internal contact partners) 
and subsidiaries: in a questionnaire, line managers 
at all levels responded to questions about the 
anchoring of the current strategy and their new 
expectations.
● CR Team: the CR Team worked together with 
Group Strategy and Board Services to analyse the 
relevant growth areas of Swisscom with respect to 
their sustainability. The results confirmed the 
external analysis: the greatest challenges in future 
will lie in the ethical awareness of management 
and the responsible, transparent handling of data.
External analysis
● Stakeholder survey: the survey of major stake-
holder groups, which is conducted every two years, 
was extended to cover the issues of radiation, 
environment, society, new technology and ethics, 
bringing the total of the topics addressed in the 
survey to eight. This was in response to feedback 
gathered in the most recent survey. 
● Trend scouting: trend scouting was also expanded 
to include two new themes – “data security” and 
“mobile network-environment-society” – in 
response to the stakeholder survey. 
● Benchmarking: with a view to formulating a new 
CR strategy, Swisscom developed a set of bench-
marks based on a comparison of 15 international 
telecommunication companies and input from 
external support.
● SDGs: Swisscom analysed its contribution to the 
SDGs in detail. SDG 11 “Sustainable Cities and 
Communities” was identified as a particularly 
relevant goal with substantial business potential 
for Swisscom. Consequently, in 2018 Swisscom 
established the new “Smart City” business area in 
its business customers segment.
Swisscom drew the following conclusions from these 
internal and external analyses:
● The updated CR strategy is now built on three 
pillars and incorporates the new topics identified 
in the analysis. Priorities were set for the contribu-
tions Swisscom makes to the benefit of the 
environment and society and for the company’s 
responsibilities in the area of digitisation. A 
particularly strong focus is on energy efficiency 
and climate protection, responsible use of 
technologies (technology assessment), the 
challenges of a circular economy (customer and 
supplier sides), secure access to new technologies 
and the role IT infrastructure plays in Switzerland’s 
competitiveness and quality of life.
● Governance was adjusted in line with the new 
strategy, as approved by the Group Executive 
Board at its meeting of 14 October 2018. A new 
function was created in the Ethics Officer. This role 
was assigned to the Head of Group Communica-
tions & Responsibility. In addition, the instruments 
for strengthening employee community were 
further developed and the dialogue with stake-
holder groups was enhanced.

9
Corporate Responsibility | Introduction
 Dialogue with stakeholder groups and 
strategic priorities 
A dialogue is entered into with stakeholder groups 
depending on how close the relationship is and on the 
individual stakeholder group’s interests. However, the 
size of the respective stakeholder group is the decisive 
factor in the kind of dialogue that is possible. 
Customers
Swisscom systematically consults residential custom-
ers on their needs and their level of satisfaction. 
Customer relationship managers learn about 
customers’ needs through their direct contact with 
them. Swisscom also conducts regular representative 
surveys addressing the issues of reputation and 
customer satisfaction. One reason for this is to 
determine the extent to which customers perceive 
Swisscom as an environmentally responsible and 
socially aware company. 
Quarterly surveys are conducted among business 
customers, which include questions on sustainability. 
Swisscom also maintains regular contact with 
consumer organisations in all language regions of 
Switzerland and runs blogs as well as online discus-
sion platforms. The overall findings of the surveys 
show that customers expect good service, attractive 
pricing, market transparency, responsible marketing 
and the careful handling of data, comprehensive 
network coverage, network stability, low-radiation 
communication technologies and sustainable 
products and services.
Partners and NGOs
Swisscom believes in the importance of sharing 
insights and information with partners within the 
framework of projects; for example, with WWF, 
myclimate, the Swiss Child Protection Foundation, 
Bread for all, Fastenopfer and organisations that 
address the special needs of affected groups. Active 
partnerships and Swisscom’s social and ecological 
commitment are especially relevant for the partners 
and NGO stakeholder group. The Swisscom website 
provides an overview of the individual stakeholder 
groups.
N See www.swisscom.ch/cr-partnerships
Investors and rating agencies
Besides the Annual General Meeting, Swisscom 
regularly fosters dialogue with shareholders at 
analysts’ presentations, road shows and in teleconfer-
ences. Over the years, it has also built up contacts 
with numerous external investors and rating 
agencies. Shareholders and external investors expect 
above all growth, profitability and predictability from 
Swisscom. 
Customers
Partners/NGOs
Shareholders 
and ratings 
Agencies
Authorities  
and legislators
Suppliers
Media
Public
Employees and 
employee representation
Energy efficiency 
and climate 
protection
Work and life
Media skills 
and security
Responsible  
employer
Fair  
supply chain
Networked  
Switzerland

10
Corporate Responsibility | Introduction
Authorities
Swisscom maintains close contact with public 
authorities at various levels. A key issue in its dealings 
with this stakeholder group is the expansion of the 
network infrastructure. Mobile data applications are 
becoming increasingly popular with customers. But 
while mobile communications are clearly appreciated 
and widely used, the expansion of the infrastructure 
required to provide these services does not always 
meet with the same level of support. 
Network expansion can be a subject of dispute owing 
to the different interests at stake. Swisscom has been 
engaged in dialogue with municipal authorities and 
residents on network planning for many years. In the 
case of construction projects, it gives the parties 
affected an opportunity to suggest suitable alterna-
tive locations. Swisscom also liaises regularly with 
public authorities in other areas and on other 
occasions. For example, within the context of the 
two-day “Internet for Schools” seminar, which is held 
annually, Swisscom promotes dialogue with the ICT 
heads of the cantonal education authorities. Public 
authorities expect Swisscom to act firmly in honour-
ing the responsibility it has towards the public at 
large and towards young people.
Legislators
Swisscom addresses issues of political and regulatory 
relevance and is in regular dialogue with authorities, 
political parties and associations. Wherever Swisscom 
makes a constructive contribution to the legislative 
process, it always aims for full compliance in the 
application of the law.
Suppliers
Swisscom’s procurement organisations regularly 
address issues concerning suppliers and supplier 
relationship management, analysing the results of 
evaluations, formulating target agreements and 
reviewing performance. Once a year, they invite their 
main suppliers to a Key Supplier Day. The focus of the 
event is on risk mitigation and responsibility in the 
supply chain. In the interests of maintaining dialogue 
with global suppliers, Swisscom also relies on 
international cooperation within the relevant sectors.
Media
Swisscom maintains close contact with the media 
and is available to them seven days a week. Its 
relationship with the media is based on professional 
journalistic principles. In addition to the Media Office, 
representatives of management maintain a regular 
dialogue with journalists and make themselves 
available for interviews and more in-depth back-
ground discussions. 
Public
We maintain contact with the public directly via the 
Swisscom website, through social media, through 
surveys of the public, at trade fairs and as part of 
events. 
Employees and employee representation
Using a wide range of communication platforms and 
activities, Swisscom promotes a corporate culture 
that encourages dialogue and cross-collaboration 
between employees. The CEO and top management 
travel across Switzerland several times a year to meet 
with staff locally. Twice a year, Swisscom’s employees 
are asked to share their opinions about their individ-
ual situations and issues concerning the company’s 
organisation. These surveys allow every employee 
and team as well as the entire organisation to 
respond to feedback and make improvements.
Helping to shape Swisscom’s future is one of the most 
important tasks of the Employee Representation 
Committee. This committee comprises 43 members 
(one representative for every 400 employees) 
distributed across seven representations. Twice a year, 
Swisscom organises a round-table meeting with the 
employee representatives. Employee concerns mainly 
relate to social partnership, training and develop-
ment, diversity, and health and safety at work.

11
Corporate Responsibility | Introduction
 Material issues 
Criteria of materiality 
Swisscom applied the following qualitative criteria for 
assessing the materiality of each of the sustainability 
topics for its activities and reporting in the year under 
review:
● Importance with respect to the norms and 
standards of Swisscom (Vision, Values, Promise, 
Code of Conduct)
● Significance and relevance for the stakeholder 
groups of Swisscom
● Bearing on impacts caused by Swisscom
● Effects on the company’s financial position, results 
of operations and reputation
Classification of sustainability topics in the 
materiality matrix 
The sustainability topics can be classified in a 
materiality matrix based on the impacts Swisscom’s 
activities have, the relevance of the topic to 
Swisscom’s business strategy and the concerns of 
stakeholder groups. They are examined and dealt 
with internally according to level of importance and 
scope by the bodies that act as contact partners for 
the respective stakeholders. The issues are also 
discussed by other bodies such as division manage-
ment or the Group Executive Board. If necessary, 
these bodies initiate the appropriate measures. 
Division management and the Group Executive Board 
were also informed about the results of the stake-
holder survey. The feedback from the stakeholder 
groups confirms the results of earlier surveys, 
especially as regards the subject of digitisation. The 
risks and rewards associated with digitisation are 
clear to stakeholders, and they expect Swisscom to be 
involved in digitisation. The stakeholder groups, on 
the other hand, are focused on ethical issues and 
make it absolutely clear that impeccable conduct is 
essential. In 2018, Swisscom modified and simplified 
the materiality matrix in line with the revised GRI 
standard. Economic issues are no longer represented 
in the matrix, even though they are by nature of vital 
interest to companies. Some issues have been 
regrouped and others have been removed from the 
matrix because the impacts related to Swisscom are 
of too little relevance.
The issues are arranged alphabetically within the 
boxes of the materiality matrix.
Swisscom materiality matrix 2018
Materiality for stakeholders
relevant
very relevant
Materiality for  Swisscom
relevant
very relevant
Accessibility 1
Low-radiation communications technologies 2
Media skills 3
Occupational Health and safety 4
Data protection 5
Ethics in the digital world 6
Fair supply chain 7
Media protection for minors 8
Networked Switzerland 9
Sustainable portfolio 10
Training and education 11
Agenda 2030 / SDGs 12
Diversity and equal opportunities 13
Circular economy 14
Energy eﬃciency and climate protection 15
Governance and implementation 16
Sustainability Report : 1 page 28, 2 page 45, 3 page 47, 4 page 57, 5 page 47, 6 page 23, 7 page 61,  
8 page 48, 9 page 67, 10 page 44, 11 page 53, 12 page 6, 13 page 55, 14 page 65, 15 page 30, 16 page 22

12
Corporate Responsibility | Introduction
 
N See www.swisscom.ch/strategy
Vision
As number 1, we are shaping the future. 
Together we inspire people in the networked 
world.
Values
trustworthy
We are close to our customers 
and staff and act in a responsible 
and reliable manner.
curious
We are continually developing  
and always grasp new 
opportunities.
committed
We pursue our goals with 
passion and we focus on 
what‘s important.

13
Corporate Responsibility | Corporate Responsibility strategy
Corporate Responsibility 
strategy
Swisscom takes responsibility seriously – now and in the future. To this end, 
it relies on its Corporate Responsibility strategy (CR strategy) and the related 
strategic priorities. Swisscom also integrated the United Nation’s Sustainable 
Development Goals (SDGs) into its CR strategy, and in 2018 it drafted its CR 
strategy for the period up to 2025. Swisscom will uphold its commitment to 
sustainability and remain faithful to the priorities of its current strategy, but 
will focus these priorities better and embed them in the divisional strategies.
Priorities and objectives up until 
2020
Swisscom’s Corporate Responsibility activities focus 
on issues that have high relevance for stakeholder 
groups and at the same time are closely linked to the 
company’s core business. Swisscom’s vision is of a 
modern, forward-looking Switzerland: a country of 
great opportunities, including in the field of sustaina-
bility. Specifically, Swisscom focuses on improving its 
sustainability image and on six areas as strategic 
priorities; in 2015, it set a long-term target to be 
fulfilled by 2020 for each of these areas, based in part 
on two fundamental studies (SMARTer2030 and 
System Transformations, both by the Global e-Sus-
tainability Initiative). The first three strategic priorities 
involve measures aimed at supporting Swisscom’s 
customers in living a more sustainable life. Two of 
these priorities are geared towards its employees and 
partners. The final priority describes an economic 
target for Switzerland.
The CR strategy is described in detail in this Sustaina-
bility Report. Swisscom’s corporate strategy is laid out 
in the section “Strategy and environment” on page 14 
of the Management Commentary of the Annual 
Report.
Sustainability image
Swisscom wants to further improve its public image 
for sustainability
The main objective:
Achieve an average annual RepTrak score for “Citizen-
ship” of over 70. The proportion of people who are 
unable to make a statement about the citizenship 
image of Swisscom should be reduced to under 10%.
Energy efficiency and climate protection
Swisscom wants to further increase its energy 
efficiency by 2020. Together with its customers, 
Swisscom campaigns for climate protection in 
Switzerland.
The main objectives: 
Together with its customers, Swisscom is aiming to 
save twice as much CO2 as it emits through its 
operations, including the supply chain, by 2020. By 
2020, Swisscom also wants to increase energy 
efficiency by another 35% as compared to 1 January 
2016. 
Work and life
Swisscom is committed to a Switzerland worth living 
in.
The main objective: 
By 2020, Swisscom wants to support one million 
people in the use of mobile working models and 
another million in leading a health-conscious lifestyle.
Media skills and security
Swisscom is committed to promoting a Switzerland in 
which browsing the Internet is not dangerous.
The main objective: 
By 2020, Swisscom wants to help one million people 
use media safely and responsibly.
Attractive employer
Swisscom is committed to promoting a working 
environment in which all employees are able to grow 
and excel.
The main objective: 
Achieve a leading position within the ICT sector 
(ranked number 2 by Universum).
Fair supply chain 
Swisscom is committed to promoting a Switzerland 
that fosters fairness throughout the world.

14
Corporate Responsibility | Corporate Responsibility strategy
The main objective: 
Swisscom wants to increase the number of audits 
conducted at its suppliers and thereby enable around 
two million workers to benefit from improved 
working conditions.
Networked Switzerland 
Swisscom is committed to promoting a Switzerland 
that is competitive.
The main objectives: 
Swisscom wants to guarantee ultra-fast fixed-net-
work and mobile broadband coverage throughout 
Switzerland. By 2020, Swisscom wants to supply 85% 
of all homes and businesses with ultra-fast broad-
band and 99% of the population with ultra-fast 
mobile broadband.
Priorities and objectives up until 
2025
Digitisation is impacting the economy and society 
more and more over time. As Switzerland’s leading 
ICT company, Swisscom bears a special responsibility 
in this respect. It has to seize opportunities that could 
benefit the country’s welfare as they arise, while 
keeping a careful eye on potential risks. In other 
words, its involvements and impacts in the future 
must be driven by a keen sense of curiosity but also a 
keen sense of responsibility.
The stakeholder survey carried out in the spring of 
2018 showed that ethics and integrity of action based 
on ethical principles are more important than ever. 
Swisscom therefore endeavours to make technical 
advances accessible to everyone and prevent their 
misuse, honouring principles of ethics and integrity of 
action. The potential of smart data, artificial intelli-
gence, Industry 4.0, smart cities, smart homes and 
eSports presents challenges for society as a whole 
and for companies like Swisscom in particular. 
Moreover, the stakeholder survey shows that while 
Swisscom’s 2020 CR strategy addresses the relevant 
social issues, it no longer fully reflects the rapid 
progress occurring in the industry.
Swisscom has therefore revised and focused its 2020 
CR strategy and geared it to a time horizon up to 
2025. 
2018 will be the last year for which the Sustainability 
Report refers primarily to the 2020 sustainability 
targets. From 2019 onwards, Swisscom will focus on 
the sustainability targets for 2025 and will address 
three core challenges of the digital information 
society in depth:
● The digital skills of people living in a networked 
world have to be honed. While technologies 
advance at great speed, people’s skills do not 
simply change without help. The ability to relate 
competently to a digital “other” is vital in almost 
every area of life – for schoolchildren, for fathers 
and mothers, and for politicians and citizens, 
whether young or old. Anyone embedded in a 
value creation chain has to keep up with the 
demands of the networked world.
● Making a decisive contribution to global climate 
protection is essential. Climate change is a global 
problem of the first order, with repercussions that 
are impacting Switzerland more and more every 
year. All countries must contribute in major ways 
to climate protection. Digitisation harbours 
promising possibilities for this effort.
● Reliable, secure infrastructure is fundamental to 
Switzerland’s competitiveness and quality of life 
and must, therefore, be continually developed.
In response to these challenges, Swisscom has 
formulated three objectives for contributing to the 
well-being of people, the environment and Switzer-
land as a nation:
● Doing more for people: Swisscom enables people 
in Switzerland to make use of the opportunities 
presented by a networked world. It is helping two 
million people to develop their digital skills and is 
improving working conditions in its supply chain, 
and it will maintain this focus until at least 2025. 
Swisscom also provides training to 1,000 appren-
tices.
● Doing more for the environment: Swisscom 
cares about the environment. It is working with 
its customers to reduce its CO2 emissions by 
450,000 tonnes. This corresponds to 1% of 
Switzerland’s greenhouse gas emissions.
● Doing more for Switzerland: Swisscom uses the 
best networks and progressive solutions to create 
added value for its customers, employees, 
shareholders and suppliers, and for Switzerland. 
It provides everyone and all businesses in Switzer-
land with reliable ultrafast broadband. By doing 
this it makes Switzerland a more competitive 
country and a better place to live.
These three objectives are also in compliance with the 
company’s overall goals and the 17 Sustainable 
Development Goals of the United Nations. The new 
strategy retains the earlier objectives in relation to 
media skills, climate protection, being a responsible 
employer, maintaining a fair supply chain and a 
networked Switzerland. The Work Smart initiative is 
being further promoted in the context of the new 
environmental objective. Further details on 
Swisscom’s goals and their implementation will be 
provided in the 2019 Sustainability Report.

15
Corporate Responsibility | Corporate Responsibility strategy
Swisscom’s contribution to the SDGs
SDG  
Swisscom’s contribution to the SDGs  
Further information 
  
Promote the health of the population  
● Offers in the healthcare sector 
  
with offers in the area of health care.  
CR target: Utilisation of health offerings 
  
Promote the health of Swisscom employees  
● Health and safety in the workplace 
  
through occupational health management  
CR target: Occupational health management 
  
as well as occupational health and safety.  
and absence rate 
  
Promote the populations’ media skills.  
● Promoting media skills 
  
  
● Media courses for parents, teaching staff and pupils 
  
  
● Swisscom Academy 
  
  
CR target: Promoting media skills 
  
Contribution to the educational landscape in Switzerland  
● “Internet for Schools” initiative 
  
by providing broadband Internet access for schools.  
CR target: Promoting media skills 
  
As a contribution to diversity and equality,  
● Diversity 
  
the goal is to increase the proportion of women in management.  
CR target: Diversity 
  
Contribution to cheaper and cleaner energy  
● Smart Energy 
  
with the offer tiko power, tiko Storage and virtual power plant  
CR target: CO2 savings by customers 
  
in the sustainable portfolio.  
 
  
Swisscom makes its contribution through measures to boost  
● Energy efficiency and climate protection 
  
energy efficiency and climate protection within the framework  
CR target: Energy efficiency 
  
of the CR strategy.  
 
  
Swisscom offers attractive jobs and working conditions.  
● Staff development 
  
Swisscom’s long-term investments in network and infrastructure  
● Networked Switzerland 
  
are a significant direct and indirect contribution to enhancing  
● Fair supply chain 
  
Switzerland as a place to do business.  
CR target: Responsible employer and Review of working 
  
Swisscom contributes to improved working conditions in the  
conditions of employees working for our suppliers 
  
supply chain.  
 
  
Expansion of the network infrastructure and the sustainable  
● Networked Switzerland 
  
portfolio.  
● Basic service provision 
  
Participation in building up the CO2 sensor network “Carbosense”.  
● Low Power Network 
  
  
CR target: Coverage of Switzerland with ultra-fast 
  
  
broadband 
  
Expansion of the portfolio for sustainable services,  
● Sustainable ICT services for residential customers 
  
especially in the area of IoT and Smart City.  
● Sustainable ICT services for business customers 
  
  
CR target: Expansion of portfolio of sustainable services 
  
  
 
  
By expanding the sustainable portfolio and with initiatives  
● Sustainable portfolio 
  
to take back and recycle end devices, Swisscom is making  
● Circular economy 
  
its contribution.  
CR target: Expansion of portfolio of sustainable services 
  
  
and Mobile telephone return 
  
Expansion of the portfolio of sustainable services  
● Efficiency gains through sustainable ICT services at 
  
for reducing CO2.  
Swisscom 
  
  
CR target: Expansion of portfolio of sustainable services 
  
Swisscom makes its contribution through measures to boost  
● Energy efficiency and climate protection 
  
energy efficiency and climate protection within the framework  
CR target: Energy efficiency 
  
of the CR strategy.

16
Corporate Responsibility | Corporate Responsibility strategy
 CR targets
The most important indicators for the achievement of Swisscom’s CR targets
  
Guidance  
Value  
Target  
Guidance 
Priority of the CR Strategy  
2018  1 
2018  2 
2020  
2019 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Image target / cross-portfolio activities 
 
Main target: Swisscom’s sustainability image  
  
l
  
  
 
Reptrak = standardised tool for image measurement of companies
Anti-corruption (GRI 205-2)
KPI: Citizenship points in Reptrak from the rating by the general public  
>70  
68.8  
>70  
- 
KPI: Share of “do-not-know”-answers Citizenship in Reptrak  
  
  
<10%  
 
2019 measures: 
  
 
● Establishment of the sustainability label and the topic circular econcomy in 
Swisscom Shops
● Actions with public visibility on media skills, circular economy and smart city
● «Together we can increase sustainability» on further products
Expansion of portfolio of sustainable services (SDG 13)  
  
l  
  
Services with ecological or social value. These products are given a label.
The composition of the portfolio varies over the years.
KPI: Increase in the number of services with a sustainability label  
55  
45  
60  
50 
2019 measures: 
  
 
● Evaluation or redesign of suitable services
Mobile telephone return (GRI 301-3, SDG 12)  
  
l  
  
 
Re-use/recycling of mobile phones that are no longer used
KPI: Return rate (percentage of sold mobile phones returned for recycling)  
12%  
10%  
  
12% 
2019 measures: 
  
 
● Increase in return rate over 2016 in the “Mobile Aid” and “Mobile Bonus” programs 
for private customers and “Mobile Bonus Business” for business customers
Reduction in paper consumption (GRI 301-3)  
  
l  
  
 
KPI: Percentage of residential customers and SME clients using online billing  
40%  
39%  
  
43% 
2019 measures: 
  
 
● Further promotion of online billing
● Direct mailing for suitable customer segments
Training for employees at touch points (shop/call center/sales) (GRI 306-5)  
  
l  
  
 
Training in Corporate Responsibility (CR) and in environment and social topics.
Touch point training on the protection of minors in the media carried out
KPI: Conduct training courses on anti-corruption  
occurred  
occurred  
occurred  
- 
2019 measures: 
  
 
● Touch point training on the sustainability benefits offered by Swisscom products
Anti-corruption (GRI 205-2)  
  
l
  
  
 
Conduct training courses on anti-corruption
KPI: Conduct training courses on anti-corruption  
occurred  
occurred  
occurred  
- 
2019 measures: 
  
 
● Only situational training intended
1  The target is considered to have been achieved if it comes within a tolerance of 5%, or not achieved or exceeded if it is outside the tolerance
2  
l = target achieved
  l = target not achieved
3  target exceeded

17
Corporate Responsibility | Corporate Responsibility strategy
 
  
Guidance  
Value  
Target  
Guidance 
Priority of the CR Strategy  
2018  1 
2018  2 
2020  
2019 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Energy efficiency and climate protection 
 
Main target: (GRI 305-2) Increase in the ratio between customers’ CO2 savings  
  
l  
  
 
and Swisscom’s own CO2 emissions (“2:1-target”)  
  
  
  
 
Emissions and savings are recorded in accordance with the ISO 14064
standard, verified externally and disclosed in detail in a climate report
KPI: Ratio of the CO2 savings achieved by customers  
1.60  
1.30  
2  
1.80 
to the sustainable portfolio and Swisscom’s own CO2 emissions  
  
  
  
 
2019 measures: 
  
 
● Further reduce own emissions from operation, including supply chains
● Promotion of existing sustainable services
● Expansion of the portfolio of sustainable services
Main target: Energy efficiency (GRI 302-3, SDG 7, 13)  
  
l  
  
 
Increase in energy efficiency EF
EF = (GEV + ∑ ESP) / GEV
● TEC = Total energy consumption
● AES = Accumulated energy savings
Source: OFEV/FOEN Directive
KPI: Increase in energy efficiency EF in %  
  
20.5%  
35%  
27% 
2019 measures: 
  
 
Implementation of other cost-cutting and efficiency measures (target = 23 GWh) including:
● Dismantlement of analog network and technology improvements
● Increase efficiency in data centers
● Virtualization of servers
Optimisation of CO2 emissions of vehicle fleet  
  
l
  
  
 
Focus on direct emissions from fossil fuels (Scope 1)
KPI: Average CO2 emissions per car in g CO2/km  
102  
104  
95  
101 
according to manufacturer data  
  
  
  
 
2019 measures: 
  
 
● Further implementation of the procurement roadmap
CO2 emissions (GRI 305-1, 305-2)  
  
l  
  
 
CO2 emissions in operations and in the supply chain (excluding Fastweb, energy offset).
Part of the 2:1-target.
KPI: CO2 emissions in tonnes  
360,000  
437,491  
341,000  
400,000 
2019 measures: 
  
 
● Implementation of further efficiency measures
● Improvements jointly implemented with suppliers
CO2 savings by customers thanks to sustainable ICT services (GRI 305-5, SDG 7)  
  
l  
  
 
Sum total of savings achieved by customers through the use of sustainable
Swisscom products. Part of the 2:1-target.
KPI: CO2 savings in tonnes  
569,000  
569,003  
700,000  
625,000 
2019 measures: 
  
 
● Promotion of existing sustainable services such as in the range of Work Smart and 
tiko/Swisscom Energy Solutions
● Expansion of portfolio of sustainable services particular in the range of IoT and 
Smart City
1  The target is considered to have been achieved if it comes within a tolerance of 5%, or not achieved or exceeded if it is outside the tolerance
2  
l = target achieved
  l = target not achieved
3  target exceeded

18
Corporate Responsibility | Corporate Responsibility strategy
 
  
Guidance  
Value  
Target  
Guidance 
Priority of the CR Strategy  
2018  1 
2018  2 
2020  
2019 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Work and life 
 
Main target: Utilisation of mobile working models  
  
l  3 
  
 
Number of people able to work on the move in Switzerland
(according to a survey) multiplied by the average share
of the fixed network and mobile broadband market
KPI: Number of customers  
  
1,102,000  
1,000,000  
 
2019 measures: 
  
 
● Active participation in the Work Smart Initiative
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Media skills and security 
 
Main target: Promoting media skills  
  
l  3 
  
 
Measurement by reference to the number of courses,
visitors media smart platform, reader publications and child protection offerings
KPI: Number of customers (cumulative)  
-  
1,056,142  
1,000,000  
 
2019 measures: 
  
 
● New issue of enter (16th issue); migration media smart on
www.swisscom.ch/storys for the purpose of increasing higher range
● Awareness campaign media usage (Awareness Day)
Participation in media skills courses (GRI 413-1)  
  
l  3 
  
 
Media skills courses for parents, teachers, pupils
(middle and upper school) and Swisscom Academy
KPI: Parents/teachers  
8,000  
9,290  
  
8,000 
KPI: Pupils  
28,000  
35,266  
  
37,000 
KPI: Swisscom Academy  
20,000  
15,027  
  
20,000 
KPI: Total number of visitors  
56,000  
59,583  
  
60,000 
2019 measures: 
  
 
● Expansion of offering by means of an online platform
● Further marketing of the offering with complementary material
● Media courses: Increasing publicity with specific communication measures, 
strengthen capacity of course instructor
● Swisscom Academy: Expansion of online formats such as help videos and webinars 
and focus on the new online-format “Info-Café” (informational events)
Promoting media skills: Visitors to the Media Smart platform (GRI 413-1, SDG 4)  
  
l  
  
 
KPI: Number of visitors on the platforms  
120,000  
18,493  
120,000  
120,000 
2019 measures: 
  
 
● Continuation of SEO (search engine optimization) measures
● Review of the reorientation of the platform
1  The target is considered to have been achieved if it comes within a tolerance of 5%, or not achieved or exceeded if it is outside the tolerance
2  
l = target achieved
  l = target not achieved
3  target exceeded

19
Corporate Responsibility | Corporate Responsibility strategy
 
  
Guidance  
Value  
Target  
Guidance 
Priority of the CR Strategy  
2018  1 
2018  2 
2020  
2019 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Responsible employer 
 
Main target: Establishing the company’s position as one of the most  
  
l  
  
 
popular employers in Switzerland  
  
  
  
 
The position is measured by reference to the “Universe” ranking
by students and professionals
http://universumglobal.com/rankings/company/swisscom/
KPI: Rank students  
-  
4  
2  
- 
KPI: Rank professionals  
-  
2  
2  
- 
2019 measures 
  
 
● Step up communication activities (flexibility & health, Employability, Diversity, 
Corporate Volunteering)
● Positioning as a responsible employer, new consideration of the dimensions of ethics 
and CSR
Diversity (GRI 405-1, SDG 5, 8)  
  
l  
  
 
Increasing diversity among employees, measured by gender distribution, age mix,
nationalities and inclusion.
The Diversity Index is only carried out every two years.
KPI: Diversity Index of Superior School of Lucern (rang)  
-  
4  
1  
 
KPI: share of women in management positions  
-  
11.7%  
13.7%  
 
Decision: Increase by 1% annually  
  
  
  
 
KPI: employees whose performance is impaired due to health problems (inclusion)  
-  
0.93%  
1%  
 
2019 measures 
  
 
● Promotion of flexible working models for women and men at all levels
● Specific training opportunities for women in management positions, Women’s pools 
in recruitment for MINT bodies, ICT weeks for girls
● Inclusion of people with autism in IT testing
Occupational health management OHM (GRI 403-1, SDG 3)  
  
l  
  
 
Staff absence rate constant or reduced over the prior year
KPI: Absences in days/target days (weighted by FTE) x 100  
2.8%  
3.06%  
  
2.8% 
Target days are based on standard working hours.  
  
  
  
 
2019 measures 
  
 
● Transverse projects: BGM@CTP (Customer Touchpoint), introducing mental helath 
training and early identification for line manager
● Learning Lunches Social Media and Food, Mindfulness@Meeting, Mindfulness 
during Lunchtime, Study iCope (Online Stress Training), Webinar menatl health for 
line manager, self-management courses
● Ergonomics-mini-consulting, Leadership & Health, health checks for employees with 
time autonomy, health checks for management staff, Learning-Lunches regulars 
table (discussion about Burnout), Learning-Lunches nutrition
Corporate Volunteering (GRI 413-1)  
  
l  
  
 
KPI: Number of volunteer days Give&Grow  
1,300  
1,072  
  
1,100 
2019 measures 
  
 
● Continuation of the programme in line with the number of volunteer days in 
previous year
1  The target is considered to have been achieved if it comes within a tolerance of 5%, or not achieved or exceeded if it is outside the tolerance
2  
l = target achieved
  l = target not achieved
3  target exceeded

20
Corporate Responsibility | Corporate Responsibility strategy
 
  
Guidance  
Value  
Target  
Guidance 
Priority of the CR Strategy  
2018  1 
2018  2 
2020  
2019 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Fair supply chain 
 
Main target: Review of working conditions of employees working  
  
l  
  
 
for our suppliers (JAC Initiative) (SDG 8)  
  
  
  
 
Number of audits multiplied number of employees at the audited factories
JAC = Joint Audit Cooperation
KPI: Number of employees working at suppliers  
  
1,030,000  
2,000,000  
- 
2019 measures 
  
 
● Expanding the audits of the JAC community through partnership with the EICC
Review of suppliers (GRI 300/400)  
  
l  
  
 
KPI: Number of suppliers that have been audited  
115  
116  
  
125 
KPI: of which led by Swisscom  
5  
5  
  
5 
KPI: Number of suppliers with self-assessment (validated externally)  
150  
153  
  
165 
2019 measures 
  
 
● Intensification of joint activities as part of JAC (audits, qualitative + quantitativ), 
targeted “on-boarding” self-assessment
Review of strategically important suppliers in terms of transparency  
  
l  
  
 
of greenhouse gas emissions (GRI 308-1)  
  
  
  
 
KPI: Number of key suppliers that disclose their climatic data via CDP  
60  
71  
  
73 
CDP = Carbon Disclosure Project  
  
  
  
 
2019 measures 
  
 
● Promotion of participation in CDP, individual supplier dialogue
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Networked Switzerland 
 
Main target:Coverage of Switzerland with fixed ultra-fast broadband  
  
l  
  
 
as a requirement for ind. BIP of CHF 30 billion (GRI 203-1, SDG 9)  
  
  
  
 
KPI: Coverage of households and businesses  
-  
55.9%  
85%  
- 
Ultra-fast broadband = bandwidth (BB) >100 Mbps  
  
  
  
 
Base: 3.6 mio. households and 0.7 mio. businesses (source: FOS)  
  
  
  
 
2019 measures 
  
 
● Roll-out FTTx (x = Home, Street or Curb)
● Increase in bandwidth
Main target:Coverage of Switzerland with fixed ultra-fast broadband  
  
l  
  
 
as a requirement for ind. BIP of CHF 30 billion (GRI 203-1)  
  
  
  
 
KPI: Coverage of population  
-  
99%  
99%  
- 
Ultra-fast broadband = bandwidth up to 150 Mbps  
  
  
  
 
2019 measures 
  
 
● The target is reached with 99% coverage. No new target for 2018 provided.
Further measures: 
  
 
● Development of the mobile network according to the 5G standard
1  The target is considered to have been achieved if it comes within a tolerance of 5%, or not achieved or exceeded if it is outside the tolerance
2  
l = target achieved
  l = target not achieved
3  target exceeded

21
Corporate Responsibility | Corporate Responsibility strategy
 Corporate responsibility – 
governance and implementation 
Strategic goals of the Federal Council
Every four years, the Federal Council defines the goals 
which the Confederation as principal shareholder 
aims to achieve. In 2017, the Federal Council defined 
the goals for the period from 2018 to 2021. It 
continues to expect of Swisscom that, within its 
economic capabilities, it will pursue a corporate 
strategy that is both sustainable and committed to 
ethical principles. 
N See www.swisscom.ch/ziele_2018-2021 (in German)
Incorporation in the strategy
The Board of Directors of Swisscom is committed to 
pursuing a strategy geared towards sustainability. It 
addresses the relevant economic, environmental and 
social issues in plenary sessions. The implementation 
of the strategy is delegated to the CEO of Swisscom 
Ltd. In turn, the CEO can transfer powers and respon-
sibilities to subordinate units and is supported in 
operational management by the members of the 
Group Executive Board. 
The Group Communications & Responsibility (GCR) 
division is responsible for the implementation of the 
corporate responsibility (CR) strategy. Since 2017, it is 
also responsible for taking the Sustainable Develop-
ment Goals (SDGs) and the 2030 Agenda into account 
– and therefore also for the sustainable development 
of Swisscom’s CR strategy.
N See www.swisscom.ch/basicprinciples
Responsibility of the Board of Directors
The Board of Directors approves the goals and 
principles of the Group’s corporate policy. Sustainable 
business management is part of Swisscom’s corporate 
policy. The Board of Directors acknowledges the 
long-term CR strategy with the strategic priorities and 
long-term CR goals, its scope and the corresponding 
governance. It also decides whether the scope of the 
CR strategy should be expanded − for example, to 
include domestic and foreign subsidiaries. Every 
December, the Board of Directors also acknowledges 
the goals for the following year. Every three months, 
the Board of Directors is informed in quarterly 
reports, and also verbally in December, on the 
implementation status of the CR strategy and the 
extent to which the goals have been achieved. 
In December 2015, the Board of Directors acknowl-
edged and agreed with the applicable CR strategy 
2020, its scope and the corresponding governance. 
The new Corporate Responsibility Strategy 2025 was 
approved by the Board of Directors in December 
2018.
Responsibility of the Group Executive 
Board
The Group Executive Board convenes twice a year to 
discuss the further development and implementation 
of the CR strategy. Every November, it reviews the 
past year and approves the goals and measures for 
the coming year. On 14 October 2018 it adopted the 
new CR 2025 strategy. For the priorities of the CR 
strategy, the CEO names Group Executive Board 
members and the Head of Group Communications & 
Responsibility as internal sponsors. These sponsors 
take the long-term CR strategy, use it to define annual 
goals within their priorities and are responsible for 
the progress and achievement of these goals.
The areas of responsibility of the sponsors are aligned 
with the core tasks of the respective Group Executive 
Board members and the Head of Group Communica-
tions & Responsibility. They were confirmed by the 
CEO at the meeting of the Group Executive Board held 
on 12 June 2017 and are set out as follows: 
● Overall management: Head of Group Communica-
tions & Responsibility
● Energy efficiency and climate protection: Head of 
IT, Network & Infrastructure (network issues), 
Head of Group Business Steering (CFO) (mobility 
and real estate issues), Head of Enterprise Custom-
ers (new from 2018: smart city as contribution to 
climate protection)
● Work and life: Head of Products & Marketing 
(sustainable residential customers portfolio), Head 
of Enterprise Customers (sustainable corporate 
customers portfolio)
● Media skills: Head of Products & Marketing 
(sustainable residential customers portfolio), Head 
of Sales & Services (sales portfolio and customer 
support)
● Responsible employer: Head of Group Human 
Resources
● Fair supply chain: Head of Group Business Steering 
● Networked Switzerland: Head of IT, Network & 
Infrastructure
These areas of responsibility ensure that the priorities 
of the CR strategy are binding and firmly embedded 
in the company. 
The Group Executive Board has the following 
controlling instruments at its disposal:
● Weekly reports prepared by Group Communica-
tions & Responsibility, with information on the 
measures implemented and project status
● Quarterly reports with information on the main 
KPIs (key performance indicators) based on the 
priorities of the CR strategy
● Quarterly reports drawn up by Risk Management
● A six-monthly status report
Role of Group Communications & 
Responsibility
The Group Communications & Responsibility division 
and the Corporate Responsibility (CR) team attached 
to this division are responsible for coordinating the 
implementation of the CR strategy and leveraging

22
Corporate Responsibility | Corporate Responsibility strategy
synergies across all divisions. The CR team’s specific 
tasks include: 
● Drawing up the CR strategy (goals/priorities) in 
conjunction with line and support units
● Taking into account the SDGs and 2030 Agenda for 
the sustainable development of Swisscom’s CR 
strategy
● Supporting the sponsors from the Group Executive 
Board
● Coordinating implementation of the strategy and 
initiation of measures
● Formulating the requirements for the implementa-
tion of the CR strategy
● Engaging in dialogue with stakeholder groups
● Engaging in dialogue with strategic partners 
(including NGOs)
● Reporting to internal and external stakeholder 
groups
● Liaising with the Group Business Steering division 
within the context of sustainability reporting and 
drawing up the Annual Report
Line units and the corporate responsibility 
network
Depending on the strategic priority in question, CR 
measures are implemented by either project teams or 
line units. Additional management members are also 
designated in each division and these persons are 
responsible for engaging with the measures at an 
operational level in close collaboration with the CR 
team. An event is held at least once a year for all of 
the members of the CR network for the purpose of 
exchanging information and exploring new issues. 
Members of the Group Executive Board 
and their responsibilities 
The diagram below illustrates the role of members of 
the Group Executive Board in providing support and 
advice to the line units.
Ethics in the digital world
Ethics is no mere abstract concept for Swisscom. It is 
the frame of reference for everything Swisscom has 
been doing for many years. The public’s interest in an 
ethical economy has risen dramatically – and 
stakeholders’ demands that companies act with 
integrity are justified. Swisscom is therefore devoting 
a new section to ethics in this report.
Swisscom acts in such a way as not to disadvantage 
its customers, the economy, the environment, the 
general public, social groups, individuals or itself. It 
acts in the knowledge that it maintains its competi-
tive position not only through offering convincing 
products and services – acting with integrity and on 
the basis of ethical principles is just as important for 
its market position. Swisscom is committed to 
transparency and open dialogue with the public. It 
also encourages its employees to ask themselves on a 
daily basis whether their decisions and actions 
comply with the norms and values of the company 
and society. Swisscom is only economically successful 
if there is harmony between the company and society 
– in other words, if Swisscom remains close to its 
customers and employees and acts responsibly, 
Strategy
Board of Directors
Decisions
Reporting
Steering
Group Executive Board (GEB)
Targets
Reporting
Steering/ 
Coordination
Performance 
measurement
KPIs Tracking
GEB members 
as sponsors 
of priority areas
Periodical 
reviews
Group  
Communications & 
Responsibility 
 
• Responsible for ethics 
• Dedicated CR-Team
Stakeholder 
dialogue
Dialogue 
with the CR-
Community
Integrated reporting 
according to GRI standards
Decisions
Reporting
Functional 
controlling
Engagement 
Implementation
CR network in the lines and project teams

23
Corporate Responsibility | Corporate Responsibility strategy
reliably and trustworthily. The trust placed in it places 
an obligation on Swisscom in its day-to-day opera-
tions and makes a significant contribution to its 
market success, credibility and reputation. 
As its main shareholder, the Confederation expects 
Swisscom to pursue a corporate strategy that is, to 
the extent that it is economically possible, both 
sustainable and committed to ethical principles.
N See www.swisscom.ch/ziele_2018-2021 (in German)
Swisscom lives up to this demand for legality and 
legitimacy in its actions through its commitment to 
the environment, society and the economy, in both 
the analogue and digital worlds. Swisscom’s ethical 
standards are intended to ensure that the company 
and all its stakeholder groups benefit equally. 
Swisscom is aware that there are conflicting objec-
tives, but actively addresses these and strives to 
collaborate to identify solutions that accord with its 
corporate culture. 
Ethical standards affect the entire company. 
Swisscom trusts all its employees and expects them 
to act with integrity. Management sets an example in 
this regard. The Head of Group Communications & 
Responsibility, who participates in the meetings of 
the extended Group Executive Board, is also the 
person responsible for Swisscom’s ethics. Since the 
year under review, he has been responsible for ethical 
issues and impact assessments relating to Swisscom’s 
business activities; he scrutinises issues concerned 
with integrity, raises awareness among employees 
and conducts an open dialogue with them. We have 
set ourselves the goal of establishing this dialogue in 
suitable, existing or new, internal and external 
channels in the coming year. If employees feel that a 
business activity may be incompatible with the values 
and standards of Swisscom or society as a whole, they 
can report this at any time without fear of retribution. 
Swisscom embodies its responsibilities through its 
commitment to greater sustainability. Its 2025 
Sustainability Strategy creates added value for society 
and the environment and stands for ethically 
responsible entrepreneurship. Among other things, 
Swisscom makes a contribution to energy efficiency 
and climate protection, aims to improve the quality of 
people’s everyday lives in a smart manner, advocates 
fair working conditions in Switzerland and abroad, 
promotes the development of its employees and is 
committed to fostering better media skills in Switzer-
land. All these commitments are binding on Swisscom 
employees in their daily work. Projects and commit-
ments are examined to ensure that they are not only 
profitable, but also meet Swisscom’s high sustainabil-
ity standards and hence have a positive impact in the 
long term.
Swisscom actively participated in public discussions 
on the following issues during the year under review:
● Human rights: the protection of human rights is an 
integral part of Swisscom’s corporate culture. 
Swisscom aligns itself with international standards 
and supports a solution-oriented approach, in the 
interest of the common good and in the interest of 
the company. 
N See www.swisscom.ch/humanrights
● Code of Conduct: bearing responsibility, complying 
with rules, being honest and reporting violations 
– Swisscom’s Code of Conduct contains the 
minimum expectations that the Board of Directors 
and CEO have of the managers and employees of 
Swisscom and its Group companies. 
N See www.swisscom.ch/cr-governance
● corporate responsibility governance: transparency 
and clear responsibilities characterise responsible 
corporate governance at Swisscom, which defines 
the rules in accordance with which Swisscom is 
managed, organised and controlled. Principles of 
communication: employees adhere to the 
Swisscom values and principles of communication 
in their day-to-day communication with one 
another, with customers and also in media and 
public relations work.
N See www.swisscom.ch/cr-governance
● Transparency and dialogue: Swisscom seeks to 
establish contact with the public. It maintains an 
open dialogue with interested stakeholder groups 
on specific topics relating to its core business. The 
following summary shows those contact measures 
that are open to the general public as part of 
Swisscom’s commitment to ethics and integrity. 
Swisscom employees also have the option of 
anonymously reporting suspected unfair business 
practices via a publicly accessible whistle blowing 
platform. The incoming notifications are handled 
by the Internal Audit department.
● Sustainable product design: Swisscom’s CR team is 
in continuous dialogue with product and service 
developers. It scrutinises whether the respective 
project meets sustainability standards and is in 
line with the values of the company and society at 
large. The sustainability label also distinguishes 
measures that help Swisscom customers live a 
sustainable lifestyle. Smart ICT, energy-saving and 
child protection functions in Swisscom products 
and services help customers reduce their electricity 
consumption, avoid CO2 emissions, work flexibly 
and use digital media safely and efficiently. Finally, 
Swisscom’s Lean Quality Management formulated 
requirements for sustainable product design in 
2018. 
● Responsible data handling: smart data provides 
opportunities for society, for the economy and for 
Swisscom as a company. Swisscom is aware of the 
trust its customers place in it when it comes to the 
handling of data. That is why Swisscom has set up 
a data governance procedure that systematically 
draws up measures and processes to establish and

24
Corporate Responsibility | Corporate Responsibility strategy
promote a data culture. The aim is to ensure that 
Swisscom processes data in a legally compliant 
and legitimate manner. Swisscom became a board 
member of the Open Data Association in 2018. 
This is an example of how the company is involving 
itself in the socio-political discourse surrounding 
the public availability of data.
N See www.swisscom.ch/smartdata
● Artificial intelligence and ethics: Swisscom 
introduced the topic of artificial intelligence and 
the associated ethical aspects to a broad range of 
customers for the first time at three major events 
in 2018. A selected panel of experts from science, 
technology, research and industry discussed 
ethical issues relating to artificial intelligence, its 
applications and the likelihood of a “technical 
singularity” occurring. 
Management approaches
Precautionary principle 
Swisscom works in a sustainable manner, in accord-
ance with its vision and values. It employs established 
management systems and approaches to reduce 
environmental, business and social risks. Group 
targets and directives ensure that corporate responsi-
bility requirements are taken into account in opera-
tions and projects. Raising awareness among its staff 
through training is an important element of 
Swisscom’s precautionary principle. In part, this is 
achieved by promptly providing information about 
sensitive issues.
Management systems adhere to ISO international 
standards. External audits confirm compliance with 
the following standard requirements through 
certification:
● 9001 Quality management
● 14001 Environmental management
● 14064 Guideline on greenhouse gas inventory
● 20000 IT service management
● 27001 Information security management system
● 33002 Information technology – process 
 assessment 
With regard to the electromagnetic fields in telecom-
munications technology – in particular in relation to 
mobile communications – Swisscom has a certified 
quality assurance system (QAS) in place. This system 
is designed to ensure compliance with the limits set 
down in the Ordinance on Protection from Non-Ionis-
ing Radiation (NIRO limits). Preventive measures are 
taken as part of Swisscom’s operational risk and 
safety management system.
N See www.digitalswitzerland.com
Compliance management 
Swisscom’s wide range of business activities, coupled 
with the complexity of the applicable regulations, 
calls for an effective compliance management system 
(CMS). Swisscom’s CMS covers the entire Group and is 
based on the following underlying elements:
● Culture: an effective CMS is founded on a culture 
of compliance. The Code of Conduct sets out the 
minimum expectations of the Board of Directors 
and CEO of Swisscom Ltd. These are communicated 
throughout the company by its leadership and in 
its and day-to-day collaboration.
● Objectives: the Board of Directors defines the 
compliance objectives: all organisational measures 
and activities are aligned with these goals.
● Risks: Swisscom identifies and defines compliance 
risks based on its business activities as well as on 
regulatory and legal requirements and any 
amendments to these. It assesses the risks 
depending on the situation in the event of new 
business activities and changes to the legal 
framework as well as periodically (at least every 
two years) and responds to these risks through 
appropriate management measures. 
● Organisation: the Board of Directors has defined 
minimum compliance tasks. The Group Executive 
Board and the management boards of the 
subsidiaries have defined further tasks and 
responsibilities. They provide the resources 
required for an effective CMS.
● Communication: employees are informed of their 
tasks, competences and responsibilities. They are 
trained to take account of the respective risks of 
the measures in the individual compliance areas. 
Each year, a report is sent to the Board of Directors 
and the Group Executive Board of Swisscom Ltd, as 
well as to the management boards and boards of 
directors of the subsidiaries and other internal 
units.
● Monitoring and improvements: Swisscom 
monitors the CMS and eliminates any weaknesses 
on an ongoing basis.
To safeguard trade secrets, Swisscom does not 
publish any compliance reports. Brief information is 
provided in the GRI Index of this Sustainability Report. 
The compliance system monitors compliance with the 
laws in the following legal areas throughout the 
Group:
● Anti-corruption
● Anti-money laundering
● Banking law (deposits from the public)
● Data protection and confidentiality (concerning all 
laws)
● Federal Act on Product Safety
● Antitrust legislation
● Telecommunications legislation
● Stock exchange law (including OaEC)
N See www.swisscom.com/basicprinciples
Responsible marketing 
Swisscom’s marketing is aligned with its own vision 
and the principles of the Swiss Commission for Fairness

25
Corporate Responsibility | Corporate Responsibility strategy
in Advertising (Schweizerische Lauterkeitskommission). 
These principles govern all of the relevant aspects of 
fairness and integrity in communication. The Brand & 
Strategy team, which is integrated in Group Communi-
cations & Responsibility, is responsible for informing 
Swisscom’s marketing units about any further 
development of these principles. The communicating 
units are responsible for ensuring that the principles 
are adhered to, since they are in a position to recognise 
any breaches of compliance at an early stage and can 
take preventive action.
Swisscom does not differentiate between its custom-
ers by age or gender, but rather ensures that each 
customer can get to grips with an ever increasingly 
networked and digitised world on an individual level. 
This approach ensures that Swisscom can support its 
customers in the digital world without discrimination 
and according to each customer’s personal level of 
knowledge.
There were no infringements against fair trading in 
marketing and communications in the year under 
review.
N See www.faire-werbung.ch (in German)
The protection of human rights within 
the Swisscom Group and throughout the 
supply chain 
The protection of human rights is an integral part of 
Swisscom’s corporate culture. Swisscom aligns itself 
with recognised standards, including the UN Guiding 
Principles on Business and Human Rights, the 
standard SA8000 from Social Accountability Interna-
tional (SAI) and the company’s procurement guide-
lines. In 2016, Swisscom published its guideline on 
human rights; it garnered national attention and 
consequently was listed on the Business and Human 
Rights website of the State Secretariat for Economic 
Affairs (SECO) and of the Federal Department of 
Foreign Affairs (DFA) as an example of good practice 
in the standards and guidelines category. By uphold-
ing its guideline on human rights, Swisscom is 
supporting the implementation of the UN Guiding 
Principles on Business and Human Rights and in 
particular the National Action Plan for Business and 
Human Rights.
N See www.swisscom.ch/humanrights
Practices in relation to copyright laws 
Copyright is governed by the collective employment 
agreement. Employees assign any copyright and 
associated protective rights (in particular rights to 
software) and all shared rights to Swisscom if these 
rights arose in the course of their employment at 
Swisscom. This applies specifically to everything 
accomplished by employees, whether individually or 
in collaboration with others, while employed by 
Swisscom. In the event that Swisscom has no interest 
in the rights transferred to it, the employee’s right to 
make use of them may be reverted to them by 
contract. 
When using free and open source software (FOSS) to 
develop software, Swisscom protects the copyright of 
third parties by adhering to the required FOSS 
licensing terms. Its use is regulated in the existing 
Group directives. For Swisscom software launched on 
other national markets, FOSS licence compliance must 
be checked and verified by the internal FOSS Compli-
ance Service explicitly.  
Swisscom security
Swisscom makes the networked world more secure 
by placing the needs of its employees, customers and 
partners at the heart of all its security considerations 
and ensuring security with clear and simple measures. 
Through comprehensive infrastructure and in-depth 
expertise, Swisscom offers the best possible protec-
tion for employees, customers, partners and its own 
company on a daily basis. Swisscom creates an 
effective internal security culture through training 
and awareness campaigns for its staff.  
Increasing digitisation and growing dynamism are 
increasing the importance of security. Swisscom uses 
the issue of security to further differentiate its brand 
from those of its competitors and to open up new 
growth areas. For that reason, it offers its customers 
security solutions, products and services that are as 
progressive as possible.
Swisscom is known as a responsible employer in the 
security domain. It offers its employees exciting work 
and versatile development opportunities.
N See www.swisscom.ch/datasecurity
Fraud management 
Swisscom works to actively counter risks of fraud and 
thereby prevent losses. It draws on its customers’ and 
its own experiences of fraud cases. Cases of fraud are 
externally driven events which cannot be influenced 
directly, but can be prevented extremely effectively 
by implementing detection and prevention measures.
Swisscom applies the following definition of fraud: 
fraud covers all actions aimed at fraudulently 
falsifying facts, avoiding costs or directly or indirectly 
gaining enrichment in an unlawful manner. This 
Swisscom definition is oriented to fraud in the area of 
telecommunications. The combination of detection 
and prevention measures as well as the use of 
appropriate means (tools and personnel)
● depicts the risks of fraud in a transparent manner;
● prevents cases of fraud;
● reveals fraud cases quickly, enabling security 
loopholes to be closed;
● reduces costs since resources are not burdened 
with exceptional tasks;
● reduces financial losses and enables the recovery 
of misappropriated assets;
● strengthens the reputation of Swisscom and 
allows Swisscom to gain or increase customer 
confidence.

26
Corporate Responsibility | Corporate Responsibility strategy
Responsibility towards 
the public
Throughout its history, Swisscom has had close ties with Switzerland and the 
local population. Its commitment to the country and its people is therefore a 
matter of tradition.
Swisscom’s commitment
Swisscom is active on European, national and regional 
levels. On its own or in partnership with others, it 
supports activities that contribute to social cohesion, 
the digitisation of society and the common good. 
There are three areas in which Swisscom focuses its 
activities: public affairs, projects carried out as part of 
its corporate responsibility, and support for public 
events through sponsoring. In particular, it focuses on 
sporting and cultural events intended for a wide 
audience. Swisscom’s sponsoring activities are 
therefore spread across all regions of Switzerland and 
aimed at a wide range of stakeholder groups.
Memberships and partnerships 
Swisscom works with various partners in projects on 
issues relating to its six strategic priorities. It also 
seeks to work with suitable partners at both a 
national and an international level. In choosing its 
partnerships and memberships, Swisscom attempts 
to ensure that the institutions concerned serve as an 
ideal complement to the company in terms of their 
professional competence and thus make a significant 
contribution to the achievement of the Swisscom 
strategy. They must also share Swisscom’s values and 
have an excellent reputation and a high level of 
credibility in their area of activity.
N See www.swisscom.ch/cr-partnerships
Public affairs 
Swisscom Public Affairs maintains contact with the 
European Telecommunications Network Operators’ 
Association (ETNO), national politicians, authorities, 
associations and all regions of Switzerland. The team 
members are organised locally. First and foremost, 
they provide information on infrastructural issues, on 
the necessary framework conditions in accordance 
with the corporate strategy and on Swisscom’s 
commitment. However, they also receive requests 
from stakeholder groups and the general public. 
Actor in public debates 
As a responsible “corporate citizen”, Swisscom 
actively participated in public discussions on the 
following issues during the year under review:
● Education policy: Swisscom provides ICT training 
places, promotes Switzerland as an ICT location, 
supports schools in the area of youth media 
protection and is continuing to develop the 
Internet for Schools project. It also supports the 
Digital Switzerland initiative, which hosted Digital 
Day 2018, among other things.
● Digitisation: through the switch to All IP, Swisscom 
is putting in place the technical requirements for 
digitising communication and ensuring the 
competitiveness of Swiss business. All IP transfers 
all services such as voice telephony, TV, Internet 
and data to Internet Protocol (IP) technology.
● Broadband expansion: the majority of the Swiss 
population should have access to increased 
bandwidths by the end of 2021. Swisscom is thus 
providing a solid basis for digitisation and for 
ensuring Switzerland’s future as a business centre.
● Basic service provision: Swisscom was the only 
provider to apply for the universal service licence, 
which it was granted by ComCom. The new licence 
came into effect on 1 January 2018 and will run 
until 31 December 2022. As part of this universal 
service, as of 1 January 2018 the Federal Council 
increased the minimum download speed for 
Internet access from the previous 2 Mbps to 
3 Mbps. Swisscom will also extend universal 
services for people with health issues.
● Customer friendliness: Swisscom is continually 
improving its customer information systems, for 
example with services such as Swisscom Cockpit 
for Swisscom customers who are travelling abroad.
● Sustainability: Swisscom is involved in a variety of 
projects concerned with the energy transition, 
such as the Work Smart Initiative and the tiko 
product.
The expansion of the 5G network, the fifth genera-
tion of mobile communications, was a key topic for 
Swisscom in 2018 – and will continue to be so in the 
years ahead. 5G makes smart cities, networked 
factories and intelligent houses technically feasible, 
unites diverse technologies and lays the groundwork 
for a digital Switzerland. If Switzerland is to remain a 
pioneer in the use of new technologies, the frame-
work conditions for areas such as non-ionising 
radiation (NIS-V), assessment methods for radiation

27
Corporate Responsibility | Corporate Responsibility strategy
from antennas and building regulations need to be 
amended (i.e. liberalised). Swisscom raises these 
concerns to politicians and authorities both directly 
and via the industry association asut (Swiss Telecom-
munications Association). The administration has 
announced that it will introduce a minor amendment 
to the ordinance in spring 2019. In this context, the 
allocation of new frequencies required for the 
construction of the 5G networks at the start of 2019 
is also of great importance for Swisscom. Swisscom 
will be a bidder at the planned auction. It will demand 
that the frequencies auctioned should subsequently 
be capable of being quickly put to use.
During the year under review, as in the previous finan-
cial year, Swisscom submitted numerous statements 
as part of consultations at federal level. Among other 
things, it submitted an opinion as part of the 
consultation process on the new Federal Act on 
Electronic Media (EMA). The EMA is intended to 
replace the current Radio and Television Act (RTA). 
Swisscom welcomes the fundamental thrust of 
the revision.
It has taken part in (specialist) hearings of the 
parliamentary advisory committees: for example, 
hearings on the revision of the Federal Act on Public 
Procurement (PPA) and the Telecommunications Act 
(TCA). Swisscom also spoke at the conference of the 
cantonal directors of economic affairs on optical fibre 
expansion in the cantons.
Swisscom’s position is based on the principles of 
self-regulation and competition in an open market-
place. Numerous attractive new customer offers and 
large investments made in network expansion in the 
year under review underscore this principle.
N See www.admin.ch
To ensure interests are appropriately represented, 
Swisscom follows a solution-oriented approach, both 
for the common good and in the interests of the 
company. The positions Swisscom takes are based on 
clear facts. Swisscom is committed to maintaining 
transparent and trusting relationships with politi-
cians, public authorities and the community. It 
participates in public hearings and events and plays 
its part in the political process by issuing written 
statements. In line with our own anti-corruption 
directive and based on the relevant ethical codes (the 
Code of Lisbon and the Code of Professional Conduct 
of the Swiss Public Affairs Society, SPAG), Swisscom 
rejects unlawful or ethically questionable practices 
aimed at exerting influence on opinion leaders and 
decision-makers. Moreover, Swisscom is a non- 
denominational, politically neutral organisation and 
does not support any political parties, opinion leaders 
or decision-makers financially.
Accessibility
Swisscom wants to offer all people living in Switzer-
land the opportunity to get the very best out of 
communications tools. To this end, the company is 
making substantial contributions to integrating 
people with disabilities into the information society. 
The accessibility of products and services is important 
for Swisscom for two reasons: firstly, Swisscom fulfils 
its obligations under the Disability Discrimination Act 
(DDA), which requires companies to offer accessible 
products. Secondly, other customers also benefit from 
accessible products and services. For Swisscom, 
however, accessibility is no mere legal requirement or 
economic issue; it is a service that it offers its 
customers purposefully and with conviction. Since 
2018, Swisscom has pursued a strategy of improving 
access to enable all users to access Swisscom prod-
ucts. This access strategy applies to all Swisscom 
divisions. In the long term, accessibility is to be 
incorporated into the company’s day-to-day business 
and thus become an integral part of product design. 
Swisscom is taking the following measures to achieve 
this objective: appointment of SPoCs (single points of 
contact), regular meetings of the SPoCs and the 
teams, workshops for further training and aware-
ness-raising, regular testing of the accessibility of 
products and publication of the internal guidelines 
(Swisscom Accessibility Guidelines). Swisscom 
introduced its access improvement strategy in 2018. 
It is therefore premature to evaluate the measures 
and their effectiveness. Swisscom plans to have the 
measures evaluated in the medium term within the 
framework of the national Accessibility Study 
published every five years by the specialist organisa-
tion Access for all. Swisscom will then be required to 
implement the access improvement strategy and 
ensure that it is effective and sustainable over the 
following two years. Swisscom hopes that its rating 
in the next Accessibility Study will be significantly 
higher.
● Accessible services and products: the Swisscom 
Shops fulfil strict criteria to ensure that they are 
accessible to people with disabilities. In addition, 
the employees of the shops and call centres are 
called upon to establish what special needs a 
customer with a particular handicap has. Procap 
Switzerland therefore offers Swisscom employees 
training in “accessibility”. In addition, Swisscom is 
continuously improving the accessibility of its 
shops and call centres. It endeavours to offer those 
with hearing and visual impairments attractive 
devices and updates its range of devices and 
services. Examples of this are telephones (IP 
devices or mobile devices) adapted to the needs of 
the visually impaired or elderly, or the many ways 
in which customer service can be contacted. Those 
whose physical disabilities mean that they cannot 
use the telephone directory are entitled to call 
1145 at no additional cost. Swisscom provides this 
service voluntarily as part of its basic service

28
Corporate Responsibility | Corporate Responsibility strategy
provision. People with a hearing impairment can 
take advantage of a transcription service that 
enables telephone conversations between people 
with a hearing impairment and hearing people. 
This service, which is offered in collaboration with 
the Procom Foundation, also forms part of the 
basic service provision and is free. Swisscom also 
supports the Apfelschule, which teaches blind or 
visually impaired people how to use a smartphone. 
Every Swisscom customer who wishes to take such 
a course receives a voucher from Swisscom worth 
CHF 50. All the products and services mentioned 
are evaluated by various partner associations and 
organisations. As these associations and organisa-
tions are in direct contact with people with 
disabilities, the usefulness and quality of the 
products and services are guaranteed. 
● Access to the Internet and applications: Swisscom 
will continue to guarantee the accessibility of its 
websites and applications. By creating new 
versions and updates, Swisscom has already 
implemented important requirements for the 
creation of accessible web content in accordance 
with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 
WCAG 2.0. 
● Offers for people with limited financial resources: 
Swisscom provides three different offers to 
support people with limited financial resources. 
Young people under the age of 26 can benefit from 
a reduced price plan. For young people under 18, a 
credit limit applies to their subscriptions. For 
children and young people aged 7 to 18, Swisscom 
also offers a prepaid subscription.

29
Corporate Responsibility | Energy efficiency and climate protection
Energy efficiency and 
climate protection 
In keeping with the Swiss Confederation’s 2050 energy strategy, Swisscom is 
aiming to increase its energy efficiency by 35% by the end of 2020 as 
compared with 1 January 2016. Together with its customers, it is also aiming 
to save twice as much CO2 as it emits throughout the entire company 
including the supply chain by 2020. In autumn 2018, it set its targets for 2025.
Management approach 
In view of the national and international climate 
situation, the issues of climate change and energy 
efficiency are particularly important for Swisscom as 
a major consumer of energy as well as for its stake-
holder groups. The climate scenarios for Switzerland 
published in November 2018 give an idea of the 
possible consequences of climate change in Switzer-
land. The scenarios presented, which were put 
together by the National Centre for Climate Services 
(NCCS), cannot be ignored. Climate change and 
energy efficiency are therefore at the heart of 
Swisscom’s sustainability strategy.
The Swiss people adopted the Energy Act (EnA) in a 
referendum in May 2017. Together with the CO2 Act as 
the foundation of the Confederation’s energy and 
climate strategy for 2050, the EnA defines the frame-
work for Swisscom’s business activities. Swisscom is 
paying particular attention to increasing its own 
energy efficiency and climate protection. With that in 
mind, it has set itself two goals:
Goal 7 
AFFORDABLE AND CLEAN ENERGY
● Increased efficiency: Swisscom has determined its 
energy requirements until 2020 and plans to 
increase its energy efficiency 35% by the end of 
2020 compared to 2016. Based on current scenar-
ios, in autumn 2018 Swisscom also determined its 
energy requirements to the end of 2025. Thanks to 
newly implemented measures and technical 
improvements, it intends to increase its energy 
efficiency by a further 24% over the next eight 
years. 
Goal 13 
CLIMATE ACTION
● Climate protection: Swisscom aims to work 
together with its customers to save twice as much 
CO2 as it emits throughout the entire company and 
its supply chain by 2020. This undertaking has 
been summarised as the “2:1 target”. Swisscom 
aims to achieve the 2:1 target by reducing 
emissions and by promoting and marketing its 
sustainable portfolio. Based on current scenarios, 
in autumn 2018 Swisscom also estimated the CO2 
emissions resulting from its energy requirements 
to the end of 2025. Swisscom is now striving to 
further reduce its CO2 emissions.
Swisscom has agreed targets with various partners, in 
each case with the aim of increasing efficiency and 
reducing CO2 emissions. The targets for energy 
consumption (energy efficiency) and CO2 reduction 
(CO2 intensity) are defined differently depending on 
the reference value with regard to the base year, the 
framework and the target achievement year. 
Swisscom has agreed targets with the Energy Agency 
for Industry (Energie-Agentur der Wirtschaft – EnAW), 
the “Exemplary Role of the Confederation in Energy” 
(ERCE) and the Science Based Target Initiative (SBTI). 
Swisscom already reported its emissions reduction in 
2016 to the SBTI. The SBTI is a partnership between 
the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), the UN Global 
Compact initiative, WWF and the World Resources 
Institute (WRI). It classifies company reduction targets 
as “science-based” if they are in line with the level of 
reduction in CO2 required to keep the global tempera-
ture increase below 2°C. Swisscom is also committed 
to reducing its Scope 1 emissions by 10%, Scope 2 
emissions by 100% and Scope 3 emissions by 18% 
compared to 2013 by 2020. The SBTI recognised all 
Swisscom’s reduction targets at the end of 2016. 
N See www.sciencebasedtargets.org

30
Corporate Responsibility | Energy efficiency and climate protection
  
  
Start year  
Target year  
 
Partnership  
Target agreement  
January 1st  
Dec. 31st  
Target 
Swisscom  
Ratio CO2 savings achieved by customers to CO2 emissions Swisscom  
2016  
2020  
2:1 
Swisscom  
Energy efficiency (savings measures over total energy consumption, not weighted)  
2016  
2020  
+35% 
EnAW  
Energy efficiency (savings measures over total energy consumption, not weighted)  
2013  
2022  
+35% 
  
CO2 intensity of heating fuels (CO2 emissions as a proportion of total CO2 emissions)  
  
  
 
EnAW  
and CO2 savings)  
2013  
2022  
92% 
  
CO2 intensity of fuels (CO2 emissions as a proportion of total CO2 emissions)  
  
  
 
EnAW  
and CO2 savings)  
2013  
2022  
76% 
VBE  
Energy efficiency (savings measures over total energy consumption, not weighted)  
2006  
2020  
+25% 
SBTI  
CO2 Reduction Scope 1  
2013  
2020  
-10% 
SBTI  
CO2 Reduction Scope 2  
2013  
2020  
-100% 
SBTI  
CO2 Reduction Scope 3  
2013  
2020  
-18% 
Additional details about further environmental 
aspects that Swisscom takes into account in opera-
tions can be found at the end of this section. The envi-
ronment and purchasing policies form the basis of 
sustainable resource usage for Swisscom. The 
management approaches employed by Swisscom to 
increase energy efficiency and combat climate change 
fundamentally consist of its environmental manage-
ment system and associated specific approaches. 
Management norms, standards and internal direc-
tives allow the planned saving and efficiency meas-
ures to be systematically implemented. Swisscom 
subsidiaries with operations that are of significant 
environmental importance are ISO-14001-certified. 
These are Swisscom (Switzerland) Ltd, Swisscom 
Broadcast Ltd and cablex Ltd, which are also certified 
to ISO 9001. The Italian subsidiary Fastweb S.p.A. is 
also ISO-14001-certified. The management systems 
and processes certified to ISO 14001 include – with 
regard to the number of employees – more than 
94.2% of the Swisscom Group (including Fastweb; 
prior year: 94.3%). The environmental management 
system and its efficiency are subject to an annual 
external audit.
Energy efficiency: energy 
consumption and savings at 
Swisscom 
The target: by 2020, Swisscom plans to increase its 
energy efficiency by a further 35% compared to 
1 January 2016. 
Energy consumption as the main 
environmental impact factor 
The periodic analysis of environmental impacts by 
Swisscom shows that energy consumption still has 
the biggest impact on the environment. Energy 
consumption and the related CO2 emissions primarily 
affect the climate. Swisscom is committed to 
boosting its energy efficiency, using renewable 
energies and launching improved products in order to 
minimise the environmental and climatic impact of 
its business activities. In addition to the network 
infrastructure described in the Management Com-
mentary, Swisscom directly owns or operates a 
substantial real estate portfolio. This includes offices, 
operation buildings, shops, local exchanges and data 
centres. Swisscom does not operate any warehouses 
or distribution centres, but does maintain a fleet of 
company and commercial vehicles.
Energy management at Swisscom 
Energy management at Swisscom aims to reduce 
costs, enhance efficiency and keep the company’s 
direct and indirect ecological footprint to a minimum. 
In line with ISO Standard 50001 on energy efficiency, 
13.9% 
0.99 
20.5% 
35.0% 
1.30 
1.24 
Efficiency increase in Switzerland since 1.1.2016 
and forecasts
in %
45
1.2
30
0.8
15
0.4
0
0
2017 
2016 
2018 
2017 
2020 
 
2018 
 
Ratio CO2 reductions to CO2 emissions
506 
498 
548 
558 
536 
Total energy consumption Swisscom
in GWh
600
400
200
0
2014 
2015 
2017 
2018 
 
2016

31
Corporate Responsibility | Energy efficiency and climate protection
it consists of the following process steps (simplified 
representation):
● Determining energy requirements over a specific 
period of time
● Defining and approving energy efficiency targets 
and corresponding measures 
● Determining the energy mix, particularly the 
electricity mix
● Implementing energy efficiency measures
● Generating electricity 
● Using waste heat
● Monitoring, energy balancing and reporting
● Implementing research and development projects 
(e.g. relating to balancing energy) and virtual 
power plants (tiko)
● Developing and marketing sustainable ICT 
products and services
Consumption of electricity from 
renewable sources and eco-electricity 
(electricity mix)
Swisscom’s electrical energy consumption in Switzer-
land amounted to 485 GWh in 2018 (prior year: 
468 GWh). This constitutes an increase of 3.8% (prior 
year: 4.4%). The company was able to compensate for 
a proportion of the additional energy consumption 
attributable to network expansion through efficiency 
measures. Swisscom primarily consumes hydroelec-
tricity as well as solar power, which it either produces 
itself (0.5%) or purchases (4.1%). In 2018, Swisscom 
purchased 20.0GWh (prior year: 20.0 GWh) of green 
electricity with the “naturemade star” seal of 
approval. Swisscom offsets the proportion of nuclear 
power, electricity of unknown origin and electricity 
from fossil fuels in its electricity mix used for its 
network infrastructure and the businesses it manages 
by purchasing certifications of origin. It thus increases 
the sustainability of its electricity mix. The proportion 
of renewable energy used by Swisscom in 2018, as in 
previous years, was again 100%, a claim that was 
verified by the SGS. 
Efficiency measures for the electricity 
consumption of networks 
Swisscom is continuously implementing an efficiency 
programme consisting of approximately ten meas-
ures. Thanks to improved technology and the 
energy-efficient design of the wireless networks, this 
programme enabled energy savings of around 
10.6 GWh in 2018. 
The remote radio units (RRUs) account for a signifi-
cant proportion of this saving. They are mounted 
directly onto the mobile network masts and consume 
up to 40% less energy than conventional radio units.
Thanks to the ecological ventilation system Mistral, 
Swisscom cools its buildings using fresh air. Mistral 
replaces conventional energy-intensive cooling 
systems equipped with compressors and contributes 
to a massive improvement in energy efficiency. 
Mistral also eliminates the need for harmful 
 refrigerants.
In the year under review, Swisscom cooled an 
additional 68 mobile base stations using fresh air, It 
has installed a cooling module that enables the base 
stations to be quickly converted, saving a further 
0.6 GWh per year. 
Efficiency measures for electricity 
consumption in data centres 
Swisscom achieved an average PUE (power usage 
effectiveness) value of 1.37 across all of its data 
centres in 2018 (prior year: 1.40). The PUE value 
represents the ratio of total power consumed by the 
data centre to the power consumed by the IT systems 
running there. The data centre in Berne Wankdorf is 
particularly energy-efficient. It achieved a PUE value 
of 1.285 in 2018, the planned target value being 1.2.
Swisscom continues to focus on the use of shared 
servers in its data centres. This server virtualisation 
requires less IT infrastructure than before and has 
enabled additional savings of 21.5 GWh in 2018 (prior 
year: 7.5 GWh).
Efficiency measures for electricity 
consumption in buildings 
During the year under review, Facility Management 
carried out energy checks throughout Switzerland in 
accordance with the established internal Pioneer 
standard. In 2018, these checks helped optimise the 
operating conditions of 90 buildings, saving 196 MWh 
of energy, 94% as a result of lighting measures alone. 
Swisscom is committed to modernising existing, 
inefficient lighting. In the reporting year, for example, 
it retrofitted all Swisscom logos to LED. This not only 
reduces its energy consumption, but also improves 
the quality of its lighting. These measures alone 
generate annual energy savings of 388 MWh.
Efficiency measures for fuel consumption, 
heat and CO2 reduction
Swisscom measures the consumption of heating oil, 
natural gas, district heating and now water on a 
monthly basis in the largest 120. Together, these 
buildings account for more than half of the compa-
ny’s total floorspace. Swisscom then extrapolates 
these figures to calculate the overall annual consump-
tion.
During the year under review, Swisscom consumed 
134.8 terajoules (40.9 GWh) of fuel to heat its 
buildings (prior year: 45.1 GWh). The company’s fossil 
fuel-based heating mix comprises 51% heating oil, 
20% natural gas, 28% district heating and, now, 1% 
biomass (wood). Over the past five years, Swisscom 
has reduced the heat coefficient per m2 in its build-
ings included in the benchmark by 11%. While this 
resulted in a reduction in CO2 emissions, the reduction 
is not always proportional because the energy mix

32
Corporate Responsibility | Energy efficiency and climate protection
changes each year. The saving is also attributable in 
large part to the low amount of heating degree day 
(HDD).
Swisscom intends to further reduce the amount of 
energy it uses to heat its buildings. In pursuit of this 
goal, it systematically continued to implement 
operational optimisations in 2018 which reduced the 
energy consumption and CO2 emissions involved in 
heating buildings. A detailed energy monitoring 
system provided the data set for the energy analysis 
and uncovered instances of disproportionately high 
energy consumption. Swisscom also implemented 
several eco-relevant building projects in 2018. As 
evidenced by an internal report, this let the company 
save 159 MWh of energy and reduce its CO2 emissions 
by 28 tonnes.
The energy checks also helped reduce CO2 emissions 
by 22.0 tonnes (prior year: 43 tonnes).
Since 2018, Swisscom has been systematically 
replacing fossil fuel-fired heating systems in renova-
tion projects and now generates most of its heat from 
heat pumps and biomass (wood). In 2018 Swisscom 
renovated 14 heating systems throughout Switzer-
land and for the first time completely replaced them 
with systems that emit no CO2. This was the conse-
quence of the cost comparison introduced in 2017, 
which details and makes transparent the energy and 
CO2 costs of possible heating variants using a TCO 
analysis procedure (Total Cost of Ownership). 
Swisscom has set the CO2 price as a shadow price of 
CHF 96 per tonne, which corresponds to the national 
CO2 tax set out in the CO2 Act. 
The changeover in the generation of heat is expected 
to lead to a total reduction of 132 tonnes of CO2 from 
the 2018/2019 heating period onwards. 
Efficiency measures in fuel consumption, 
mobility and CO2 reduction 
The ability to provide first-class customer service and 
expand the network infrastructure depends on the 
seamless and needs-oriented mobility of staff. In 
2018, the vehicles in Swisscom’s fleet covered a total 
of 53.4 million kilometres (prior year: 54.9 million 
kilometres) in the service of customers (i.e. not 
including private trips), which corresponds to a fuel 
consumption of 127.8 terajoules (35.5 GWh; prior 
year: 128.0 terajoules or 35.5 GWh). As a result, fuel 
consumption decreased by -0.13% year-on-year (prior 
year: -9.2%). Thanks to a sustainable deployment 
strategy and a modern fleet, the average CO2 
emissions per car are to be reduced from 113 g CO2 for 
each kilometre travelled (2015) to 95 g CO2 by the end 
of 2020. For its procurement of vehicles Swisscom 
relies on models with optimum energy efficiency and 
is examining the use of alternative propulsion 
technologies. Swisscom is conducting a pilot project 
to examine an overall concept for the electromobility 
of passenger and commercial vehicles, which includes 
battery chargers and parking spaces management. In 
accordance with the New European Driving Cycle 
(NEDC), CO2 emissions from vehicles in the Swisscom 
fleet according to manufacturer’s information 
averaged 104 g CO2/km, as of the end of 2018, with 
96% of the fleet classified in energy efficiency 
categories A and B. Swisscom also operates a fleet of 
503 (-0.6%) hybrid vehicles, 17 (-34.6%) vehicles 
powered by natural gas and 1 (-83.3%) electric 
vehicles, which replace petrol cars – and, in particular, 
diesel cars – wherever possible. All electrical vehicles 
are recharged in Swisscom buildings and garages 
using electricity generated from renewable energy 
sources. In 2018, Swisscom employees used 126,105 
(6.8%) rail tickets for business travel and were issued 
with 7,427 (-33.2%) half-fare cards and 2,686 (-12.1%) 
GA travelcards.
Generating electricity 
For more than ten years, Swisscom has been generat-
ing and using its own electricity. It sees this as an 
important contribution to a sustainable energy policy. 
Swisscom systematically considers the construction 
of a solar installation whenever it renovates a roof in 
one of its operational premises. Provided such a 
facility is deemed economically viable, the option is 
then implemented. 
Swisscom commissioned an additional three solar 
installations at transmitter stations (189 kWp) or at 
operation buildings (14 kWp) in 2018. The total 
output of all of Swisscom’s solar installations is 2,205 
kWp. Swisscom intends to continue its electricity 
generation programme in the coming years. It has set 
itself the target of achieving an installed output of 
more than 3,000 kWp by 2023 and fully utilising its 
estimated potential of 3,500 MWh at its own 
locations. 
Utilising waste heat 
In certain buildings, Swisscom meets its heating 
requirements in full by utilising waste heat from its 
operations rooms. A heat pump installed in the 
Swisscom operation building in Zurich Herdern in 
2015, for example, supplies the heating energy 
needed for the entire building. This enables Swisscom 
to save around 900 tonnes of CO2 a year, which 
corresponds to 9% of the total CO2 emissions attribut-
able to Swisscom’s heating needs. In addition, 
Swisscom has agreements to supply waste heat from 
its operation buildings or data centres to district 
heating associations or neighbouring areas. Specifi-
cally, it feeds waste heat into the district heating 
system in Zurich Herdern, Zurich Binz, St. Gallen and 
Berne Wankdorf to directly heat residential and office 
buildings in the neighbouring areas. This enabled 
Swisscom to supply 8.4 GWh of thermal energy to the 
neighbouring areas as district heating in 2018 (prior 
year: 8.9 GWh). This measure saved 840,000 litres of 
heating oil (prior year: 890,000 litres) and avoided the 
CO2 emissions that would have been generated.

33
Corporate Responsibility | Energy efficiency and climate protection
Efficiency gains through sustainable ICT 
services at Swisscom 
Swisscom not only encourages its customers to use 
sustainable ICT, but also uses the solutions itself: 
● Virtual conferences: 33 Swisscom sites are 
equipped with the Telepresence virtual videocon-
ferencing solution, including Fastweb in Italy. 
Goal 13 
CLIMATE ACTION
● Work Smart: videoconferencing and desktop 
sharing make it easy for Swisscom employees to 
collaborate with their colleagues, enabling them to 
complete some of their work from home or on the 
move. Collaboration platforms also offer a simple 
means of accessing knowledge. The launch of the 
Work Smart initiative has further embedded new 
working methods within the company, and 
Swisscom shares its experience with other 
companies. A management guideline provides 
managers with useful tips on how to manage new 
working methods.
● Smart buildings: applications in the field of the 
Internet of Things (IoT) allow buildings or transport 
systems to be operated more efficiently than 
before. 
Achievement of efficiency targets
● Overall impact of efficiency measures at 
Swisscom: Swisscom’s energy consumption 
(electricity, heating fuels and vehicle fuel) in 
Switzerland amounted to 558 GWh in 2018 (prior 
year: 548 GWh). Without the efficiency measures 
implemented since 1 January 2016, Swisscom 
would currently consume an additional 109 GWh 
of energy per year. Total annual energy efficiency is 
calculated as the ratio of total energy used and 
energy saved to total energy consumption. 
Swisscom follows the definition of the Swiss 
Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) and the Federal 
Office for the Environment (FOEN) within the scope 
of the target agreement with the Energy Agency of 
the Swiss Private Sector (EnAW). The total energy 
efficiency for the year amounts to 6.8%, or 20.4% 
cumulatively since 1 January 2016. The efficiency 
targets are on track. Details can be found in the 
Climate Report.
● Renewable energies: Swisscom continues to use 
100% renewable electricity and is thus meeting its 
target. Thanks to the use of renewable electricity 
and the decreasing consumption of fossil fuels, the 
share of renewable energy is 88%, calculated from 
renewable energy, biomass and the renewable 
proportion of district heating.
Energy intensity
Swisscom now reports on its energy intensity by 
energy use. The intensity of mobility amounts to 
2.39 MJ/km, that of heating to 144 MJ/m2. All 
intensities have steadily decreased over the past few 
years.  
The 2:1 climate protection target in 
detail
The target: Swisscom aims to work together with its 
customers to save twice as much CO2 as it emits 
throughout the entire company including the supply 
chain by 2020. This undertaking has been summarised 
as the “2:1 target”. The broad outlines of this target 
and its contribution to climate protection are 
described here; further details are provided in the 
Climate Report.
The ratio of savings among customers to emissions 
improved slightly year-on-year (1.24) to end 2018 
at 1.30. 
Climate change carries risks and affords 
opportunities
The following activities in particular contribute to 
climate protection: analysing the opportunities and 
risks climate change brings with it for Swisscom; 
drawing up a programme and implementing appro-
priate measures relating to the relevant issues; 
monitoring and reporting. The CR team is responsible 
for the coordination and management of these 
activities.
Swisscom is presented with opportunities to generate 
revenue in the set-up and development of a “green” 
– in other words, sustainable – portfolio of products 
and services. Such a portfolio both reduces CO2 
emissions directly in the company’s own operations 
as well as indirectly in those of the customers and 
thus diminishes the risks. This section contains 
further information on this below. Swisscom applies 
the recommendations of the Task Force on Cli-
mate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). Further 
details can be found in the “Climate protection” 
section of the Sustainability Report. The greenhouse 
gas inventory and the quantities pertaining to energy 
consumption, CO2 emissions and the impact of 
savings and efficiency measures within the company 
and with customers are specified in Swisscom’s 
externally verified Climate Report.

34
Corporate Responsibility | Energy efficiency and climate protection
Portfolio: offers for CO2 savings 
The ICT sector has a key role to play in reducing CO2 
emissions. A study conducted by the Global e-Sustain-
ability Initiative found that the ICT sector has the 
potential to reduce CO2 emissions worldwide by some 
16%. This potential reduction corresponds to around 
seven times the amount of CO2 emissions produced 
by the sector itself.
A study commissioned by the WWF and conducted by 
the University of Zurich in 2017 proves that ICT has 
the potential to eliminate up to 3 times more 
greenhouse gas emissions by 2025 in Switzerland 
than will be generated in total by ICT devices and 
infrastructures through their production, operation 
and disposal combined. Emissions from ICT are mainly 
the result of the manufacture of devices. Heavy 
devices such as desktop PCs play a particularly large 
role in increasing emissions from the ICT sector, 
although the energy used in the manufacture of 
smaller devices, such as smartphones and laptops, 
also determines their carbon footprint to a considera-
ble degree. Extending the life cycle of ICT equipment 
is therefore considered to be of great importance. 
Swisscom invests a lot of effort in structuring its 
offerings in a more energy-efficient and resource-
friendly manner, and offers products and services that 
support customers in reducing their CO2 emissions, 
saving energy and improving the work-life balance of 
their employees. 
ICT solutions contribute to reducing CO2 emissions in 
day-to-day work. For example, virtual conferences 
allow companies to cut down on business travel, and 
communications solutions allow employees to work 
from home. Furthermore, the optimisation of vehicle 
fleets, the use of energy-efficient services from data 
centres and the intelligent control of office buildings, 
equipment and power networks can all make a 
valuable contribution towards reducing CO2 
 emissions.
Private households reduce CO2 emissions when they 
replace physical media such as CDs, DVDs and 
magazines with digital products. Online shopping 
eliminates the need to make trips to brick-and-mortar 
stores and reduces the energy required to maintain 
sales outlets.
N See www.swisscom.ch/greenict
Sustainable ICT services for business 
customers 
Sustainable ICT services from Swisscom help business 
customers, such as companies and public administra-
tions, in their efforts to reduce their energy consump-
tion and CO2 emissions. Swisscom has set itself the 
target of constantly expanding its sustainable 
portfolio. It provides some of the necessary solutions 
itself, while other solutions are offered by SMEs or 
start-ups on the basis of Swisscom’s technical 
infrastructure. One of these that needs to be men-
tioned is the low power network (LPN), which has 
become the backbone for many new services in the 
area of the Internet of Things throughout Switzerland 
since 2016.
Goal 11 
SUSTAINABLE CITIES AND COMMUNITIES
Sustainable ICT services are currently available in the 
following areas: 
● ICT solutions for buildings: optimising energy 
consumption, CO2 reduction and production of 
balancing energy through intelligent control of 
heating systems, boilers, solar installations and 
batteries
● ICT solutions for mobility: optimising and manag-
ing mobility through intelligent solutions to 
control logistics systems. For example, networked 
waste containers optimise collection routes within 
city limits. In addition, tools that map traffic flows 
on the basis of anonymised customer data improve 
Savings by the customers 2020
in kt CO2
Operational caused CO2 emissions 2020
in kt CO2
ICT for buildings
ICT for mobility
Smart energy
Supply chain (scope 3)
Data centres services
Remaining emissions (scope 3)
Dematerialisation
Commuter traffic (Scope 3)
Home Office
Electricity, incl. end device (scope 2)
Virtual conferences
Vehicles/Buildings (scope 1)
Status 2017: 503 kt CO2 eq
Status 2017: 401 kt CO2 eq
Status 2018: 569 kt CO2 eq
Status 2018: 437 kt CO2 eq
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700

35
Corporate Responsibility | Energy efficiency and climate protection
urban traffic planning. Swisscom has already laid 
the foundations for this in several Swiss cities.
Goal 12 
RESPONSIBLE CONSUMPTION AND PRODUCTION
● Data centre services: outsourcing and virtualising 
servers in efficient data centres in order to 
optimise energy consumption
● Dematerialisation: reducing the use of paper 
through solutions for paper-saving printing and 
working without paper
● Working from home: solutions for working from 
home or on the move to reduce business travel
● Virtual conferences: solutions for efficient 
workplaces to reduce business travel 
In the year under review, Swisscom distinguished 45 
sustainable ICT services with the “Together we can 
increase sustainability” label introduced in 2015.
The label designates sustainable products and 
services that help companies save energy and 
resources or improve the work-life balance and 
satisfaction of their employees. A list of the relevant 
products can be found on the Internet.
N See www.swisscom.ch/greenict
Sustainable ICT services for residential 
customers
The residential customer segment of Swisscom 
Switzerland further developed its range of Green ICT 
services for residential customers during the year 
under review. In so doing, Swisscom aims to continu-
ously optimise its services from an ecological point of 
view (e.g. in terms of radiation and energy efficiency) 
and provide its residential customers with transpar-
ent information. 
Goal 7 
AFFORDABLE AND CLEAN ENERGY
During the year under review, this programme 
boasted the following successes:
● Smart energy: the subsidiary tiko Energy Solutions 
AG provides the tiko power, tiko sun and tiko 
storage services. tiko power allows residential 
customers to control their heat pumps, electric 
heating systems and boilers remotely and 
immediately alerts them in the event of any 
problems. In addition, tiko power compares the 
energy efficiency of heating systems in homes and 
offices. The service aims to recover balancing 
energy within the Swiss energy market that can be 
used to offset fluctuations in demand by creating 
the largest possible pool of heat pumps and 
electric heating systems. 
Goal 11 
SUSTAINABLE CITIES AND COMMUNITIES
 
This pool allows significantly more renewable 
energy from energy sources such as wind and sun 
to be incorporated in the power supply and, in 
doing so, stabilise the Swiss power network. tiko 
sun increases the consumption of self-produced 
energy from the customer’s own photovoltaic 
system. by putting heat pumps or boilers into 
operation as soon as solar power is produced. tiko 
storage further increases the share of self-pro-
duced energy consumed by temporarily storing 
electricity from the solar installation in an 
environmentally friendly battery from German 
company sonnen GmbH. Customers are remuner-
ated if they make the system available for the 
production of balancing energy. The tiko products 
thereby take some of the strain off the network 
and, at the same time, produce balancing energy.
N See www.tiko.ch
● Data centre services: the Docsafe document 
management system enables Swisscom residential 
customers to securely store all their documents in 
their own personal cloud on Swiss-based servers. 
The documents can then be managed, accessed 
from anywhere in the world and shared in 
encrypted format via computer, tablet or mobile 
phone.
● Dematerialisation thanks to online billing: online 
bills are a smart and environmentally friendly 
alternative to paper bills. The percentage of 
customers who opted to receive their bills online 
rose from 37% in 2017 to 39.0% as of the end of 
2018. In its communications with customers, 
Swisscom alludes to the fact that online billing not 
only benefits the environment, but also saves the 
customer time and money. 
N See www.swisscom.ch/billonline
Energy consumption and emissions by 
customers and the initiative to reduce 
them thanks to improved devices 
Life-cycle assessments produced by Swisscom in 
recent years have identified the following three 
aspects as the main environmental impact factors for 
networks and devices: 
● Energy use by devices through customer use
● Energy consumption by the production of the 
devices 
● Electrical energy consumption by network 
elements
The energy consumed by customer devices can be 
extrapolated to 299,000 MWh based on the devices, 
the energy consumption of each device and the 
typical usage profiles. Swisscom makes its customers 
aware of the many options available for reducing 
energy consumption, as well as offering concrete 
solutions:
● Saving energy is so easy: on the initiative of the 
Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE), Swisscom

36
Corporate Responsibility | Energy efficiency and climate protection
and other providers decided in 2013 to launch a 
joint information campaign. The aim is to optimise 
the energy consumption of devices such as 
modems, routers and TV set-top boxes by encour-
aging customers to use the correct settings. 
Swisscom is committed to supporting these 
transparency measures by continuing to inform its 
customers about energy consumption after the 
conclusion of the campaign and explaining 
energy-optimised settings on its website. 
N See www.swisscom.ch/greenict
● Swisscom TV: Swisscom TV 2.0 now stores 
recordings in the cloud, rather than on the set-top 
box itself. As a result, the box does not need a hard 
disk, which means that it consumes around 
26 kWh per year. This value was again significantly 
improved compared to the prior year (36 kWh). 
This was due to improvements in the operating 
system. Swisscom has also provided Swisscom TV 
customers with detailed information on the most 
energy-efficient settings for their set-top box for 
day-to-day use and when they are on holiday. In 
2017, Swisscom concluded the replacement of its 
customers’ old TV boxes with the new, cloud-
based TV box. By the end of 2018, Swisscom had 
persuaded 1,519 million customers to sign up to 
Swisscom TV. Swisscom TV is thus recording steady 
growth. Despite customer growth of 50% since 
2013, customers’ total electricity consumption has 
fallen from 80 GWh to 61 GWh in the same period, 
thanks to the constant efficiency improvements to 
the box and the software/operating system. 
● Internet-Box: the current Internet-Box 2 offers 
several energy-saving features. One is a time 
switch allowing users to set times during which 
the Wi-Fi, central storage or telephony (DECT) 
functions are switched off. Furthermore, the 
Internet-Box 2 means fewer devices are used in the 
home network. This is because the box replaces 
the multiple devices that used to be required to 
connect computers, TVs and HD fixed-line 
telephony, thereby significantly reducing energy 
consumption. 
N See www.swisscom.ch/greenict
● Ecomode plus: cordless phones with Ecomode plus 
emit minimal levels of radiation. Almost all of the 
cordless phones sold by Swisscom are now models 
with Ecomode plus.
Carbon footprint 
Swisscom maintains a greenhouse gas inventory, pub-
lishes its emissions in a Climate Report according to 
recognised standards (ISO 14064) and has these 
verified externally. In accordance with the Green-
house Gas Protocol (GHG), the company classifies its 
CO2 emissions as Scope 1 (direct emissions resulting 
from burning fossil fuels for heating and mobility or 
from refrigerants), Scope 2 (indirect emissions caused 
by purchased energies) and Scope 3 (all other indirect 
CO2 emissions, e.g. those in the supply chain).
● Scope 1 emissions: Direct consumption of fossil 
fuels accounted for 11% of Swisscom’s total direct 
energy consumption in 2018 (prior year: 13%). 
Scope 1 CO2-equivalent emissions from fossil fuels 
have fallen continually since 1 January 2010 and 
totalled 16,171 tonnes of CO2-equivalent in 2018, 
without adjustment for the number of heating 
days. Vehicle fuel accounted for 59% of this, and 
heating fuel for 41%. In addition, emissions from 
refrigerants included under Scope 1 were 
118 tonnes (prior year: 352 tonnes). Swisscom does 
not include emissions from SF6 losses in electrical 
transformers and stations as it does not control 
these systems. The additional reduction in direct 
emissions (Scope 1) is due to building optimisa-
tions and the replacement of fossil fuels by heat 
pumps, biomass and the increased use of waste 
heat.
● Scope 2 emissions: Swisscom presents its Scope 2 
emissions before and after offsetting. The 
CO2-equivalent emissions from electrical energy 
consumption before offsetting amounted to 
58,168 tonnes of CO2-equivalent in 2018 (loca-
tion-based approach) or 0 tonnes of CO2-equiva-
lent after offsetting with market instruments 
(i.e. certificates; market-based approach). Under 
Scope 2, then, Swisscom did not emit any CO2 as a 
result of electricity consumption in 2018, but had a 
share of 1,052 tonnes of CO2-equivalent from 
district heating. Emissions according to Scope 2 are 
attributable exclusively to district heating, for 
which a compensation plan is in development.
● Scope 3 emissions: Swisscom determined its 
greenhouse gas emissions in accordance with the 
categories of Scope 3. The following categories 
were excluded: processing of sold products 
(category 10), downstream-leased assets (cate-
gory 13) and franchises (category 14). These 
categories are not relevant, as in 2018 Swisscom 
did not manufacture any products, did not operate 
any distribution centres (downstream leased 
assets) and did not operate any franchises. 
Swisscom’s Scope 3 CO2 emissions amounted to 
425,093 tonnes (prior year: 386,265 tonnes). CO2 
equivalent emissions in the supply chain for the 
categories purchased goods and services (category 
1), capital goods (category 2) and transport and 
21.4 
20.1 
18.1 
16.3 
19.8 
Swisscom direct CO2 emissions (Scope 1)
in thousand tonnes
24
16
8
0
2014 
2015 
2017 
2018 
 
2016

37
Corporate Responsibility | Energy efficiency and climate protection
distribution to distribution centres (category 4) 
amounted to 333,300 tonnes in 2018. They 
accounted for the lion’s share of Scope 3 emissions. 
Indirect emissions under Scope 3 are more difficult 
to control. The rise in these emissions is due to the 
slight increase in the volume of equipment and 
facilities purchased. Conversely, it was determined 
that new suppliers or suppliers included in the 
estimates for the first time exhibit high CO2 
intensity. Fastweb is classified under category 15 
(4,943 tonnes of CO2, is not incorporated 2:1 in the 
target calculation).
The Climate Report not only provides information on 
CO2 emissions, but also on the effects of the reduction 
measures implemented within the company and the 
achievement of the target. It also calculates the CO2 
emissions that can be avoided by corporate custom-
ers and residential customers if they use sustainable 
ICT services certified by external partner myclimate. 
Finally, the Climate Report includes a balance sheet of 
CO2 emissions and savings among customers. 
Swisscom is also involved each year in the Carbon 
Disclosure Project (CDP). The information gathered 
through the CDP regarding emissions and Swisscom’s 
commitment to climate protection can be viewed on 
the CDP platform. Swisscom was again listed on the 
Supplier and Climate A List (A-) and in the Carbon 
Disclosure Leadership Index (CDLI) in 2018. 
N See www.cdp.net
CO2 intensity
Swisscom has continually reduced its CO2 intensity in 
recent years. Intensity is calculated by the EnAW on 
the basis of the consumption statistics supplied 
annually by Swisscom. Compared to the reference 
year 2013, CO2 intensity has decreased by 7% (most 
recent figure available: 2017).
Other environmental aspects in the 
company
It takes not only energy but also a multitude of 
materials to operate telecommunications networks. 
Handling this efficiently is not only logical from an 
economic perspective, but also protects the environ-
ment and is therefore in line with Swisscom’s value 
system. Swisscom endeavours to continuously refine 
the environmental compatibility of its operations and 
the conservation of natural resources.
Swisscom therefore pays attention to its ecological 
operation. As part of its environmental management 
system according to ISO 14001, it processes environ-
mental aspects systematically and has significantly 
optimised its operation with regard to its ecological 
footprint. The annual review of target progress shows 
that further non-energy reduction targets or meas-
ures produce only relatively minor improvements. 
Swisscom therefore intends to reduce consumption 
via the other environmental aspects or at worst to 
limit it to the same level as in the previous year. It is 
also focusing increasingly on qualitative measures 
such as selecting, recycling and reusing materials. 
Further information on measures in other environ-
mentally relevant areas can be found in the sections 
below.
Paper 
Swisscom distinguishes between the deployment of 
short-life and long-life materials and is committed to 
reducing the environmental impact of short-life 
materials, in particular paper. Swisscom uses recycled 
paper with the “Blue Angel” environmental label in its 
offices. It also used this high-quality recycled paper 
for its new simple billing during the year under 
review. For advertising or print media, it uses only 
paper with the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) label. 
The company has significantly reduced paper 
consumption by switching to bimonthly customer 
invoicing, simple billing and paperless online billing. 
For printouts at its offices, Swisscom has introduced 
“follow-me printing”, which has helped to reduce 
paper consumption. It also uses 34 g/m2 and 38 g/m2 
paper with the “Blue Angel” environmental label for 
telephone directories. 11% of telephone directories 
are printed in Switzerland. Paper consumption for 
telephone directories is on the decline as circulation is 
dropping.
In tonnes  
Quality  
2016  
2017  
2018 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Paper  
  
  
  
 
Office (copiers, printers) (80 g/m2 = 5 g/sheet)  
Blue Angel  1 
92  
76  
69 
Print media  
FSC Label  
2,209  
2,011  3 
1,710  2
Bills and envelopes (envelopes = 6 g/per envelope)  
FSC Label  
441.0  
394.0  
362 
Phone directories  
Blue Angel  
2,414  
1,963  
1,567 
Total paper consumption  
  
5,156  
4,444  3 
3,708 
1 75%
2 Derived from experience from previous year
3 770 tonnes of packaging included

38
Corporate Responsibility | Energy efficiency and climate protection
 Cables, optical fibres and telephone masts 
In 2018, as in the previous year, Swisscom used the 
following materials in its fixed network: optical fibre, 
copper pairs and eco-friendly polyethylene piping. 
While copper is still used in the distribution network 
(close to the customer), it is increasingly being 
replaced by optical fibre elsewhere. However, the 
number of telephone masts is rising on the back of 
network expansion. The amount of copper used 
varies from year to year, as the table shows. The 
roll-out of Fibre to the Street and Fibre to the Home 
enables broadband usage of the current copper cable 
over the last few metres. No new large-wire copper 
cables are being installed in the trunk zone.
Swisscom introduced a new process for checking 
telephone masts in preventative maintenance 2015. 
This makes it possible to replace only defective 
telephone masts during renovation work. This process 
has radically reduced the number of telephone masts 
refurbished in preventative maintenance since 2015, 
as fewer masts were classified as rotten than in 
previous years. The number of telephone masts 
requiring refurbishment is, however, heavily depend-
ent on the number of telephone masts subject to 
inspection each year as well as on environmental 
influences (storms, snow, etc.). Three partner 
companies guarantee these telephone masts are 
disposed of in an environmentally friendly way at the 
end of their life cycle. The biological process for 
treating masts in the ground, which was introduced 
in 2017, received the biennial EMPA Innovation Award 
in the year under review. The award-winning product, 
which is called Avengelus, consists of fungi of the 
species Trichoderma fungi and combats copper- 
resistant rot fungi in a natural manner. 
in km, tonnes or number  
Unit  
2016  
2017  
2018 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
consumamble material  
  
  
  
 
Optical fibre  
fkm  1 
1,202,362  
1,140,233  
1,318,293 
Copper pairs  
pkm  1 
62,637  
53,970  
54,750 
Plastic pipes PE  
km  
492  
428  
395 
Copper 2 
Tonnes  
732  
667  
629 
Plastic pipes PE 2 
Tonnes  
438  
389  
355 
Telephone poles (wood)  
Number of items  
3,515  
4,754  
6,585
1  Fibre- resp. pair km
2  converted from plastic pipes, respectively copper pairs
Water 
Swisscom projects its water consumption on the basis 
of monthly readings conducted in its largest buildings 
and multiplies this measurement by the average 
number of FTEs over the current year. The readings 
cover more than half of Swisscom’s FTEs and are 
therefore representative. The daily average consump-
tion in 2018 was 43.8 litres per FTE. Swisscom is 
increasingly focused on reducing its water consump-
tion. As part of the process of operational optimisa-
tion (Pioneer project), it installed flow limiters in its 
existing buildings. During renovation work, it fits 
advanced valves with a reduced flow rate which 
reduce the daily consumption of water by 90% 
compared to traditional valves.
Water is used in just one business process, namely 
cooling, as well as in exceptional cases (such as on hot 
days). Swisscom uses dry or hybrid cooling to cool the 
return air in its data centres. In accordance with an 
internal directive, Swisscom must wherever possible 
use rain water or, if permitted, river / lake water for 
hybrid cooling. An anti-freeze agent (glycol) with a 
low environmental impact is added to the heat 
transfer medium during the winter. In the case of the 
data centre in Berne Wankdorf, the proportion of rain 
water used for cooling return air must be higher than 
80%, and operation of the return air coolers using 
water may not exceed 15% of the total annual 
operating time. 
Water used for cooling therefore accounts for 
significantly less than Swisscom’s total water 
consumption. The cold rooms or refrigeration 
appliances are supplied with cooled water as the 
refrigerant, which circulates in a closed circuit and 
therefore involves no consumption.
Cooling systems and refrigerants 
Wherever technically possible, Swisscom has replaced 
coolant-using compression cooling systems in its 
premises with the advanced Mistral cooling method. 
Mistral cools telecommunications equipment 
throughout the entire year using only fresh air and 
does not require any cooling agents whatsoever. 
Swisscom is increasingly cooling its transmitter and 
mobile base stations without the use of compression 
cooling systems. In collaboration with an external 
company, Mistral has installed a cooling module for 
the mobile base stations that allows a rapid, cost-ef-
fective conversion to cooling with fresh air. Swisscom 
now operates compression cooling systems with 
coolant only in data centres or in very densely packed 
centres, where the high heat load and the unfavoura-
ble room situation make cooling with fresh air more 
difficult. Swisscom regularly checks that there are no 
refrigerant leaks in its systems. The quantity of cooling 
agent emissions in the year under review were 
determined on the basis of a refill volume of 100 kg 
(prior year: 445 kg). They have a global warming 
potential (GWP) of 118 tonnes CO2-equivalent (prior 
year: 352) and no ozone-depleting  potential (ODP, 0 kg

39
Corporate Responsibility | Energy efficiency and climate protection
R-11 equivalent). Swisscom requires the use of 
low-GWP cooling agents for the conversion or 
development of data centre cooling systems. These 
are characterised by a GWP value of less than 150, 
i.e. the global warming potential of 1 kg of refrigerant 
corresponds to less than 150 kg of CO2. In 2015, 
Swisscom became the first company in Switzerland to 
install – at its operation building in Zurich Herdern – 
a heat pump using HFO-1234ze as its working fluid 
and in 2014, the first to use corresponding chillers for 
air conditioning purposes in its Olten factory building. 
This working fluid has a very low global warming 
potential (GWP = 6). Since then, Swisscom has been 
employing such systems as standard.
N See www.swisscom.ch/climatereport2018
Batteries and emergency power systems 
Swisscom services must be available in the event of 
power outages. In order to facilitate this, the company 
has installed batteries and emergency power systems 
at telecommunications buildings and data centres. 
Swisscom regularly reviews the prescribed safety 
measures in the battery rooms to prevent any danger 
to the environment through the use of batteries. At 
the end of their life cycle, it has the batteries disposed 
of and recycled in an environmentally friendly 
manner. The emergency power systems are only used 
during power outages and for a few hours a year 
during annual test runs. The necessary fuel consump-
tion is included in the overall figure of the fuel 
consumption of Swisscom.
Waste 
Swisscom undertakes to avoid waste and selects its 
products carefully in order to extend their life cycle. 
Its recycling management includes working with 
partner companies to ensure that waste is reused 
wherever possible. The volume of waste is on a 
downward trend; the majority of waste is recycled. 
For waste disposal there are contracts in place with 
the Swiss Waste Exchange and other external 
partners. Special waste is disposed of solely by 
authorised companies in accordance with legal 
requirements. Since 2015, Swisscom has adopted a 
uniform process that strengthens transparency along 
the entire disposal chain.
Waste is categorised according to the Ordinance on 
Handling Waste (VeVa), is separated into 25 types and 
is recorded by Swisscom. These types fall under the 
four main categories of recycling, household waste, 
operational waste disposed of in municipal solid 
waste incinerators, and special waste that is subject 
to inspections (refrigerants with waste code 14 06 01, 
batteries with waste code 16 06 01 / 16 06 98, old 
wooden telephone masts with waste code 17 02 97 
and fluorescent lighting tubes with waste code 
20 01 21). Where there is a maintenance agreement 
with third parties, the special waste (used oil with 
waste code 13 03 07, scrap wood from construction 
sites with waste code 17 02 97) is disposed of by 
these third parties and not recorded by Swisscom. 
Leftover cables and building materials are sorted on 
the construction site and disposed of directly. The 
volume of household waste was calculated by 
extrapolating the actual figures recorded in 2016 at 
six major Swisscom locations throughout Switzerland. 
The calculation multiplies the number of full-time 
equivalent employees at Swisscom in Switzerland by 
the average calculated volume of 40 kg per FTE.
In tonnes  
2016  
2017  
2018  
2018 in % 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Waste categories  
  
  
  
 
Recycling  
3,575  
2,036  
2,749  
62.7% 
Domestic waste disposal in incineration plants  
750  
721  
695  
15.8% 
Operational waste disposal in incineration plants  
2,596  
2,871  
923  
21.0% 
Special waste  
30  
19  
18  
0.4% 
Total waste  
6,951  
5,647  
4,385  
100.0% 
Recycling 
The recycling category in the table above comprises 
the following materials which are accumulated during 
operations: metals (copper, iron, aluminium), paper 
and cardboard, plastics (PET, PE, PP) and toner 
cartridges. Swisscom has introduced a directive 
governing the recycling of network infrastructure 
materials. Swisscom also uses recycled materials: the 
individual locations use recycled paper and the head 
office uses rain water and district heating from the 
nearby purification plant. Swisscom also reuses 
routers where possible. Recycling operating materials 
and reusing devices are the first steps towards a 
circular economy. At the new Minergie-P-Eco® business 
parks in Ittigen, Ey 10 and Sion, recycled concrete has 
been used wherever possible. 
Soil and biodiversity 
The base and transmitter stations ensure that the 
whole of Switzerland can use telecommunications, 
radio and TV services. In some cases, these stations 
are located outside populated areas. 
● Swisscom Broadcast Ltd transmitter stations: as in 
the previous year, there are five locations of 
Swisscom Broadcast Ltd in Emerald areas and two 
on the edge of an Emerald area or on the edge of 
moorlands. One other location stands in moor-
lands (protected area of national significance).
● Swisscom Switzerland Ltd base stations: 68 mobile 
radio base stations (prior year: 68; equivalent to 
1.25% of the 5,400 base stations) are located in 
Ramsar and Emerald protection areas, water 
protection areas, bird sanctuaries or moorlands,

40
Corporate Responsibility | Energy efficiency and climate protection
two of which are in the Swiss National Park. The 
lower number of base stations compared to the 
prior year is based on a new counting method, 
which accounts for the fact that some of the areas 
mentioned above overlap, resulting in stations 
being counted two or even three times. In concrete 
terms, Swisscom constructed no new installations 
in nature conservation areas in the year under 
review.
Base stations continue to form the backbone of all 
mobile phone networks. When positioning these 
antennas, Swisscom focuses not only on radio 
technology aspects, but also on their seamless 
integration into the landscape and townscape as well 
as the efficient utilisation of the available building 
land. The search for a suitable location requires an 
inspection of the site and complies with an inventory 
of sensitive locations and buildings (if there are any). 
In the protected areas mentioned above, Swisscom 
uses existing infrastructure, does not build additional 
infrastructure itself and does not lay any cables. Apart 
from the potential visual impact, no negative effects 
have been detected from the installations. All base 
and transmitter stations were approved by the 
relevant authorities.
Only a few square metres of space have to be sealed 
for the construction of a mobile network base or 
transmitter station. A base station has a base 
footprint of approximately eleven square metres. 
When Swisscom dismantles decommissioned 
transmitter stations, it rehabilitates the ground in 
accordance with internal guidelines issued by 
Swisscom Broadcast Ltd. In 2018, Swisscom disman-
tled three stations and restored the ground affected 
to its natural state. 
Swisscom supports a number of partners who work 
to protect the soil and biodiversity. This support takes 
the form of financial assistance as well as assistance 
in the form of the personal efforts of Swisscom 
employees on site during Nature Days. These Nature 
Days are part of the corporate volunteering pro-
gramme Give&Grow. In 2018, Swisscom employees 
clocked up a total of 722 volunteer days (prior year: 
1,117) for nature and landscape conservation. 
Swisscom also provides technical services to support 
the Swiss National Park. To protect biodiversity, 
Swisscom established a population of bees (Apis 
mellifera) on the site of its head office. They produced 
a few kilos of honey in the year under review.
Other air emissions 
Besides CO2 emissions, burning fossil fuels for heating 
and transport also produces NOx and SO2. These 
emissions are determined using the relevant conver-
sion factors and depend on the amount of vehicle fuel 
and heating fuel consumed. The reduction target for 
CO2 also applies to NOx and SO2, since all these gases 
originate from the same combustion processes 
(heating or engines). Swisscom is reducing CO2, NOx 
and SO2 emissions by continually optimising heating 
boilers and drive motors. The emissions are listed in 
the table of environmental key figures, on page 42.

41
Corporate Responsibility | Energy efficiency and climate protection
Environmental key figures in Switzerland
  
Unit  
2016  
2017  
2018 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Land/buildings  
  
  
  
 
Net floor space (NFS)  
million m2  
0.93  
0.93  
0.93 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Paper consumption  
  
  
  
 
Total paper consumption  
Tonnes  
5,156  
4,444  
3,708 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Water/sewage  
  
  
  
 
Water consumption 1 
m3  
182,451  
188,410  
182,424 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Energy, electricity  
  
  
  
 
Electrical energy consumption 2 
Terajoule  
1,613  
1,683  
1,747 
  
GWh  
448  
468  
485 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Energy, heating 3 
  
  
  
 
Heating oil  
Terajoule  
109.7  
99.2  
69.1 
Natural gas  
Terajoule  
28.2  
26.6  
27.3 
District heating  
Terajoule  
39.6  
40.0  
37.2 
Biomass  
Terajoule  
  
  
1.1 
Total Heating  
Terajoule  
177.5  
165.8  
134.8 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Energy, fuel 4 
  
  
  
 
Petrol  
Terajoule  
21.6  
16.4  
16.8 
Diesel fuel  
Terajoule  
116.3  
111.3  
110.9 
Natural gas  
Terajoule  
1.9  
0.3  
0.2 
Total fuel  
Terajoule  
139.8  
128.0  
127.8 
Vehicles  
Number  
3,403  
3,160  
3,040 
Kilometers driven  
million km  
60.2  
54.9  
53.4 
Average CO2 emissions 5 
g per km  
109.0  
105.0  
104.0 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Energy, total  
  
  
  
 
Energy consumption  
Terajoule  
1,930  
1,973  
2,009 
  
GWh  
536  
548  
558 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Air emissions  
  
  
  
 
Carbon dioxide CO2-eq from the consumption of fossil energies 6 
Tonnes  
19,837  
18,119  
16,171 
Nitrous gases NOx
 7 
Tonnes  
18.3  
15.4  
13.9 
Sulphur dioxide SO2
 8 
Tonnes  
3.7  
3.3  
2.3 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Waste  
  
  
  
 
Total amount of waste  
Tonnes  
6,951  
5,647  
4,385 
1 The water consumption (without cooling water) is extrapolated on the basis 
of the average rate of 43.8 litre per FTE per day.
2 Energy conversion: 1 terajoule (TJ) = 0.278 gigawatt hours (GWh).
3 The heating energy consumption is based on a forecast of monthly measures 
of the consumption of 61 buildings until 2017 and 120 buildings from 2018 
(with a total floor space of over 45%).
4 The fuel consumption was adjusted from private use. The km driven, energy 
consumption and the air emissions were adjusted accordingly.
5 Average emissions per kilometre refer to manufacturer’s indications, accord-
ing to the NEDC method.
6 CO2-emissions from consumption of fossil energies, without district heating 
and refrigerant fluid. Swisscom published a complete climate report according 
to ISO 14064.
7 From Mobitool (www.mobitool.ch), car traffic, national 5-200 km, direct 
use, load 1.25, fuel consumption 5.8 litres per 100 km (2016), 5.8 (2017), 5.5 
(2018).
8 According to publications “Pollutant Emissions from Road Transport, 1990 to 
2035, FOEN, update 2010, annex 6, p. 91, 2010” and “Worksheet emissions 
factors combustion”, FOEN, 2005 .

42
Corporate Responsibility | Work and life
Work and life 
Swisscom supports its customers in their efforts to achieve a sustainable way 
of living and working, and is committed to mobile working and healthcare. 
Management approach
The Work Smart Initiative promotes flexible working, 
which allows customers and employees to better 
balance family and career requirements. Work Smart 
is based on digital solutions and services that form 
part of Swisscom’s core business, an important area 
that will grow in importance in the future. Swisscom 
aims to give one million people the opportunity to 
use mobile working models by 2020. Swisscom 
provides its customers and employees with the fast 
Internet connections and corresponding technologies 
and services they need. The focus is on people rather 
than technology. Swisscom cultivates an appropriate 
management style, promotes a working culture and 
provides premises and framework conditions. For 
more information, see the “Employees” section. 
Swisscom employees are able to work flexibly, which 
improves their work-life balance, increases their 
productivity and makes a contribution to climate 
protection targets. Together with research institu-
tions and companies, the Work Smart Initiative is 
researching how mobile working impacts on people 
and the environment. 
Work Smart solutions
These services support mobile working and promote 
climate protection:
● Conferencing services: traditional teleconferenc-
ing services. These can now be supplemented with 
functions such as screen sharing for group 
presentations.
● Managed communications & collaboration: the 
communications solution that is integrated into 
the personal workspace and company-internal 
intranet. It allows for web and videoconferencing, 
screen sharing and the joint editing of documents, 
and also includes chat functions and information 
on the presence status.
● Remote access: remote access to the company’s 
network. This service enables employees to work 
with company documents and data regardless of 
their location or the time.
As at the end of 2018, around 1 million people are 
working flexibly thanks to Swisscom. This calculation 
is based on the reference values of the FlexWork 
Study 2016 by the University of Applied Sciences and 
Arts Northwestern Switzerland FHNW. The study 
explains how mobile working and the obstacles 
facing it in the world of work have changed since 
2014. It confirms that, of the approximately 5.082 mil-
lion people in gainful employment in Switzerland, 
around one-quarter used flexible models to their 
maximum advantage. Of those who do use mobile 
working, around 57% use Swisscom broadband 
connections.
N See www.work-smart-initiative.ch
Swisscom is taking a pioneering role in the area of 
Work Smart. In the year under review, the FHNW 
conducted a survey on behalf of the Work Smart 
Initiative to assess individual companies with regard 
to their contribution to making the world of work 
more flexible. According to this survey, Swisscom 
works in a flexible and project-based manner. 
Swisscom’s working methods are considerably more 
flexible than those of the average Swiss company. It 
therefore shares its experience and offers its business 
customers Work Smart coaching seminars.
Swisscom is driving forward the Work 
Smart Initiative
As a board member and representative of the co-chair 
of the Work Smart Initiative association, Swisscom 
actively promotes flexible working in Swiss compa-
nies. The three goals of the Work Smart Initiative are 
as follows: to promote the framework conditions that 
make flexible working possible, to integrate addi-
tional groups of people into the workforce, and to 
make intelligent use of resources and infrastructure. 
The newly created office strengthened and profes-
sionalised the Work Smart Initiative in the year under 
review. 
In 2018, the Work Smart Initiative developed a survey 
that allows companies to classify themselves 
according to the FlexWork phase model. A survey of 
the charter signatories showed that they work much 
more flexibly than the rest of Switzerland. By the end 
of the year, a total of 177 companies had signed the 
charter. Each year, the flexible working initiative 
organises a Work Smart Week featuring events for 
companies and signatories of the charter. Another 
highlight: the digital train, by means of which the 
initiative has brought the working world of the future 
closer to the public.
N See www.work-smart-initiative.ch

43
Corporate Responsibility | Work and life
Portfolio: offers in the healthcare 
sector 
Health – management approach
The subject of health is relevant to Swisscom in two 
respects. Firstly, the healthcare sector is at the 
beginning of a digital transformation that will open 
up promising business opportunities for Swisscom as 
a leading ICT company. Secondly, the health and 
well-being of its employees are of great importance 
to Swisscom. 
Swisscom supports institutions, professionals and the 
general public in the digital transformation of the 
healthcare system. It makes health information 
digitally accessible for customers and users. The 
exchange of data increases the efficiency and quality 
of the healthcare sector. By 2020, one million people 
in the healthcare sector should benefit from 
Swisscom’s products and services. This is a goal that 
Swisscom set itself as part of its CR strategy – and 
one which it achieved in 2017, at 1,104,212. Currently, 
some 3,500 doctors and 200 hospitals use Swisscom 
services as customers. Tens of thousands of private 
individuals use Evita, Swisscom’s digital personal 
health record. In addition, Switzerland’s most 
populous cantons are relying on Swisscom technology 
as they introduce electronic patient dossiers (EPD). 
These cantons are home to a good 50% of the 
hospitals, nursing homes and general practitioners in 
Switzerland. Furthermore, they also account for 
around half of Switzerland’s population.
Swisscom offers a wide range of services and 
information to promote the health of its employees. 
These also involve the use of modern, digital tools.
Goal 3 
GOOD HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
Digital solutions for a healthy Switzerland 
Swisscom is networking the Swiss healthcare sector 
by means of secure solutions for the digital exchange 
of data. To do so, it pursues three main strategies. 
Firstly, Swisscom is playing its part in the introduction 
of the electronic patient dossier (EPD), which gives the 
population easy and secure access to their digital 
health data. Secondly, it digitises the processes of 
health facilities such as hospitals, nursing homes and 
doctors, ensures that they can exchange data and 
thereby increases their efficiency. Thirdly, it supports 
organisers of major sporting events and thus 
contributes to health promotion.
Greater efficiency thanks to digitisation 
Healthcare costs in Switzerland are increasing year on 
year. According to the Swiss Federal Statistical Office, 
12.2% of GDP is spent on healthcare. According to the 
economic research unit of the Federal Institute of 
Technology in Zurich (ETH Zurich), the annual health 
costs per person exceeded the CHF 10,000 threshold 
for the first time in 2018.
The digitisation of processes and information has 
enormous potential in the battle to combat rising 
healthcare costs and increase efficiency in the 
healthcare system. One instrument to achieve this is 
the electronic patient dossier (EPD), which hospitals 
must offer by 2020 at the latest. The dossier allows 
healthcare professionals easy access to treatment-rel-
evant documents and lets them quickly access 
important information. As a result, unnecessary or 
duplicate treatments can be avoided. The potential 
resulting from the digitisation of processes between 
service providers has to date been underutilised. This 
is where Swisscom’s solutions come in, making it 
possible to optimise transfers, the exchange of 
information, and much more besides.
A focus on people
In addition to increasing efficiency, digitisation in the 
healthcare sector allows the patient to be put even 
more clearly at the centre of all activities. The 
electronic patient dossier (EPD) improves the 
exchange of information and thus treatment. The EPD 
enables citizens to access their health data – easily 
and from anywhere. They determine which other 
people have access to this information.
For some years now, Swisscom’s electronic patient 
records system Evita, a kind of precursor to the EPD, 
has enabled patients to access health data collated by 
doctors or hospitals as well as their own records. 
Personal medical and administrative data and 
documents of a patient are thus stored securely in 
one place and can be accessed online at any time. 
Another function offered by Evita is online check-in: 
patients complete the formalities for hospital 
admission securely and conveniently from their 
homes. 
Swisscom expanded its customer base in the health-
care sector in 2018, winning over doctors and 
therapists with its practice information system. In 
addition, it has scaled up eHealth platforms for 
cantons and hospitals based on its Health Connect 
solution. In August 2018, the first EPDs under federal 
law and based on Swisscom technology were opened 
in the canton of Basel.
Healthi – the health platform 
Healthi, the web-based, interactive health platform 
for employees, forms part of the responsibility that 
Swisscom assumes for its employees. With articles 
and up-to-date tips on nutrition, exercise and 
well-being, the platform helps employees to increase 
their knowledge and awareness of their own health. 
Healthi also promotes social interaction within the 
company and is Swisscom’s internal contact point for 
all health-related topics. 
N See www.healthi.ch

44
Corporate Responsibility | Work and life
Low-radiation communications 
technologies
Electromagnetic fields and corporate 
responsibility
For more than a hundred years, technology has been 
using electromagnetic fields to transmit signals. It is 
the technology used by radio and television to reach 
billions of listeners and viewers, and by mobile 
communications to achieve their unprecedented 
success since 1990. For some time now, there have 
been more mobile phones in use in Switzerland than 
the country has inhabitants. Swisscom now operates 
thousands of antennas to offer its customers a 
reliable and high-performance mobile network. The 
continuing growth in customer demand and the 
development of new transmission technologies will 
ensure that this network is never completed.
When operating its mobile communications installa-
tions, Swisscom has a duty to comply with the 
extremely strict environmental requirements in all 
respects, at all times and in every location. The 
electromagnetic fields of antennas have been the 
subject of scientific research for over 30 years to 
clarify whether mobile radio immissions have any 
negative effects on organisms. The current scientific 
opinion is that there is no evidence that they do and 
that such fears are therefore unfounded. However, it 
also admits that there are still open questions.
Swisscom has a fundamental interest in operating a 
technology that harms neither people nor the 
environment. It is an actor in the social and political 
debate, and its enormous responsibility is not limited 
to complying with all the relevant legislation. On the 
contrary, Swisscom provides technical, scientific and 
communicative support for mobile communications 
and the environment on a voluntary basis. Its aim is 
to further the development of mobile communica-
tions in harmony with people and nature, to promote 
research and to engage in dialogue with stakeholder 
groups. 
Swisscom’s Corporate Responsibility, Technical and 
Scientific Governance, and NIRO Governance (Govern-
ance of the Ordinance on Protection against Non-Ion-
ising Radiation) areas are responsible for the topic of 
mobile communications and the environment. In 
addition, Swisscom set up an interdisciplinary team in 
the year under review to coordinate the measures and 
report regularly to the CEO, CIO and CCO.
The following sections illustrate how Swisscom 
advises, researches, certifies and informs.
Advice and information on wireless 
technologies and the environment
Local construction projects or articles in the media 
often lead to questions and demands on Swisscom. 
Six trained Swisscom employees advise people 
involved in the construction and operation of mobile 
radio networks on the one hand and stakeholder 
groups who would like general information on radio 
technologies, the environment and health on the 
other. In the year under review, Swisscom held around 
300 (prior year: 140) discussions with key stakeholder 
groups on the subjects of mobile communications 
and the environment. There are two reasons for the 
significant increase in the number of discussions: a 
narrowly defeated motion in the Council of States to 
relax the installation limit values for mobile commu-
nication antennas and the general public discussion 
of the new 5G mobile radio standard. Swisscom 
maintains a regular exchange of information with 
environmental agencies to ensure that it implements 
the environmental requirements for mobile commu-
nications correctly at all times. In addition, two 
Swisscom experts deal with electrosensitive persons 
who feel unwell as a result of immissions from mobile 
communications installations or other transmitters 
used by Swisscom. Two communications experts 
prepare information on mobile communications and 
the environment for online and print media.
N See www.swisscom.ch/radiation
Research and development in the area of 
electromagnetic fields 
In the field of electromagnetic field research, 
Swisscom cooperates with internal and external 
specialists who analyse studies and support relevant 
scientific work. Swisscom collaborates with and 
financially supports the Swiss Research Foundation 
for Electricity and Mobile Communication (FSM) 
based at the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. 
The FSM continually monitors and interprets the 
latest research published on the effects of electro-
magnetic fields on organisms and the measurement 
of immissions.
Compliance with NIRO limits and 
certification of the quality assurance 
system
In Switzerland, the legal obligation to limit emissions 
from mobile communication installations is set out in 
the Ordinance relating to Protection against Non-Ion-
ising Radiation (NIRO). In 2018, Swisscom met all 
federal legal requirements with respect to the NIRO. 
It transfers the transmission data from all mobile 
radio installations to a central database. The munici-
pal and cantonal enforcement authorities have 
protected access to this database and can check 
compliance with NIRO limits independently and on 
the basis of random samples at any time. Swisscom is 
required to operate a quality assurance system (QAS) 
for its mobile base stations. The company certifies its 
QSS according to the ISO standard 33002:2015. The 
monitoring audit of the QAS in accordance with ISO 
33002:2015 was carried out by an external auditor 
mandated by Société Générale de Surveillance (SGS) 
in November 2018. Swisscom passed the review with 
a capability rating of 3 out of a maximum of 5.

45
Corporate Responsibility | Work and life
Duty to provide information on products 
offered at points of sale
Customers and interested parties can find informa-
tion on the levels of radiation emitted by mobile 
handsets (SAR values) at Swisscom points of sale and 
on the website. There is no legal obligation to provide 
this information. Swisscom provides this information 
in response to the desire of some customers to know 
the radiation level when selecting a device. All mobile 
telephones offered by Swisscom comply with the 
limit of 2 W/kg, in line with the WHO recommenda-
tions; 62% are below 0.8 W/kg (previous year 62%), 
while 45% are below 0.6 W/kg (previous year 50%, as 
of December). 
Current challenges
The new 5G mobile communication technology is still 
in its infancy. It will form the basis of digitisation in 
the future. Due to the uniquely strict nature of the 
NIRO regulations in Switzerland, Swisscom is permit-
ted to transmit 5G on hardly any of its existing mobile 
communication antennas. Instead, it is obliged to set 
up a large number of new antennas. Swisscom is 
therefore in favour of amending the NIRO. Its experts 
have elaborated measures that meet the needs of 
mobile operators and their customers as well as 
taking account of the precautionary principle required 
by the Environmental Protection Act.

46
Corporate Responsibility | Media skills and security
Media skills and security
Swisscom enables and shapes the information society. It wants all people in 
Switzerland to be able to communicate at all times in both the public and 
private spheres and to exchange information with one another. It provides the 
infrastructure and services to enable this. At the same time, Swisscom fulfils 
its obligation to draw the attention of digital media users to the associated 
risks. In particular, it helps children and young people to deal competently 
with the new opportunities. 
Management approach 
Parents and teachers are now under great pressure 
when it comes to the use of media by children and 
young people. Different value systems generate 
tension. Young people experience media as a natural 
element of their everyday lives and find it difficult to 
accept any limitations. Swisscom sees itself as bearing 
a responsibility, as its products make it possible for 
the everyday lives of children and young people to be 
penetrated by digital media in the first place. 
Swisscom decided very early to conscientiously fulfil 
more than just the legal requirements. It has there-
fore adopted additional measures to establish 
meaningful, target-oriented media use in Switzer-
land. Swisscom is convinced that only balanced, 
moderate media use can advance the information 
society.
CR team members are responsible for youth protec-
tion and media competence. When it comes to the 
protection of minors, Swisscom relies on technical 
measures such as filters, clearly regulated processes in 
the advisory and sales process and the blocking of 
value-added services. It does, however, also favour 
clear preventive measures such as targeted education, 
sensitisation and information for the various stake-
holder groups. To ensure a meaningful KPI, Swisscom 
measures the number of contacts made as a result of 
these measures. Swisscom maintains an active 
discourse with individual stakeholder groups from the 
family policy arena, schools and parents’ organisations 
to make the best possible use of synergies.
Swisscom’s approach has been successful from the 
very outset. The various measures such as “enter”, the 
digital media guide, the media courses and the social 
media channel of the youth media protection officer 
are rated very highly by customers, readers and users 
and reach the target groups to a sufficient extent. 
Swisscom also supports the High Principles on Child 
Protection of the European Telecommunications 
Network Operators’ Association (ETNO).
The rapidly changing media landscape constantly 
produces new challenges for parents, teachers and all 
those involved in youth media protection. For this 
reason, Swisscom continuously updates its informa-
tion material.
It is important to Swisscom that everyone in Switzer-
land should be able to take advantage of digital 
media. To this end, it guarantees reliable network 
access almost everywhere in the country. Beyond the 
applicable technical requirements, it takes the social 
impact of digital media seriously. It is committed to 
getting the most out of new media, to protecting 
minors and to supporting initiatives that bridge the 
digital divide. Swisscom will be maintaining its goal in 
2019 and promoting measured, responsible media 
use, thereby championing a healthy information 
society that adds value in line with the federal 
government’s strategy. Swisscom is convinced that 
Switzerland as a business location, the Swiss educa-
tional landscape and the entire population will 
continue to benefit from a progressive ICT landscape 
both now and in the future. In harmony with 
Swisscom, the Digital Switzerland initiative passed by 
the Federal Council in April 2016 relates not only to 
the infrastructure aspects of information and 
communication technologies, but also to issues of 
data handling and the development of an information 
society. The digitisation of broad swathes of society is 
essential. This includes much more than the mere use 
of technical devices and applications and requires each 
individual to be open and willing to learn on a daily 
basis. For this very reason, it is vital that we as 
individuals develop a healthy, responsible attitude to 
dealing with the new forms of digitisation in the 
current phase of transformation.
Data protection 
Almost all of Swisscom’s divisions process personal 
data. This is particularly important in the provision of 
services and the handling of business relationships. 
The ongoing digitisation process offers a plethora of 
possibilities for optimising and further developing 
services for customers and for improving the effi-
ciency of operational processes. Swisscom stands for 
responsible, transparent and legally compliant 
handling of customers’ and employees’ personal data.

47
Corporate Responsibility | Media skills and security
It works continuously to extend its data protection 
measures. For example, new processes and methods 
ensure that data protection interests are taken into 
account at an even earlier stage when planning 
projects. In addition, staff training was intensified in 
order to further improve their knowledge of the 
handling of personal data.
For some time, Swisscom has been giving its custom-
ers the opportunity to influence the processing of 
their data. Customers can opt out of their data being 
used for smart data applications in the online 
customer centre and at the points of contact.
Data protection within Swisscom is controlled and 
monitored by a central data governance unit. This has 
been further expanded so all business areas are 
actively supported with the necessary resources and 
knowledge to ensure compliance with legal require-
ments and Swisscom’s pledge of trustworthiness.
N See www.swisscom.ch/dataprotection
Media protection for minors and 
promoting media skills 
Media protection for minors and 
guidelines on media content 
Digital media offer both opportunities and risks for 
children and young people, although these risks are 
often ignored. Swisscom is determined not to leave 
parents to shoulder the responsibility of handling 
these risks alone. It supports parents, teachers and 
everyone involved in protecting minors by providing 
information, support materials and offers. 
Goal 4 
QUALITY EDUCATION
Particular importance is attached to privacy in youth 
media protection. When children and young people 
publicly disclose private or even intimate information 
on social networks, they are often unaware of the 
implications of their actions. For that reason, 
Swisscom uses brochures and courses to explain to 
subscribers and participants the importance of 
fundamental measures to protect privacy, and 
addresses issues such as bullying, addictive behaviour, 
password security and how to deal with third-party 
content.
Pursuant to Article 197 of the Swiss Penal Code, 
displaying content of a pornographic nature to 
persons under the age of 16 is prohibited. This applies 
to both content providers and Swisscom as a service 
provider. Swisscom also interprets the provisions of 
the Ordinance on Telecommunications Services very 
strictly. These describe the blocking of value-added 
services.
Since 2008, the Industry Initiative of the Swiss 
Association of Telecommunications (asut) for 
Improved Youth Media Protection and the Promotion 
of Media Skills in Society has recommended a list of 
youth media protection measures in addition to the 
legal requirements. The industry initiative was 
subjected to a thorough review in 2016 and now 
incorporates the stipulations laid down by the 
regulator ex ante. As a result, the signatory compa-
nies communicate more frequently and on a more 
regular basis with their customers about sensible 
media education measures. The industry initiative 
also strengthens the role of youth media protection 
officers. The review of the initiative by an external 
body has shown that there is particular room for 
improvement in the measures relating to customer 
information. The feedback received during the audit 
has been incorporated into the revised version of the 
industry initiative. 
N See www.asut.ch (in German and French)
Swisscom exceeds the legal requirements for youth 
media protection:
● Strict interpretation of the concept of protection in 
the event that an underage customer falls into 
debt 
● No adult content whatsoever included in the 
video-on-demand offerings on Swisscom TV or on 
the information portal Bluewin
N See www.bluewin.ch (in German, French and Italian)
● Additional channel blocking via PIN on Swisscom 
TV
● Ensuring youth media protection with the 
additional Replay TV function
● Providing FSK age rating recommendations for all 
video-on-demand content
● Exceptionally stringent requirements for third-
party providers of value-added services
● Engagement of the youth media protection officer 
in intensive, direct dialogue in the social media and 
in the press
Promoting media skills 
Swisscom considers the promotion of media skills 
among children and young people to be the best 
method of reducing the risks over the long term. It 
has therefore worked for a number of years to help 
children and young people use digital media sensibly 
and in moderation: 
● Media courses for parents, teaching staff and 
pupils: the courses are held on parents’ evenings 
and as part of further training sessions for 
teachers. The aim of the courses is to raise the 
participants’ awareness of the risks and to make 
recommendations on the use of media at home 
and in school. In 2018, Swisscom organised a total 
of 1,800 events throughout Switzerland on the 
topic of media literacy with almost 45,000 
participants. This makes it the largest provider of 
media courses in Switzerland.
N See www.swisscom.ch/medienkurse (in German, French and 
Italian)

48
Corporate Responsibility | Media skills and security
● Info Cafés for parents and grandparents: even the 
youngest of children are fascinated by smart-
phones, tablets and televisions. At the free Info 
Cafés, parents and guardians of children between 
the ages of four and ten can get tips on dealing 
with the media in everyday life. Participants are 
able to talk to expert trainers from the Swisscom 
Academy and find the exchange of experiences 
among those taking part to be equally valuable. 
Parents and guardians receive practical examples 
and recommendations for their children’s voyage 
of discovery with regard to media.
N See www.swisscom.ch/mediasmart
● JAMES – Youth, Activities, (Multi-)Media – results 
for Switzerland: the JAMES Study investigates the 
way in which media is used by young people aged 
between 12 and 19. The study was conducted for 
the fifth time in 2018. It again illustrates how the 
media and leisure behaviour of young people is 
changing. Fortunately, the study reveals that 
young people develop their own mechanisms to 
resist the negative influences of digital media.
N See www.swisscom.ch/james
eSports demand a sense of responsibility
Swisscom launched its own eSports offering in 2018. 
Swisscom is planning accompanying measures in 
order to support eSports as responsibly as possible. 
These will support parents to develop an opinion on 
gaming and eSports and provide interested parties 
with scientifically sound information on gaming and 
eSports. They will also provide the best possible 
protection for children and young people against the 
potentially negative effects of gaming and eSports.
Swisscom’s commitment to eSports illustrates how 
companies can fulfil their responsibilities to society.
Swisscom Academy 
Since 2005, the Swisscom Academy has been teaching 
people how to use mobile devices and the Internet. 
Courses are offered on a daily basis at the training 
centres in Berne, Basel, Lausanne, Lucerne, Geneva 
and Zurich. The academy also has a mobile unit at 
additional locations every year. In 2018, more than 
15,027 people attended training courses on how to 
use modern communications media. Since the launch 
of the Swisscom Academy, 515,960 people have 
already attended its courses. The courses are targeted 
at the general public in Switzerland and are open to 
customers and non-customers alike. Through the 
academy, Swisscom is playing an important role in 
reducing the digital generation gap.
Further platforms for media skills 
The following measures also contribute to healthy, 
responsible media usage:
● Offers for customers: Internet Security, “inOne 
mobile prepaid kids” subscription for children, 
activation of PIN to block channels and vid-
eo-on-demand services on Swisscom TV
● Communication and information measures: 
publications in specialist journals (“Educateur”, 
parents’ magazine “Fritz und Fränzi”, “Bildung 
Schweiz”), social media presence of the youth 
media protection officer (Twitter, Facebook)
● “Get media smart” website: information platform 
on how digital media fits into everyday life with 
relevant links to background stories and studies.
N See www.swisscom.ch/mediasmart
Internet for Schools initiative 
Swisscom has been making a substantial contribution 
to the Swiss education system since 2002; initially as 
part of the government’s Internet for Schools 
initiative (2002–2007) and since 2008 through its own 
Internet for Schools initiative and in consultation with 
the relevant public bodies. The Internet for Schools 
initiative is a response to the increased needs of 
schools and cantons, and its range of services is 
constantly being expanded.
Goal 4 
QUALITY EDUCATION
Thanks to Internet for Schools, all primary and 
secondary schools in Switzerland already benefit from 
a broadband Internet connection. For some years, the 
initiative has also been helping kindergartens to take 
their first steps into the digital world. These are being 
integrated into primary schools as part of the 
intercantonal HarmoS Concordat. Swisscom aims to 
work together with schools, cantons and federal 
offices to create an efficient and sustainable architec-
ture for the future ICT landscape of the Swiss 
education system. 
Internet access is free of charge. As the cost of a 
secure, high-performance infrastructure has grown 
continuously in recent years, schools are now, by 
agreement with the cantons, contributing to the costs 
of security solutions such as firewalls and content 
filters on a user-pays basis. The costs per school, e.g. 
for the security services for a copper-based connec-
tion, amount to CHF 780 per year. 
Schools’ need for increasingly high-bandwidth 
network connections has grown continuously due to 
the current patterns of Internet usage. Many schools 
work with cloud-based ecosystems, exploding the 
flow of data between the Internet and schools. 
Swisscom has responded by making further connec-
tion options available to schools. Schools can now use 
mobile hotspots or the Smart Business Connect 
product, which permits bandwidths of up to 1 Gb/s 
and is free for schools.
N See www.swisscom.ch/sai

49
Corporate Responsibility | Media skills and security
The number of schools has seen a slight decline, 
prompted by the closure of schools and nurseries, by 
the merger of several school sites under a central 
connection and finally by the decision on the part on 
some schools to switch to another provider.
In recent years, Swisscom has pressed ahead with its 
drive to network prominent educational institutions. 
This ensures that Swisscom identifies the needs of 
schools in relation to ICT integration early. Swisscom 
cultivates its network through dialogue and events, in 
particular with the following institutions:
● Education server educa and Swiss education server 
educanet
● Swiss Foundation for Audiovisual Educational 
Content (Schweizerische Stiftung für audiovisuelle 
Bildungsinhalte – SSAB)
✬ Umbrella Organisation of Teachers Switzerland 
(Dachverband Lehrerinnen und Lehrer Schweiz – 
LCH)
● Union of French-speaking Teachers (Syndicat des 
enseignants romands – SER)
● Worlddidac Association
Discussions with these organisations and with a large 
number of schools have resulted in additional 
services. Thanks to Storebox, schools can safely and 
reliably host the data they generate while teaching in 
Switzerland and make it available to all participants 
at all times. Swisscom also offers schools free use of 
the videoconferencing service Skype for Business 
from Microsoft.
In recent years, Swisscom has developed the Hello-
class application and made it available to selected 
schools. The feedback shows that the digital class 
planner fulfils an important need for primary school 
teachers. Swisscom has therefore relaunched 
Helloclass and is now making two versions of the 
application available to all Swiss schools. The basic 
version is free of charge and a second version with 
enhanced functions is subject to a charge.
N See www.helloclass.ch (in German)
Education Sponsorship Charter 
The Association of Swiss Teachers (LCH) used the 
Swiss Education Days in November 2016 to present 
their charter on the sponsorship, promotion and fund-
ing of public education by private providers. The 
charter was drawn up in cooperation with various 
stakeholder groups from the education sector and 
with representatives from the private sector. It aims 
to support school directors and teaching staff in 
evaluating sponsorship services offered by private 
sector partners. The charter does not deem it 
appropriate, for instance, if school children are used 
as advertising space or if the use of user data is not 
made transparent or is not in accordance with a 
canton’s legal requirements. Swisscom was one of the 
first companies to sign this charter. It considers it 
legitimate to act with due caution in the sensitive 
area between the public sector and private business 
partners or sponsors. It hopes to serve as a role model 
for other companies through the work it does. The 
visibility of the Swisscom brand should thus primarily 
boost identification and foster transparency. 
Swisscom will never use data that was previously 
acquired for administration purposes only or within 
the scope of sponsorship activities for other purposes. 
Accordingly, it does not employ aggressive advertising 
measures in schools.
6,600 
6,581 
5,683 
5,233 
6,334 
Internet for Schools
Number of schools
6,000
4,000
2,000
0
2014 
2015 
2017 
2018 
2016 
295,000 
361,923 
456,377 
515,960 
 
Courses Academy and promotion of media 
competency
Number of participants (cumulative)
600,000
400,000
200,000
0
2014 
2015 
2017 
2018 
2016 
405,159

50
Corporate Responsibility | Responsible employer
Responsible employer
People and their relationships are at the heart of everything we do at 
Swisscom. Swisscom and its employees achieve success together.
Management approach
We experience digital change on a daily basis. 
Knowledge that was up to date yesterday may be 
outdated tomorrow. Many employees are worried 
about the future of their industry or profession. 
Companies are asking themselves what is the right 
approach to digitisation. As Switzerland’s leading ICT 
company, Swisscom can help answer the essential 
questions. It is at the heart of digitisation, which it 
sees as an enormous opportunity, and wishes to 
remain the market leader in Switzerland. This requires 
satisfied employees who use their skills, experience 
and personalities to inspire people in the networked 
world on a daily basis. 
That is why Swisscom invests in its employees. From 
2019, it will offer its employees five training days a 
year with the aim of enhancing their employability 
and has set this objective out in the new collective 
employment agreement (CEA), which was concluded 
in January 2018. Employees are provided with 
numerous other opportunities for personal develop-
ment: further training on the job, project assignments 
in other areas of the company (for which employees 
apply via a marketplace), workshops on new technol-
ogies and agile ways of working, progress meetings, 
talent programmes and numerous training courses. 
Swisscom positions itself on the job market as a top 
employer. It offers its employees tasks in which they 
assume responsibility, utilise their potential and 
further develop their abilities. 
The structural changes associated with digitisation 
and the decline in the core business are reflected in 
staffing numbers. Swisscom is streamlining work 
processes and reducing job vacancies in declining 
business areas. The change in the number of jobs 
resulted from the fact that some 2,330 employees 
left Swisscom, while Swisscom hired 1,640 new 
employees.
By planning for the long term, Swisscom is able to 
absorb much of the decline in the workforce through 
natural fluctuation, proactive vacancy management 
and retirements. Due to the intensive support they 
receive prior to the expiry of the social plan deadline, 
employees who are supported by the social plan find 
an alternative position internally or externally in 
around 88% of cases. New jobs are generally created 
in growth areas such as the cloud or security. As in the 
past, Swisscom will heavily rely on training through 
apprenticeships and will be making 902 apprentice-
ships available in 2018. 
General terms and conditions of 
employment
Swisscom employees benefit from generous employ-
ment conditions that considerably exceed the 
statutory minimum requirements. These include: 
Goal 8 
DECENT WORK AND ECONOMIC GROWTH
Remuneration
● Equal pay: Swisscom remunerates its employees 
fairly and in line with market conditions, as well as 
ensuring equal pay between the sexes. The salary 
system is structured in such a way that equal 
salaries are paid for equivalent tasks and services. 
The individual functions are classified in job levels 
according to their requirements and assigned to 
salary bands which correspond to the market 
wage. The salary band stipulates the remuneration 
range for equivalent duties and responsibility. 
Within each band, salaries are determined on the 
basis of the performance of the individual 
employees. 
 
Swisscom adjusts employees’ salaries in its annual 
salary review. In particular, it also examines 
whether there are differences in salaries between 
women and men within individual units and 
adjusts salary differences where necessary. 
Swisscom periodically reviews the salary structure 
for differences between men’s and women’s 
wages using the Swiss Confederation’s equal pay 
instrument (Logib). Previous reviews (most recently 
in 2018) have revealed only minor pay discrepan-
cies, well under the tolerance threshold of 5%. 
Employees who have put in an above-average 
performance and whose wages are at the lower 
end of their respective salary bands receive an 
above-average wage increase. 
● Profit-sharing: all Swisscom employees share in 
the company’s success by way of the variable 
salary component. Profit-sharing is the product of 
the company’s financial performance and the 
successful transformation of the business. An 
individual performance factor serves as a further 
calculation factor for management staff. The 
employee’s job level determines the level of 
profit-sharing. It ranges from 2% of the basic salary 
at the lowest job level to 30% at job level A.

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Corporate Responsibility | Responsible employer
Employees at job level A and members of the 
Group Executive Board receive a proportion of 
their variable profit-sharing in the form of 
Swisscom Ltd shares (Annual Report, Remunera-
tion Report section).
● comPlan pension fund: at the end of 2018, around 
18,200 Swisscom employees and some 8,500 pen-
sioners were insured under comPlan. In 2018, 
comPlan posted a net return on assets of around 
3.0% (prior year: 9.3%). As at 31 December 2018, 
the market value of plan assets amounted to 
CHF 10.5 billion (prior year: CHF 10.9 billion) and 
the coverage ratio was around 103% (prior year: 
108%) in accordance with Swiss accounting 
standards for pension funds. In order to safeguard 
the financial situation of the pension fund in a 
low-interest environment and a society where life 
expectancy is increasing, the comPlan Board of 
Trustees decided on 1 July 2017 to gradually reduce 
the conversion rate from 6.11% to 5.34% by 2020 
and to compensate for this by increasing the 
savings contributions. The phasing in of the 
changes enables active members to plan their 
retirement.
● Fringe benefits: all Swisscom employees receive 
fringe benefits in the form of an allowance 
towards Swisscom subscriptions for the fixed 
network, Internet, TV and mobile telephony as 
well as the SBB half-fare travelcard. These fringe 
benefits are granted irrespective of function or 
whether the employee works full time or part 
time. Apprentices also receive an allowance for 
learning materials. Swisscom also supports 
families in making use of external childcare 
through financial contributions and by providing 
access to free counselling services through 
specialised partners. It also pays the employer’s 
pension fund contribution for unpaid leave for a 
maximum of three months. Swisscom offers its 
female employees 18 weeks’ maternity leave on 
the birth of a child. Male employees are entitled to 
15 days’ paternity leave and one month’s unpaid 
leave in the first year of their child’s life. Parents 
who adopt children are entitled to ten days’ 
adoption leave. 
● Supplementary regulations governing manage-
ment staff: management staff have the opportu-
nity to take a partly paid sabbatical of up to three 
months after five years of uninterrupted service in 
a management position. Swisscom pays their 
salary for 30 working days. Management staff are 
also exempted from the obligation to pay a 
contribution to the collective illness and accident 
insurances as well as management staff risk 
insurance in the event of death. 
Ways and models of working
● Flexible working hours: the working week at 
Swisscom is 40 hours. Some subsidiaries have 
working weeks of 41 or 42 hours. Flexitime allows 
employees to arrange their working hours flexibly 
in line with the requirements of their job. They can 
therefore largely determine when they complete 
their tasks. The same also applies to their place of 
work: employees can work from home, while on 
the move, at a customer’s premises or at another 
location. Swisscom provides them with the 
necessary tools. In addition, employees can choose 
to work part-time, which includes being able to try 
out part-time working for three months. The Work 
& Care model enables employees who care for sick 
relatives to temporarily reduce their workload and 
thus fulfil their family obligations. If employees 
work longer hours than their designated total 
weekly hours, they compensate for the additional 
working time by either taking the same amount of 
time off in lieu or having the additional hours 
credited to a long-term working time account. This 
long-term working time account exists for this 
specific purpose and the time transferred must be 
taken within a period of three years. 
● Paid absences: Swisscom employees are entitled to 
paid absences for certain personal events, such as 
the death of close relatives (up to three days), 
getting married (two days), sudden serious illness 
of children, parents, spouses or life partners (up to 
two days), moving home (one day), in the case of 
single parents events that cannot be postponed 
(up to five days) as well as military matters in 
accordance with the mandate. 
● Combining work and family life: Swisscom 
attaches great importance to facilitating the 
combination of work and family life, not just for 
women but also for men. It is convinced that the 
acceptance of part-time work, for example, will 
increase if men also take advantage of flexible 
working models. In addition to flexible working 
models, Swisscom supports families through other 
measures such as contributions to extra-familial 
childcare and advisory services provided in 
cooperation with the Family Service. Swisscom 
pays child and education allowances that exceed 
the legal requirements in some cantons. In the 
year under review, the Pro Familia organisation 
reviewed Swisscom with regard to its family 
friendliness in accordance with the Family Score 
procedure and awarded it the Family Friendly Work 
Space label.
● Annual leave: depending on their age, Swisscom 
employees are entitled to between 25 and 30 days’ 
annual leave. In order to meet the desire for more 
leisure time, Swisscom introduced holiday 
purchasing a few years ago: this model enables 
employees to take up to ten additional days of 
annual leave in return for a corresponding 
deduction from their salary. In addition, Swisscom 
employees can take unpaid leave (absence longer 
than ten days). Employees subject to the CEA who 
organise their working time autonomously (time 
autonomy, in compliance with Seco guidelines) 
receive five additional days of annual leave. They 
also receive five additional days of annual leave 
every five years as a reward for their loyalty to the 
company. Employees on management contracts

52
Corporate Responsibility | Responsible employer
are entitled to a sabbatical every five years. 
Swisscom assumes the costs for 30 days. 
● Agile forms of collaboration: Swisscom is under-
going a transformation. It is therefore continuing 
to develop its traditional organisational forms and 
working methods so as to generate added value 
with the necessary dynamism, speed and flexibil-
ity. Swisscom is increasingly reliant on agile 
working methods. It distinguishes between “being 
agile” and “doing agile”. “Being agile” represents 
an attitude and way of thinking adopted by each 
individual employee. “Doing agile” refers to the 
practical application of certain ways of working, 
methods or organisational forms that are adapted 
to the relevant context. Hierarchies are becoming 
flatter while individual responsibility is expanding. 
Around 1,500 Swisscom employees are currently 
applying agile methods in their work in squads, 
chapters and tribes. The majority of them are 
implementing the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) 
model: a collection of organisational and workflow 
patterns that supports the scaling of lean and agile 
procedures. 
Other offers for employees
● Staff restaurant: Swisscom offers its employees a 
selection of discounted lunch options at most of 
its locations. In collaboration with SV Services, it 
ensures the availability of a healthy, balanced and 
varied menu. The products prepared in the staff 
restaurants are produced fairly, sustainably and, 
wherever possible, locally. At locations where 
Swisscom does not operate its own staff restau-
rants, employees can take advantage of dis-
counted offers from partner companies.
● Employee offers: Swisscom employees benefit 
from a range of employee offers, qualifying for 
varying discounts on the market price of a range of 
offers extending from gym memberships to hotels, 
holiday apartments, a variety of personal and 
property insurances, wellness services and 
products to educational offers.
● Activation programmes: the corporate volunteer-
ing programme Give&Grow releases Swisscom 
employees to engage in volunteering assignment. 
Employees can choose between a variety of 
volunteering projects in the fields of the environ-
ment, society and education, and spend up to two 
days’ worth of working hours each year on 
voluntary work. In 2018, Swisscom employees 
spent 1,072 (prior year 1,140) working days 
volunteering. Move! is a programme that pro-
motes activities in the fields of health, sport and 
culture. As Move! coaches, employees provide their 
colleagues with a range of activities. Swisscom 
supports these activities financially. In 2018, more 
than 115 Move! coaches conducted over 300 
activities, which were attended by a total of more 
than 4,129 participations. 
Recruitment
Swisscom recruits in a non-discriminatory manner. It 
does not take into account factors such as age, origin, 
gender, etc., but instead focuses solely on the 
applicants’ qualifications and their attitude towards 
the company’s values. Potential applicants also have 
the opportunity to apply anonymously, but this 
option is rarely used. Applicants are selected in a 
traditional manner, i.e. without the support of 
artificial intelligence or algorithms. With regard to the 
employment of foreign nationals from third coun-
tries, Swisscom complies with the legal regulations 
and gives priority to Swiss nationals. 
● Young professionals: Swisscom provides 
902 apprenticeships in eight different vocational 
areas. In addition, cablex offers 52 apprenticeships 
in three vocational areas. This year, some 
224 apprentices complete their training with a 
success rate of around 95.7%. 259 young people 
started an apprenticeship at Swisscom in the year 
under review. The range of apprenticeships on 
offer means that there are opportunities for young 
people at all qualification levels: Swisscom offers 
vocational training to those with a basic second-
ary-level education as well as those who have 
graduated from high school. Swisscom also 
provides on-the-job training for students of the 
practice-integrated degree course in information 
technology. 122 graduates from universities of 
applied sciences and universities gain their first 
practical experience every year as step-in interns 
at Swisscom. In addition, Swisscom’s trainee 
programme enables twelve interested people to 
embark upon their careers.
● Experienced employees: Swisscom is committed 
to the internal job market. Wherever possible and 
practical, it fills vacancies with internal applicants. 
This is even more the case with management 
positions. The approach enables Swisscom to offer 
its employees attractive career prospects, which is 
an enormous advantage in a phase of increasing 
digitisation. As part of its strategic personnel 
management, Swisscom evaluates its future needs 
in terms of employee requirements, skills and 
abilities at an early stage. It offers employees 
whose job profile is likely to be less in demand in 
the future the opportunity to refine and expand 
upon their skills and thus meet the job demands of 
the future.
Training and education
For Swisscom, giving its employees sufficient creative 
freedom and personal responsibility for their 
professional development forms part of an inspiring 
learning culture. As a pioneer in the field of digitisa-
tion in Switzerland, Swisscom is dedicated to getting 
to grips with the working and learning models of the 
future. It offers employees and managers an environ-
ment in which they can develop and test new skills. 
These include cross-functional squads, chapters and

53
Corporate Responsibility | Responsible employer
tribes – mixed teams that combine all the skills and 
disciplines necessary to execute tasks and develop 
their products independently using agile methods.
Employees can access numerous e-learning modules 
in the Learning Centre. These modules impart 
learning content of all kinds – from leadership topics 
to specialist subjects (e.g. IT, cloud and business 
administration) to overarching topics such as security, 
digitisation and governance. Employees are also 
increasingly developing learning opportunities 
themselves and sharing their knowledge with their 
colleagues on platforms. Swisscom thus offers its 
employees a learning environment that takes account 
of digitisation – both in terms of the format and 
accessibility of the learning offerings and in terms of 
content. In addition to basic ICT knowledge, Swisscom 
has also developed numerous role-specific learning 
topics such as social media for sales and data centre 
strategies, and incorporated these into the Learning 
Centre. From 2019, Swisscom will combine all its 
corporate learning activities in the One Swisscom 
Academy in order to further improve the support 
it offers its employees in their professional 
 development.  
Average number of hours of training and 
further education per year and employee
Swisscom employees benefit from numerous training 
and development opportunities. These range from 
internal sales training courses and training on new 
technologies and products to external training and 
further education at tertiary level. Swisscom works 
together with the Swiss education portal, which 
offers employees attractive discounts. 
N See www.ausbildung-weiterbildung.ch (in German)
Depending on the objective of the training measure, 
Swisscom supports further training by granting days 
off and / or contributing financially. 
In addition, ten trainees are taken on each year who 
gain their first work experience in various projects 
over the course of a year after graduating from 
university. In 2018, Swisscom employees participated 
in an average of 51,097 working days of training or 
further education (prior year: 55,035).
Programmes to improve employees’ skills 
and provide transitional assistance
Together with its social partners, the syndicom trade 
union and the transfair personnel association, 
Swisscom stipulated in its collective employment 
agreement (CEA) in 2018 that every employee with a 
CEA was entitled to five development days per year. 
Development days are days on which employees 
participate in training and / or further education 
measures in order to maintain or increase their 
employability. Employees with management con-
tracts are expected to take the necessary measures to 
improve their employability. 
The Leadership Academy provides managers with a 
wide range of online and face-to-face events for 
professional and personal development. 
Swisscom offers a wide range of talent opportunities 
to employees with motivation and potential, enabling 
them to improve their skills and move into more 
responsible positions. To avoid talented employees 
being overlooked in the selection process, employees 
can apply for the talent programmes themselves 
rather than being nominated by their superiors.
Finally, the individual divisions offer their employees 
training opportunities of their own – e.g., Swisscom’s 
ENT Academy, which is tailored to the needs of the 
key account division. 
Swisscom introduced the Marketplace in 2018. This is 
a platform on which individual divisions can advertise 
a variety of tasks. Employees can apply for one of 
these tasks in order to familiarise themselves with 
new vocational responsibilities and fields of activity 
in addition to their familiar activities and to improve 
their employability. 
All of these offerings will be combined into the One 
Swisscom Academy at the beginning of 2019 in order 
to manage the training and further education of 
employees even more efficiently and across divisional 
boundaries. 
Employees whose positions are to be abolished in the 
course of a reorganisation are transferred to a social 
plan, where they are supported by means of targeted 
measures, ranging from benchmark analyses and 
career advice to attending suitable courses, all with 
the aim of improving their employability and 
supporting them in their efforts to find a new job.
Evaluating performance and career 
development
In collaboration with partners, Swisscom has 
developed My Impact – a tool that employees and 
managers can use as a compass for career develop-
ment and performance evaluation. 
Together with their managers and teams, Swisscom 
employees define the contributions they wish to 
make – within their remit – in order to jointly achieve 
the company’s objectives. They obtain feedback on 
these contributions from their stakeholder groups 
through regular feedback rounds. The feedback is 
important to ensure that there is a broad-based 
performance evaluation that also includes employees’ 
self-evaluations. This allows employees to plan their 
further professional development. Constructive 
feedback from third parties allows them to discover 
their personal strengths and potential, and also what 
they can improve upon in the future. At the Develop-
ment Checkpoint, employees engage in a dialogue 
with their managers about their professional 
development and record training and further

54
Corporate Responsibility | Responsible employer
education measures in My Development. This is based 
on the My Employability questionnaire, which 
encourages employees to reflect on their personal 
development goals. Under certain circumstances, 
Swisscom involves itself in the defined measures. The 
performance evaluation is included in the calculation 
of the salary adjustment. In 2018, 89.8% of employees 
specified My Impact contributions and 23.3% 
development targets.  
Minimum notice period for operational 
changes
Swisscom allows staff representatives and trade 
unions a consultation period (minimum notice period) 
of at least two weeks in the event of operational 
changes as part of its agreed participation 
 arrangements. 
Participation consists of rights to information, 
participation and decision making and is set out in 
the collective employment agreement. The consulta-
tion period is not defined in the collective employ-
ment agreement; it is determined by the legal basis, 
case law and established practice. Swisscom generally 
gives longer notice periods than required by law and 
attaches great importance to dialogue between 
management and the social partners.
Diversity and equal opportunities
At Swisscom, every employee contributes his or her 
individual experience, skills, ideas and points of view 
to the company, and it is this diversity (particularly 
within a team) that makes Swisscom successful and 
one of the most innovative companies in Switzerland. 
Diversity is also an important factor when it comes 
to meeting future demographic challenges. At 
Swisscom, employees find a working environment in 
which they can work together in a spirit of mutual 
respect and trust, allowing them to devote their full 
attention to the company’s customers. To encourage 
diversity, Swisscom pays attention to the factors of 
gender, inclusion, generations and language region in 
everything it does.
Goal 5  
GENDER EQUALITY
Gender equality
As a technology company, Swisscom operates in an 
industry that is still heavily male-dominated. The 
majority of those trained in the technical professions 
that Swisscom needs are men. Although this ratio has 
increasingly shifted in favour of women in recent 
years, Swisscom has at the same time noticed that 
there has been a marked change in the flexibility and 
mobility of the 30 to 40-year-old age group. This age 
group is one in which professional development is of 
great importance and in which employees begin to 
assume management functions. Nonetheless, it is 
often precisely at this point that men and women 
decide to re-examine their priorities in life. Whatever 
the motives that make women and men decide that 
they want a change, it is also a consequence of 
increased mobility. Swisscom is confronted here with 
a phenomenon that is affecting society as a whole. In 
areas where Swisscom is able to influence social 
change, it implements a wide range of measures in 
the knowledge that it would be possible to do much 
more in the absence of economic and political 
restrictions. For example, Swisscom has already put a 
lot of effort into designing relevant processes and 
norms in recruitment, development, talent manage-
ment and management culture to manage diversity 
and to ensure that they counteract unconscious 
stereotyping and facilitate equal opportunities. 
Family responsibilities are to a large extent still 
predominantly borne by women. Swisscom is 
responding to this by offering a diverse and extensive 
range of flexible models for organising working hours 
autonomously. In order to increase the acceptance of 
offers such as part-time working for men, Swisscom 
allows employees to try out working part time, 
particularly its male employees. The crash courses for 
expectant or young fathers, which Swisscom offers to 
these employees, are extremely popular and follow a 
similar approach. The proportion of men working 
part-time at Swisscom has risen from 11.1% to 11.6% 
since 2016. The flexible work models and measures 
for reconciling work and family life described under 
GRI 401 also help to integrate all employees, 
 regardless of their domestic situations. The major-
ity of jobs are therefore advertised with flexible 
80-100% working hours.
At the Digital Days for Girls, Swisscom will be showing 
schoolgirls the opportunities that technical appren-
ticeships can offer them. Female apprentices on ICT 
training courses tell the female students what their 
apprenticeship courses entail. The students then try 
out applications such as programming a chatbot. 
The support provided by women on these days also 
ensures that the pupils get to meet female role 
models. 
These measures are proving successful: the propor-
tion of female apprentices in ICT occupations has 
risen by 6% since their introduction. Nonetheless, 
it takes time for these young women to mature 
sufficiently to be able to grasp the opportunities to 
develop themselves and assume top management 
positions. 
Support starts with school pupils but continues 
throughout working life. It enables women in 
responsible positions to further their education both 
internally and as part of the nationwide Advance 
Women initiative and to expand their network. 
Swisscom Group Management has set itself the goal 
of steadily increasing the proportion of women in 
management. It is convinced that talent management 
and promotions will increase the integration of 
women in the company. A Succession Planning

55
Corporate Responsibility | Responsible employer
Committee consisting of members of the Executive 
Committee has been set up to support this.
Generations
Swisscom employs people of all ages. Collaboration 
and exchange between generations gives employees 
the opportunity to learn a lot from one another. 
Swisscom benefits from this in many ways – e.g. in 
the development of products and services that 
are precisely tailored to the needs of its various 
 customers. 
Irrespective of their age, employees take advantage of 
training and development opportunities and further 
develop their skills. The important thing is that they 
are given the opportunity for regular dialogue and 
self-reflection on employability and professional 
development. There is a range of different offerings 
addressing the topic of employability. For example, 
employees who have reached the age of 58 can 
gradually step back from working life by taking partial 
retirement, while at the same time passing on their 
know-how to the next generations. 
Since 2017, Swisscom has supported the Check your 
Chance initiative of the Swiss Employers’ Association. 
The aim of the initiative is to support young people in 
difficult situations by means of a hotline. 
Swisscom is also business partner to the Lucerne 
University of Applied Sciences and Arts for the 
integrative generation management project and a 
partner of the World Demographic & Ageing Forum 
(WDA Forum). The WDA Forum is an international, 
intergenerational platform which supports exchange 
on matters to do with the general public, older people 
and generations.
Nationality and language
People from 93 different nations work for Swisscom 
– at many different locations in all regions of Switzer-
land. Swisscom offers its employees discounts on 
language courses to promote understanding across 
linguistic boundaries. When recruiting new employ-
ees, wherever possible Swisscom considers applicants 
from the respective region, as they are familiar with 
local customs. To attract talented people with the 
necessary profiles, Swisscom maintains partnerships 
with universities in the various linguistic regions of 
Switzerland.
Inclusion
Swisscom actively supports the Compasso association 
as a member and sponsor. Compasso focuses on 
providing employers with information on how to deal 
with people with health problems. The organisation is 
widely supported and is sponsored by the Swiss 
Employers’ Association.
Swisscom builds on the individual strengths and 
abilities of each employee. Where employees’ work 
performances are impaired due to health reasons, 
Swisscom attaches great importance to keeping them 
in the workforce and guaranteeing them meaningful 
continued employment. To promote inclusion, 
Swisscom reserves at least 1% of jobs for employees 
with physical or psychological impairments. In so 
doing, Swisscom fosters the integration of the 
persons in question into the workforce.
With respect to the opportunities offered and the 
potential accorded to each individual employee, 
Swisscom does not differentiate between employees 
with mental or physical impairments and those who 
are not impaired. 
Diversity in management bodies and 
employee committees
There are currently no women on the Group Executive 
Board, while top management consists 5 women. The 
Board of Directors has four women out of a total of 
nine members. The proportion of women in the 
technical areas is quite low, as the number of women 
in Switzerland with a technical education is in general 
rather small. Swisscom is therefore unable to find 
enough women to choose from for its open positions 
on the Swiss labour market. Wherever possible, 
Swisscom also looks for suitable applicants on 
international labour markets. It is often the case that 
the mobility of these employees is particularly 
pronounced and that they leave the company before 
they move up the career ladder. Although the 
measures described above are beginning to have an 
impact, it will take some time for the young women 
to gain the necessary experience to assume top 
management positions. All these factors mean that 
the goal of integrating women into top management 
can only be achieved slowly. For that reason, the goal 
has been adjusted.
Swisscom is represented in all of Switzerland’s 
language regions. It attaches great importance to 
ensuring that the various languages are adequately 
represented on the governing bodies. This has yet to 
be achieved to the desired degree. 
Ratio of remuneration among women and 
men
Salaries at Swisscom are determined on the basis of 
the job level, the relevant salary range and individual 
performance. Equivalent jobs are assigned to the 
same job level and are thus remunerated in accor-
dance with the corresponding salary range. Swisscom 
periodically reviews the salary structure for differ-
ences between men’s and women’s wages using the 
Swiss Confederation’s equal pay instrument (Logib). 
Previous reviews (most recently in 2018) have 
revealed only minor pay discrepancies, well under the 
tolerance threshold of 5%.
Incidents of discrimination and measures 
taken
Swisscom does not tolerate any kind of discrimination 
or abuse of power. This principle is communicated to

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Corporate Responsibility | Responsible employer
employees and, above all, to managers in training 
courses. In cases of discrimination, the neutral Care 
Gate contact point is available to all employees.
Occupational health and safety 
Swisscom consistently implements the statutory 
provisions on occupational health and safety (generic 
term “safety”). For Swisscom, the health and safety of 
its employees, contractors, customers and everyone 
else affected by its business activities is the number 
one priority. Occupational health management forms 
part of the safety system. On 8 July 2016, the Federal 
Coordination Commission for Occupational Safety 
(FCOS) certified the Swisscom safety system, based 
on a national standard, as an operational group 
solution (i.e. as a solution that is suitable for large 
companies with branch offices in different locations). 
This certification is valid until 31 March 2021. The 
operational group solution according to FCOS 
directive 6508 is comparable to the standard accord-
ing to OHSAS 18001 or ISO 45001:2018.
Goal 3 
GOOD HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
Swisscom makes targeted investments in occupa-
tional health management initiatives and pro-
grammes, thereby supporting its employees in their 
efforts to stay healthy and motivated in the long 
term. Swisscom places special emphasis on preven-
tion and early detection, including matters relating to 
mental health in the workplace – an area where, as an 
employer, Swisscom has a significant influence on the 
health of employees. 
Thanks to its systematic anchoring of health in the 
company, its targeted prevention approach and 
impact measurement, Swisscom was awarded the 
“Friendly Work Space” label by Health Promotion 
Switzerland in 2018 following a rigorous assessment 
process. 
Employee representation on occupational 
health and safety committees
Every four years, Swisscom employees elect an 
Employee Committee from among their ranks. This 
committee’s tasks include suggesting improvements 
in ergonomics, occupational safety and health 
protection and increasing the well-being of col-
leagues. The members of the Employee Committee 
are familiar with realities of life within the company 
from their own day-to-day work and are therefore 
able to contribute quickly and effectively.
The Employee Committee is entitled to a seat on the 
Swisscom safety organisation’s Group Safety Board. 
This committee meets every two months and consists 
of safety specialists who meet to exchange informa-
tion, identify common problems and solutions, and 
define Swisscom-wide measures and campaigns.
In addition, there is an annual exchange between the 
safety officer (SiBe) and the employee representa-
tives’ committees and other social partners (e.g. trade 
unions).
Swisscom is a signatory to Suva’s “STOP in case of 
danger” security charter. It is therefore committed to 
ensuring that workplace safety rules are consistently 
observed so as to preserve the lives and health of all 
those involved.
Specialists in occupational safety (from the ASA pool) 
carry out an audit every two years to continuously 
review and improve the Swisscom safety system. 
During the course of the reporting year, the “Protec-
tion against psychosocial risks in the workplace” and 
“System audit” audits were carried out.
The audits prove that Swisscom has a comprehensive, 
very well structured safety system that is geared to 
the requirements of the ASA directive pursuant to 
FCOS and Suva’s ten system points. The steering 
committee responsible for this area has examined the 
corresponding measures. Major challenges arose in 
2018 as a result of newly introduced cooperation 
models, whereby certain tasks were outsourced to 
contractual partners such as contractors, suppliers 
and general or total contractors. Swisscom drew up 
the corresponding safety requirements and stipulated 
the individual obligations in the contracts. Swisscom 
set up an additional “Safety Board TU’s” platform in 
order to discuss all relevant safety aspects between 
clients and contractors.
Types of injuries, occupational illnesses, 
days lost due to illness, absences and 
number of work-related deaths
Swisscom collects all information centrally via a 
reporting system and summarises it monthly. 
Systematic awareness raising as a preventive measure 
and timely clarification of events have helped to keep 
the number of occupational accidents per thousand 
full-time employees at the prior year’s level (see table 
p. 58). At 17 accidents per 1,000 full-time employees 
per year, the incidence rate is well below that of 
comparable sectors (such as the insurance industry). A 
little over a third of all occupational accidents 
occurred in offices and when working from home. 
However, these caused only a small number of days of 
absence or absences from work, as the majority of 
accidents were minor accidents (i.e. accidents that did 
not result in absence from work or absence from work 
of no more than three days).
The most frequent causes of accidents are careless-
ness, tripping, slipping or falling. These accidents 
generally affect the extremities. Measures to raise 
employees’ awareness conducted with the involve-
ment of managers are having an effect.
The number and risk of occupational illnesses 
(pursuant to UVG) are minimal at Swisscom. In the

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Corporate Responsibility | Responsible employer
current year, Suva recognised only one case at 
Swisscom as an occupational disease, but it did not 
consider Swisscom, as the current employer, to be 
partly responsible for it. It is also pleasing to note that 
there were no fatal occupational accidents in the 
2018 reporting period.
  
2016  
2017  
2018 
Number respectively as indicated  
Male  
Female  
Total  
Male  
Female  
Total  
Male  
Female  
Total 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Illness and accidents (S+A)  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
Regular working days in FTE  
3,386,048  
1,136,883  4,522,931  
3,229,991  
997,344  
4,227,335  
3,130,289  
934,895  
4,065,183 
Days lost due to illness  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
(w/o work-related illness)  
70,686  
48,164  
118,850  
68,977  
40,240  
109,217  
66,143  
38,138  
104,281 
Days lost due to work-related  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
illness  
–  
  
–  
19  
  
19  
8  
180  
188 
Days lost due to work-related  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
accidents  
2,867  
292  
3,159  
2,786  
504  
3,290  
2,653  
488  
3,142 
Days lost due to  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
non-work-related accidents  
12,871  
3,632  
16,503  
12,838  
3,991  
16,829  
12,764  
3,862  
16,626 
Days lost total (S+A)  
86,424  
52,088  
138,512  
84,620  
44,735  
129,355  
81,569  
42,669  
124,238 
Number of cases of illness  
17,236  
9,841  
27,077  
15,408  
8,272  
23,680  
15,401  
7,629  
23,030 
Work-related accidents  
238  
36  
274  
261  
38  
299  
248  
30  
278 
Number of non-work-related  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
accidents  
1,933  
634  
2,567  
1,896  
619  
2,515  
1,877  
568  
2,445 
Total cases 1 
19,407  
10,511  
29,918  
17,565  
8,929  
26,494  
17,526  
8,227  
25,753 
Share of days lost due to illness  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
(w/o work-related illness)  
2.09%  
4.24%  
2.63%  
2.13%  
4.03%  
2.58%  
2.12%  
4.08%  
2.57% 
Share of days lost due to  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
work-related illness  
  
  
0.0000%  
  
  
0.0010%  
  
  
0.005% 
Number of work-related  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
accidents  
0.08%  
0.03%  
0.07%  
0.09%  
0.05%  
0.08%  
0.09%  
0.05%  
0.08% 
Share of days lost due to  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
non-work-related accidents  
0.38%  
0.32%  
0.36%  
0.40%  
0.40%  
0.40%  
0.41%  
0.41%  
0.41% 
Rate of days lost total (S+A)  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
in %  
2.56%  
4.58%  
3.07%  
2.62%  
4.48%  
3.06%  
2.61%  
4.56%  
3.06% 
Work-related deaths  
  
  
–  
  
  
–  
  
  
– 
Net presence in FTE  
135,645  
43,888  
179,533  
132,657  
40,969  
173,626  
127,362  
37,950  
165,312 
Total productive hours  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
performed  
23,063,332  
7,490,400  30,554,722  22,314,302  
6,921,116  29,235,418  21,473,128  
6,432,428  
27,905,556 
Productive time per FTE  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
in hours  
1,738  
1,687  
1,725  
1,741  
1,756  
1,744  
1,734  
1,749  
1,738
1 Failure of working time which generates medical costs
 
Employees with illnesses that are highly 
likely to be related to their professional 
activities
To achieve its prevention goals, Swisscom offers 
numerous initiatives and programmes within the 
framework of occupational health management 
(OHM). For example, members of management and 
employees with a time registration waiver are 
regularly invited to health checks in order to detect 
health problems at an early stage. Other prevention 
services are offered in collaboration with competent 
partners such as the Swiss Nutrition Society, Suva 
(risks in free time), the Swiss Lung League (smoking 
cessation services) and Pro Mente Sana (mental 
health). Internally, the Leadership Academy provides a 
health offering for managers. OHM is successfully 
breaking new ground in communicating prevention 
topics by the use of online formats: for example, by 
launching podcasts and webinars on mental health, 
nutrition and presence management.
Goal 3 
GOOD HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
In a selection process, around 1,100 Swisscom 
employees expressed an interest in the six-week 
iCope online training course on the topic of stress 
management. Some 541 employees were eventually 
given the opportunity to learn how to deal with stress 
situations thanks to iCope. Initial evaluations show 
that the participants were able to become better at 
dealing with stress in the long term.  
Swisscom runs an independent advisory centre (Care 
Gate) to answer questions relating to health and 
social issues. Employees and managers receive 
professional and confidential advice from Care Gate 
via telephone, e-mail and videoconferencing.

58
Corporate Responsibility | Responsible employer
In 2018, the absence rate was 3.06% (prior year: 
3.06%). The number of absences fell by around 2.8% 
year-on-year, but the duration of the individual 
absences increased.
In the case of long-term absences, there was a 
reduction in the number of cases, but a significant 
rise in the average length of absence. Approximately 
1/8 of the absences are due to non-occupational 
accidents (NOAs). 
Swisscom operates neither in areas nor in countries 
with a high risk of communicable diseases nor those 
in which communicable diseases are particularly 
common. 
Health and safety issues covered by 
formal agreements with trade unions
The collective employment agreement that Swisscom 
has concluded with its social partners, the syndicom 
trade union and the transfair personnel association, 
expressly sets out occupational health measures. For 
instance, the partners have together revised the “On/
Off” guideline. This regulates how to handle the readi-
ness to be “always on” – to be available around the 
clock due to the availability of digital working tools. 
An operational group solution supports the individual 
areas with guidelines and implementation instru-
ments in order to guarantee occupational health and 
safety requirements and systematically reduce 
work-related accidents and illnesses. Staff representa-
tives are also involved at all stages in the creation of 
hazard portfolios, risk assessments and the imple-
mentation of workplace controls.
  
2016  
2017  
2018 
Number respectively as indicated  
Male  
Female  
Total  
Male  
Female  
Total  
Male  
Female  
Total 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Total workforce in Switzerland  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
Average workforce FTE  
  
  
18,750  
  
  
18,039  
  
  
17,363 
Workforce end of year FTE  
  
  
18,372  
  
  
17,688  
  
  
17,147 
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Reporting limit in Switzerland  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
according to the personnel information system  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
Coverage report limit  
  
  
93%  
  
  
95%  
  
  
95% 
Average workforce FTE  
13,273  
4,439  
17,712  
13,047  
4,117  
17,164  
12,610  
3,845  
16,455 
Employees in FTE per end of December  
13,273  
4,291  
17,563  
12,856  
3,975  
16,831  
12,448  
3,759  
16,207 
in headcount (HC)  
13,579  
4,970  
18,549  
13,163  
4,624  
17,787  
12,755  
4,365  
17,120 
Temporary positions (HC)  
1,121  
387  
1,508  
1,141  
376  
1,517  
1,074  
389  
1,463 
Permanent work contracts (HC)  
48  
18  
66  
39  
25  
64  
32  
25  
57 
Temporary work contracts (HC)  
13,531  
4,952  
18,483  
13,124  
4,599  
17,723  
12,723  
4,340  
17,063 
Gender ratio (HC)  
73.2%  
26.8%  
100.0%  
74.0%  
26.0%  
100.0%  
74.5%  
25.5%  
100.0% 
Full-time employment (HC)  
12,121  
2,796  
14,917  
11,705  
2,525  
14,230  
11,279  
2,378  
13,657 
Part-time employment (HC)  
1,458  
2,174  
3,632  
1,458  
2,099  
3,557  
1,476  
1,987  
3,463 
Ratio full time employees (HC)  
89.3%  
56.3%  
80.4%  
88.9%  
54.6%  
80.0%  
88.4%  
54.5%  
79.8% 
Ratio part time employees (HC)  
10.7%  
43.7%  
19.6%  
11.1%  
45.4%  
20.0%  
11.6%  
45.5%  
20.2% 
Employees in collective employement  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
agreement (CEA)  
10,811  
4,581  
15,392  
10,407  
4,258  
14,665  
10,036  
4,003  
14,039 
Rate collective labour agreement (CEA)  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
to total workforce  
79.6%  
92.2%  
83.0%  
79.1%  
92.1%  
82.4%  
78.7%  
91.7%  
82.0% 
Top Management (HC)  
82  
8  
90  
81  
3  
84  
75  
5  
80 
Management (HC)  
2,686  
381  
3,067  
2,675  
363  
3,038  
2,644  
357  
3,001 
Rate of employees within  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
Management (HC)  
87.7%  
12.3%  
100.0%  
88.3%  
11.7%  
100.0%  
88.3%  
11.7%  
100.0% 
18,750
12,500
6,250
0
2014 
2015 
2016 
2017 
2018 
years     
between 30 and 50 years     
up to 30 
3,053 
3,004 
2,662 
2,374 
2,258 
10,588 
10,712 
10,660 
10,175 
9,629 
4,705 
5,025 
5,227 
5,238 
5,233 
18,346 
18,741 
18,549 
17,787 
17,120 
Employee age structure
in headcount (HC)

59
Corporate Responsibility | Responsible employer
  
2016  
2017  
2018 
Number respectively as indicated  
Male  
Female  
Total  
Male  
Female  
Total  
Male  
Female  
Total 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Fluctuation in Switzerland  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
Average age  
43.4  
40.4  
42.6  
43.7  
40.8  
42.9  
43.8  
41.1  
43.1 
Leavings 1 
1,094  
569  
1,663  
1,439  
712  
2,151  
1,643  
686  
2,329 
Leavings < 30 years 1 
214  
175  
389  
262  
219  
481  
237  
158  
395 
Leavings 30 – 50 years 1 
584  
266  
850  
730  
321  
1,051  
866  
375  
1,241 
Leavings > 50 years 1 
296  
128  
424  
447  
172  
619  
540  
153  
693 
Rate of leavings < 30 years  
19.6%  
30.8%  
23.4%  
18.2%  
30.8%  
22.4%  
14.4%  
23.0%  
17.0% 
Rate of leavings 30 – 50 years  
53.4%  
46.7%  
51.1%  
50.7%  
45.1%  
48.9%  
52.7%  
54.7%  
53.3% 
Rate of leavings > 50 years 2 
27.1%  
22.5%  
25.5%  
31.1%  
24.2%  
28.8%  
32.9%  
22.3%  
29.8% 
Enterings 1 
1,245  
323  
1,568  
947  
281  
1,228  
1,203  
437  
1,640 
Enterings < 30 years 1 
356  
171  
527  
336  
126  
462  
429  
217  
646 
Enterings 30 – 50 years 1 
783  
140  
923  
529  
132  
661  
622  
187  
809 
Enterings > 50 years 1 
106  
12  
118  
82  
23  
105  
152  
33  
185 
Rate of Enterings < 30 years  
28.6%  
52.9%  
33.6%  
35.5%  
44.8%  
37.6%  
35.7%  
49.7%  
39.4% 
Rate of Enterings 30 – 50 years  
62.9%  
43.3%  
58.9%  
55.9%  
47.0%  
53.8%  
51.7%  
42.8%  
49.3% 
Rate of Enterings > 50 years 2 
8.5%  
3.7%  
7.5%  
8.7%  
8.2%  
8.6%  
12.6%  
7.6%  
11.3% 
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Further KPIs  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
Education and training days  
  
  
53,979  
  
  
55,035  
  
  
51,097 
Number of days training and education  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
per employee (headcount)  
  
  
2.9  
  
  
3.1  
  
  
3.0 
Maternity and paternity leave  
544  
290  
834  
574  
230  
804  
571  
206  
777 
Total CEO compensation in kCHF  
  
  
1,833  
  
  
1,868  
  
  
1,829 
Median salary in kCHF  
  
  
131  
  
  
133  
  
  
135 
Ratio CEO compensation / median salary  
  
  
14  
  
  
14  
  
  
14 
Variation of CEO compensation  
  
  
0.1%  
  
  
1.9%  
  
  
–2.1% 
Variation of median salary  
  
  
1.5%  
  
  
1.5%  
  
  
1.5% 
Minimum full time salary in kCHF  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
according to the CEA  
  
  
52  
  
  
52  
  
  
52 
Peformance Dialogues 3 
  
  
96.6%  
  
  
95.0%  
  
  
93.9% 
1 without fixed-term contracts of employment
2 without retirements
3 without apprentices

60
Corporate Responsibility | Fair supply chain
Fair supply chain 
Swisscom’s partners supply the company with goods and services worth over 
CHF 4 billion a year. Swisscom is committed to fair and efficient partnerships 
with suppliers who share its social and environmental objectives and its 
values. Swisscom works together with its suppliers to protect the 
environment and is aiming to improve the working conditions of more than 
two million people by 2025. To this end, Swisscom has entered into interna-
tional partnerships which ensure that measures are implemented in close 
collaboration with suppliers. 
Management approach 
Swisscom is committed to improving the working 
conditions of its suppliers’ employees and to ensuring 
compliance with social and environmental standards 
throughout the supply chain. It requires its direct 
suppliers and their subcontractors to commit to 
acting in a sustainable manner.
Goal 8 
DECENT WORK AND ECONOMIC GROWTH
The principles that Swisscom observes are stipulated 
in its purchasing policy, which is defined by an 
overarching committee, the Swisscom Purchasing 
Board. The purchasing policy sets out the principles 
and procedures to be followed by the procurement 
organisations and stipulates the requirements that 
suppliers accept by signing the Corporate Responsibil-
ity Contract Annex (CRCA). Swisscom uses a struc-
tured risk management system to review suppliers’ 
compliance with the requirements. It expanded this 
system on a conceptual level in 2016 and imple-
mented it in the purchasing organisation. The system 
covers all risk areas along the supply chain.
N See www.swisscom.ch/suppliers
The measures to achieve a fair supply chain make an 
active contribution to risk management in the supply 
chain and are intended to ensure that potential risks 
are identified at an early stage or dealt with quickly if 
they occur. This avoids reputational damage and 
financial losses. This management approach has 
proven its worth over many years. It is lived and 
implemented successfully, and therefore is not 
currently in need of an update. Overall responsibility 
lies with the Head of Group Business Steering (GBS); 
in addition, a specialist unit is employed for opera-
tional business and strategic orientation.
The suppliers covered by risk management are 
suppliers from Switzerland, the EU and overseas 
(mainly North America and the Far East), most of 
whom are active in the ICT sector in the area of 
network infrastructure and goods. 
With a score of 74 out of 100 in the supply chain 
rating of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (prior 
year: 80) and is included on the Carbon Disclosure 
Project (CDP) Supplier and Climate A List. Swisscom 
once again ranks among the best telecommunica-
tions companies.
N See www.swisscom.ch/GRI-2018
Supplier risk management 
Risk management system 
Swisscom has implemented supply chain risk 
management (SCRM 360) in recent years and further 
consolidated it in the year under review. The compre-
hensive SCRM 360 approach enables it to reduce the 
risks not only in terms of the environment and 
society, but also with regard to finances, security, 
logistics and quality. Swisscom continuously checks 
external data sources using individual, weighted 
score cards (featuring more than 50 risk indicators). If 
a top 100 supplier, strategic supplier or critical 
supplier or one of the numerous upstream suppliers 
breach a pre-defined threshold, the purchasing 
organisation is automatically notified. The top 100 
suppliers are selected based on the following criteria: 
purchase volume, strategic importance and risk 
profile of the product groups. 
Swisscom reviews and classifies product groups from 
the perspective of corporate responsibility on a 
regular basis. It decided to maintain the current risk 
structure and has completed a new critical revision of 
the list of suppliers in high-risk product groups. Of 
these, all of the major suppliers are already registered 
on the e-tasc platform. For potential supply partners 
and invitations to tender, Swisscom applies the 
in-phasing process, which was revised in 2017. In 
addition, the SRN (Supply Risk Network) platform 
enables a first estimate of a supplier’s overall risk.

61
Corporate Responsibility | Fair supply chain
Risk management procedure in the supply 
chain 
Swisscom does not assess the risk of all its supply 
partners. Instead, it uses a filtering process to deter-
mine their effective risk potential at an early stage, 
while at the same time reducing the number of supply 
partners to be assessed. Swisscom covers the entire 
supplier portfolio with its risk management process.
Filtering process: risk management procedure 
in the supply chain 
In the first stage of the filtering process, Swisscom 
assesses all product groups in terms of their environ-
mental and social risks using clearly defined criteria, 
with the individual product groups being assigned to 
one of three risk profiles – low, medium or high.
In the second stage, Swisscom then identifies the 
supply partners whose goods have been assigned to 
the product groups with high and medium risk 
profiles, taking into account a criticality grid devel-
oped by Swisscom. Accordingly, it reviews the risks of 
these supply partners individually using clearly 
defined criteria. In addition to the risk profile of the 
product group, the procedure provides for other 
reasons for risk monitoring. Depending on the 
situation, Swisscom includes other suppliers in risk 
monitoring based on their risk profile. Where 
appropriate for risk avoidance purposes, the supply 
chain is also integrated into risk monitoring. 
Swisscom follows the same approach to determine 
the risks of potential supply partners. The results of 
the assessment are then taken into account when 
deciding on a possible collaboration.
Following this procedure, Swisscom had 430 suppli-
ers, subcontractors and potential suppliers in almost 
50 countries and approximately 80 supply chains with 
over 400 delivery paths under risk monitoring by 
mid-2018.
Product groups 
Suppliers
CR Contract Annex 
Audits 
Self-declarations 
Material testing 
GeSI/NGOs 
Other
Risk assessment
Risk handling
Crisis management
Overview and requirements of risk management in the supply chain
Risk profile 
suppliers1
Suppliers with  
high risk profile
Suppliers with 
medium risk profile
Suppliers with 
low risk profile
Risk profile product groups2
Product groups 
with low risks
Product groups 
with medium risks
Product groups 
with high risks
Conduct audits. Inclusion in EcoVadis
Check inclusion in EcoVadis
No measures
1 The suppliers are classified according to the product groups.
2 New suppliers, specific evaluations and  re-evaluations take place via selective risk profile of the suppliers.

62
Corporate Responsibility | Fair supply chain
Self-declarations and self-assessments
Swisscom met its objective to assess 160 suppliers on 
the e-tasc platform in the spring of 2017. In 2018, it 
identified further suppliers who will be registered for 
the first time in 2019 and invited to an assessment. 
Swisscom consolidated and adjusted its portfolio 
during the reporting year. For example, Swisscom 
deactivated suppliers who had ceased to be relevant. 
They do, however, remain visible to other customers 
on the platform. Swisscom again carried out several 
accompanied reassessments during the reporting 
year. The suppliers concerned improved by an average 
of 8% versus the previous overall score as a result of 
the corresponding corrective measures. Swisscom 
suppliers scored 38% better than the suppliers 
registered on the platform worldwide (several 
thousand). Furthermore, the average overall score of 
all Swisscom suppliers increased. In 2019, Swisscom 
intends to conduct another critical review of the list 
of suppliers in high-risk product groups. In addition, it 
also completed a self-assessment of its own sustaina-
bility in 2018, which returned the result “low risk”.
Audits
Swisscom has been a member of the Joint Audit 
Cooperation (JAC) since 2011. In 2018, it carried out 
five audits as part of its collaboration with the JAC. 
The JAC is a consortium of 16 telecoms enterprises 
which checks, assesses and promotes measures 
intended to safeguard social responsibility in the 
production centres of the major multinational ICT 
suppliers.
The audits identify negative social or environmental 
impacts and take appropriate measures to address 
them. 
The following guidelines apply to the on-site audits:
● Preparation: audits are based on information on 
the company being audited that must be obtained 
in advance.
● Qualified auditors: audits are carried out by 
international auditing companies that have 
specialist knowledge of the social and environmen-
tal conditions particular to the country in question.
● Confidentiality: confidentiality agreements are 
signed with suppliers, so audit results are only 
known to JAC members.
● Methodology: the JAC members audit the 
companies using a checklist based on the SA 8000 
(including in relation to working conditions, health 
and safety, environment, business ethics, manage-
ment system) and ISO 14001 standards. 
● Report: the report formulates the findings based 
on objective evidence. 
● Collaboration with suppliers: the collaboration is 
based on the shared awareness that the manage-
ment of corporate responsibility (CR) risks plays 
a decisive role in responsible, sustainable 
 development. 
● Collaborating with and further developing 
suppliers: on the basis of the findings from the 
audit, corrective measures are drawn up with 
suppliers to correct shortcomings. The respective 
JAC member follows the implementation of these 
measures until the official conclusion of the audit. 
Audit reports and corrective measures are 
processed on the common EcoVadis audit plat-
form.
The JAC members set the audit agenda, check the 
audit reports and monitor the progress of the 
planned corrective measures in regular teleconfer-
ences. These regular conferences and the exchange of 
best practices help to improve the CR criteria assess-
ments and make the JAC initiative more efficient. The 
JAC steering committee, which is made up of 
representatives from the top management level of 
the members’ CR and sourcing areas, meets four 
times a year to review the audit campaign, decide on 
how to proceed and launch new projects.
In addition to the normal CR audits, the partner 
organisation Good World Solution (Elevate) con-
ducted mobile surveys in 2018. Employees answered 
questions about working conditions outside the 
factories on their mobile phones. These mobile 
surveys are a survey method that offers a great deal 
of potential for the future. The JAC launched a total of 
18 mobile surveys in the year under review. 
The JAC initiative further developed its measures in 
2018: these include the JAC Academy, which conducts 
targeted CR training at the premises of suppliers, and 
the JAC Awards, which honoured the best perfor-
mance in the area of sustainable supply chain 
management for the second time in 2018. The 
certificates are awarded annually at the JAC CSR 
Forum in China. Some six suppliers from the 
Swisscom portfolio received awards. A working group 
is tackling the issue of the circular economy, the 
importance of which is continually increasing, 
particularly in relation to computer hardware. 
Working conditions target
Swisscom aims to improve the social working 
conditions of two million people in its supply chain by 
2025. To this end, it has intensified its international 
collaborations, such as the one it maintains with the 
JAC, to ensure that appropriate measures are 
implemented jointly with suppliers.
Audit results
In total, 116 audits of suppliers were carried out 
within the JAC network in 2018 (prior year: 89). 
The proportion of audits at supply partners (tier 2/3 
suppliers) increased to 75%.
The audits involved production facilities, most of 
which are located in China, Taiwan, India, Japan, 
South Korea and South America. A limited number of 
instances of non-conformity and various types of

63
Corporate Responsibility | Fair supply chain
non-compliance were noted in the audits carried out 
in 2018. The instances of non-compliance mainly 
concern working hours, occupational safety, environ-
ment, wages and health and safety issues. The audits 
also identified several cases of discrimination and the 
employment of minors. The time period for rectifying 
the problems depends on the type of non-compli-
ance. Due to the impact on the human resources of 
the company concerned, rectifying irregularities with 
respect to working hours in particular (e.g. limiting 
regular working hours and overtime) generally 
requires several months. 
The JAC network has conducted a total of 482 audits 
in 33 countries on four continents since 2010. 
The audits covered one million employees in total 
and identified 3,062 cases of shortcomings, with 
437 cases yet to be resolved. 
The table lists the shortcomings still outstanding in 
the reporting year: 
Number of issues  
2016  
2017  
2018 
Health and safety  
114  
97  
177 
Working hours/overtime  
52  
63  
84 
Business ethics  
67  
37  
49 
Child and juvenile labour  
7  
2  
6 
Remuneration  
20  
11  
24 
Environment  
34  
28  
56 
Forced labour and discrimination  
9  
14  
13 
Disciplinary practice and freedom of association  
0  
5  
6 
In the year under review, the audits identified 
768 weaknesses. Of those still outstanding, the 
majority are connected to issues involving working 
hours. The shortcomings in terms of the employment 
of young people relate to excess hours or night shifts, 
but not child labour. The cases of discrimination that 
have been highlighted involve cases of inadequate 
formalisation of contracts, but not forced labour. 
Environmental shortcomings refer to the storage of 
chemical products and the lack of environmental 
reports. 
The individual JAC members are continuously 
addressing these shortcomings. The collected data is 
updated regularly and discussed in the steering 
committee.
Carbon Disclosure Project – supply chain 
programme
In the year under review, Swisscom continued its 
cooperation with the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP). 
The CDP is a non-profit organisation founded in 2000. 
The organisation encourages companies to publish 
relevant environmental data, including data on 
harmful greenhouse gas emissions and water 
consumption. Once a year, the CDP, on behalf of 
investors, uses standardised questionnaires to collect 
information and data from companies on a voluntary 
basis as regards CO2 emissions, climate risks and 
reduction goals and strategies. The CDP maintains the 
world’s largest database of this kind. 
As part of its cooperation with the CDP, Swisscom 
contacted and surveyed 71 (prior year: 62) of its key 
suppliers. The suppliers surveyed have a high order 
volume or a high degree of environmental relevance. 
The response rate was 92% (prior year: 91%), which 
again allowed the survey to be brought to a success-
ful conclusion. In the fourth quarter of 2018, the CDP 
analysed the responses and applied a scoring system 
to rate the suppliers who took part. The results are 
partially incorporated into the e-tasc platform from 
EcoVadis and used as a basis on which to comprehen-
sively assess Swisscom’s key suppliers.
As part of its new CR Strategy 2025, Swisscom is again 
pursuing a specific target in the area of climate 
protection. As the supply chain is responsible for a 
major portion of Scope 3 emissions, CO2 emissions in 
the supply chain play a fundamental role in climate 
protection. Swisscom will again take part in the 
Action Exchange Programme (AEP) in 2019 as part of 
its work with the CDP and define specific develop-
ment plans with individual suppliers. Thanks to the 
emission data that the CDP collects from suppliers, 
Swisscom has a reliable basis for determining 
reduction targets for itself as well as for its key 
suppliers.
GeSI – commitment
As part of GeSI, the Global e-Sustainability Initiative, 
the world’s leading ICT providers are committed to 
sustainable change using new technologies. GeSI has 
strongly aligned its organisation and activities with 
the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals). Swisscom 
works within the GeSI framework in a variety of 
projects, e.g. to promote fair and sustainable supply 
chains, requiring global cooperation. Swisscom also 
plays an active role in GeSI’s CR projects. These 
projects include participation in the SDG study 
(Digital Access Index), the SMARTer2030 Report and 
the GeSI SystemTransformation Report; further 
development of the SASF (Sustainability Assessment 
Standard Framework), which will serve as a standard 
for the entire ICT industry in the future; and ongoing 
further development of e-tasc as an overarching

64
Corporate Responsibility | Fair supply chain
platform for carrying out self-assessments and 
supplier audits. As part of the +Better World Program, 
Swisscom is helping to systematically develop 
selected suppliers in various disciplines. 
N See www.gesi.org
Main risk factors in the supply chain 
Human rights
Swisscom attaches great importance to the obser-
vance of human rights in the areas specified by the 
Social Accountability International (SAI) SA 8000 
standard, which include child labour, forced labour, 
health and safety, freedom of association and the 
right to collective bargaining, discrimination, disci-
pline, working hours and remuneration. In 2016, 
Swisscom published a new human resources policy 
on its website.
N See www.swisscom.ch/humanrights
Climate risks from CO2 emissions
Climate change poses risks, e.g. in the form of 
increasing levels of precipitation as well as higher 
average temperatures and extreme meteorological 
events. These risks could compromise the manufac-
ture of telecommunications products and network 
equipment and their transport into Switzerland, and 
thus have a negative effect on Swisscom’s market 
opportunities and operations. Swisscom’s greenhouse 
gas inventory shows that the majority of its CO2 
emissions are attributable to the supply chain – a fact 
Swisscom takes into account in its strategic priority 
on climate protection. 
Raw materials
The raw materials contained in Swisscom’s various 
products come from a wide range of countries and 
regions. Questions are increasingly being raised on 
the origin of the raw materials used and the associ-
ated environmental and sociological risks. Swisscom 
is addressing the issue of raw materials and has 
implemented the following measures in this regard in 
recent years:
● January 2012: Swisscom became a member of the 
World Resources Forum Association (WRFA) 
through its membership in the Global e-Sustaina-
bility Initiative (GeSI).
● March 2012: inaugural meeting of the WRFA, at 
the meetings of which Swisscom represents the 
GeSI.
● March/October 2013: participation in the Annual 
General Meetings of the WRFA in St. Gallen and 
the WRFA in Davos. 
● October 2013: dialogue with the NGO Brot für alle 
and participation in the “High Tech – No Rights” 
symposium in Berne.
N See www.wrforum.org
● 2014/15: preliminary enquiry into a partnership 
with Fairphone. 
● March 2016: marketing of Fairphone via an 
indirect sales channel. Dutch start-up Fairphone 
hopes to shake up the telecommunications sector 
with its smartphone, which is manufactured in 
accordance with fair trade principles. The focus is 
on the ethical extraction of raw materials, socially 
responsible production conditions and the 
longevity of the product. Fairphone sought out 
Swisscom as a sustainable partner. 
● May 2016: as part of their “Stop benzene” petition 
in the summer of 2016, the two aid organisations 
Brot für alle and Fastenopfer raised awareness of 
the risks associated with using benzene in the 
manufacture of mobile phones. For this purpose, 
they compiled a ranking of the largest Swiss sellers 
of mobile phones and the measures they were 
taking against benzene, with Swisscom achieving 
the best result. As a reseller of mobile phones and 
tablets, Swisscom is committed to progressively 
improving sustainability and working conditions 
along the supply chain through its ongoing 
international cooperation with GeSI and the JAC.
● Since 2017: Swisscom’s active collaboration on the 
Global e-Sustainability Initiative (GeSI) indirectly 
makes it a supporter of the Responsible Mining 
Initiative (RMI) of the Responsible Business Alliance 
(RBA). The goal of this initiative is to monitor the 
origin of conflict minerals more strictly.
N See www.rba-online.org
Corruption
In its internal guidelines, Swisscom has established a 
policy of zero tolerance in its approach towards 
corruption. The guidelines are implemented through 
regular training, reviews and audits across the Group. 
In addition, Swisscom also requires its suppliers to 
comply with these guidelines. Swisscom expects 
neither its own employees nor any of its suppliers to 
grant or accept any undue advantages. Infringements 
may result in disciplinary actions for Swisscom 
employees, up to and including dismissal. If it is 
established that a supplier violated anti-corruption 
laws, they are reprimanded and, as a last resort, 
removed from the supply chain. 
Circular economy
As a reseller of mobile phones and a provider of 
routers and TV boxes, Swisscom plays an important 
role in the value chain on the Swiss market. The 
company must consequently tackle the sustainability 
opportunities of the circular economy in a construc-
tive manner and use its market position to strengthen 
the circular economy. In doing so, Swisscom focuses 
on extending the service life (second life) of mobile 
phones in collaboration with private and business 
customers.
Swisscom customers can make an active contribution 
to a more sustainable supply chain. By using the 
second-life programmes Mobile Bonus and Mobile 
Aid as well as the repair service, they extend the

65
Corporate Responsibility | Fair supply chain
service life of their devices, thereby taking some of 
the strain off the supply chain. This also reduces 
environmental and social risks as fewer new devices 
have to be purchased and manufactured.
Swisscom offers its customers the right second-life 
programme for every eventuality. In line with their 
position in the value chain, the programmes are 
directed to where there is the greatest opportunity to 
exert influence. This is demonstrated by the success 
of the three different programmes. The challenge is to 
inform customers who are in an appropriate situation 
about the programmes and persuade them to use 
them.
The circular economy requires a holistic approach, as 
implementing it includes procurement, operations 
and customers. Several Swisscom business units are 
therefore responsible for the circular economy, with a 
joint working group comprising Group Business 
Steering (GBS) and Group Communications & 
Responsibility (GCR) responsible for control and 
coordination.
Goal 12 
RESPONSIBLE CONSUMPTION AND PRODUCTION
● Repair service in Repair Centres: one in five mobile 
phones purchased from Swisscom will be repaired 
by Swisscom at least once during its lifetime. If a 
phone is sent in to the manufacturer for repair, the 
service takes nine days on average. This is precisely 
where the new Swisscom Repair Centres come in: 
damaged mobile phones can be repaired directly 
on site in Swisscom Shops within 24 hours, or in as 
few as three hours using the express service 
(subject to charge). 14% of all customers use this 
express service. The manufacturer’s warranty 
remains intact thanks to the certified specialists 
involved and the use of original parts. Most repairs 
relate to cracked displays or battery and software 
problems. Swisscom ran a total of nine Repair 
Centres in 2018, at the sites in Zurich, Winterthur, 
Lausanne, Lucerne, Geneva, Berne, Basel, Fribourg 
and St. Gallen. Swisscom carries out almost 
140,000 repairs annually, a quarter of which are 
already performed at the nine Repair Centres.
● Recycling of devices: by law, Swisscom provides a 
two-year guarantee on all devices, such as 
telephones, modems, mobile phones and mobile 
unlimited USB modems. In addition, any electronic 
devices from its range can be returned to the 
company, and routers are re-used wherever 
possible. 
N See www.swico.ch (in German and French)
 
Recycling is performed in conjunction with SWICO 
Recycling, the recycling commission of the Swiss 
Association for Information, Communication and 
Organisational Technology, and is financed by a 
recycling fee charged in advance. Recycling 
statistics are available from SWICO. 
N See www.swisscom.ch/mobileaid
● Swisscom Mobile Aid: around 87,000 mobile 
handsets were returned to Swisscom in 2018. The 
return rate of used mobile handsets increased 
compared with the previous year and amounted to 
9.9% (prior year: 8.0%). Swisscom managed to sell 
approximately 30% of these devices via a third-
party company in countries where there is demand 
for low-priced second-hand devices. All proceeds 
from the sales went to the social enterprise Réalise 
and the SOS-Kinderdorf Schweiz relief organisa-
tion. The devices collected are inspected and 
sorted by the social enterprise Réalise in Geneva. 
This organisation separates working devices from 
faulty ones, then deletes the data from working 
devices and prepares them for resale. Devices that 
can no longer be sold are professionally recycled by 
a SWICO-licensed company. The initial stage is 
carried out by the recycling company Solenthaler 
Recycling AG together with Dock Gruppe AG. Dock 
Gruppe AG helps long-term unemployed people to 
reintegrate into the workforce. 
● Swisscom Mobile Bonus: Swisscom continued the 
Swisscom Mobile Bonus programme in 2018. 
Customers and non-customers can sell back their 
used devices at market prices online or in 
Swisscom Shops. Mobile Bonus increases the 
return rate. The Mobile Bonus Business pro-
gramme is available to business customers.
● Device packaging: Swisscom continues to send TV 
and Internet boxes as parcel post. It has changed 
the packaging, with recycled material being 
chosen over virgin fibres. According to information 
provided by the manufacturer, this saves up to 
60% of the energy and up to 70% of the water 
consumed in its manufacture, and reduces CO2 
emissions and waste. Swisscom also now uses a 
decorative design for the packaging, which offers 
added value to its customers. The packaging can 
be used as a gift or storage box, giving it a 
meaningful second use.

66
Corporate Responsibility | Networked Switzerland
Networked Switzerland 
Swisscom plans to provide ultra-fast broadband coverage (at least 100 Mbps) 
to 85% of homes and offices by 2020, with 99% of the population enjoying 
ultra-fast mobile broadband. Through its investments in Switzerland, 
Swisscom is making an indirect contribution to the country’s GDP of around 
CHF 30 billion over the period 2014 to 2020 – in addition to direct added value 
– and is thus contributing to the creation and preservation of jobs in 
Switzerland. 
Management approach 
Swisscom’s investments not only create around CHF 5 
billion a year of added value for itself, but also benefit 
other companies and thus indirectly constitute an 
important contribution to Switzerland’s competitive-
ness and prosperity.
The network is at the very heart of Swisscom. 
Without an efficient infrastructure, Swisscom would 
not be in a position to offer its tried-and-tested 
services and support Switzerland, the Swiss popula-
tion and local companies in the digitisation process. 
At Swisscom, the IT, Network & Infrastructure 
division, headed by the CIO and CTO of Swisscom, is 
responsible for expanding the network. Its approxi-
mately 4,000 employees ensure that Swisscom offers 
its customers an optimal mix of technologies and that 
customers can easily make the most of their opportu-
nities in the networked world. Swisscom therefore 
aims to be the first telecommunications provider in 
Switzerland to make innovations available to its 
customers and to meet their needs throughout 
Switzerland. Swisscom intends to supply 90% of Swiss 
households in building zones with speeds of at least 
80 Mbps via the fixed network by the end of 2021. 
5G is set to become the next-generation operating 
system for the digitisation of mobile communica-
tions. Swisscom already offers broadband Internet to 
97% of Swiss homes and businesses, and, in mobile 
communications, 4G, 3G and 2G reach 99% of the 
Swiss population. Swisscom’s services are rated as 
very good by international standards. For example, 
international independent tests regularly show that 
Swisscom’s mobile network occupies a leading 
position within Switzerland, as well as in a country 
comparison of Germany, Austria and Switzerland. 
Infrastructure competition in Switzerland remains 
intense. Swisscom will continue to have to prevail 
over other mobile communications providers, cable 
network operators and electricity providers. It is 
therefore investing CHF 1.6 billion annually in its 
infrastructure, the highest level of investment in 
Switzerland.
Goal 8 
DECENT WORK AND ECONOMIC GROWTH
Impact of investments by 
telecommunications companies on gross 
domestic product (GDP) and employment 
The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) calculated the 
impact of investments by telecommunications 
companies on gross domestic product (GDP) and 
employment – two key macroeconomic indicators 
– on behalf of the European Telecommunications Net-
work Operators’ Association (ETNO). The calculations 
were based on eleven academic studies, five of which 
focused on the impact of telecommunications compa-
nies on GDP and six on the impact on employment 
levels. In collaboration with the BCG, Swisscom 
applied the calculation model and findings of all 
eleven studies to its own situation. Swisscom’s impact 
on employment in Switzerland as calculated by the 
BCG is 1.8 times lower compared with other countries 
due to the fact that salaries in Switzerland are 
particularly high, meaning that less jobs can be 
created for each franc invested (calculations are based 
on the annual average salary). 
Investments by Swisscom in the billions 
In 2018, Swisscom again invested around CHF 1.6 bil-
lion in Switzerland. Swisscom is planning to make 
further investments in Switzerland worth billions of 
Swiss francs between 2019 and the end of 2020. 
According to the BCG model, Swisscom will thus 
indirectly contribute more than CHF 30 billion to GDP 
in the period from 2014 to 2020, in addition to the 
total added value of around CHF 35 billion it will 
create for itself (CHF 5 billion per year over a period of 
seven years). According to interim results, Swisscom 
has already contributed CHF 23 billion in indirect 
added value after five years. This already puts 
Swisscom at three-quarters of the total estimated 
added value after five out of the seven years. By 
maintaining approximately the same level of 
investment over the next two years, Swisscom will 
exceed the estimated figures for the period 2014 to

67
Corporate Responsibility | Networked Switzerland
2020 and contribute to the creation and preservation 
of jobs in Switzerland. 
The achievement of targets will be assessed and 
measured as part of the business plan process and 
through the annual segment information and 
statements of added value as published in the Annual 
Report. If necessary, the BCG will review the calcula-
tion model and adapt it in line with new research 
findings.
The “Networked Switzerland” section in this Sustain-
ability Report relates to the “Infrastructure” section in 
the Annual Report, page 23.
Basic service provision
Comprehensive network coverage
Swisscom is responsible for providing basic telecoms 
services in Switzerland, and has been mandated to do 
so until the end of 2022 in accordance with the newly 
issued universal service licence. The purpose of the 
mandate is the provision of network access through-
out Switzerland, primarily voice telephony and 
broadband Internet access. The guaranteed minimum 
transmission speed for a broadband Internet connec-
tion is 3 Mbps (downloads) and 300 Kbps (uploads). 
The price ceiling for this service (including fixed-line 
telephony) is CHF 55 per month (excluding VAT).
Goal 9 
INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE
The basic service provision for which Swisscom has 
long been responsible also includes providing special 
services for people with disabilities. Swisscom 
currently foregoes any financial compensation for the 
uncovered costs of basic service provision.
  
Unit  
2016  
2017  
2018 
Number of public payphones 1 
Number  
3,553  
2,960  
1,181 
Emergency calls  
in thousand  
2,740  
2,799  
2,824 
Calls to the service for visually and hearing impaired  
in thousand  
372  
349  
293 
1 Of which 2’451 (2017), 2’844 (2016) within the scope of basic service provi-
sion.
 As of 2018 public payphones are no longer inclulded in the basic telecom 
service.
Supply to alpine businesses and SAC 
chalets
The Swiss Alpine Club (SAC), the Swiss Alpine Econ-
omy Association (SAV) and Swisscom forged a 
partnership in 2017 to enable alpine businesses and 
chalets to connect to the communication of the 
future. The associations will support alpine busi-
nesses and SAC chalets with their power supply, while 
Swisscom will see to the conversion to future- 
oriented IP technology.
Net neutrality
Together with other network operators and the 
Suissedigital and asut associations, Swisscom drew up 
a code of conduct for an open Internet in 2014. The 
signatories of the code of conduct have made a public 
commitment to an open Internet. The code lays down 
that all users in Switzerland should be able to use the 
content, services, applications, hardware and 
software of their choice. Subject to regulatory 
requirements, no services or applications are there-
fore blocked or impeded by Swisscom, and freedom 
of information and free expression of opinion are not 
limited in any way on the Internet. The signatories of 
the code of conduct also set up an independent 
ombudsman’s office in 2015. Users who believe that 
their service provider has breached the code of 
conduct can contact the net neutrality ombudsman’s 
office if the issue is not resolved in prior discussions 
with the network operator. To date, eight petitions 
have been received, not all of which fall within the 
purview of the ombudsman’s office. None have so far 
been considered by the ombudsman’s office to have 
violated net neutrality.
Internet of Things
Following the national expansion of the Low Power 
Network, Swisscom is establishing further national 
networks for the Internet of Things using the two 
mobile communications-based technologies Narrow 
Band-IoT and LTE Cat M1. Swisscom is deliberately 
adopting a mix of technologies in order to enable its 
customers to use all the applications of the Internet 
of Things, allowing them to focus fully on their 
applications. The three networks form the basis for 
connecting millions of objects, including bikes, 
electricity meters, environmental sensors, valuables, 
cars and building technology. 
Goal 9 
INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE
The Internet of Things lays the foundation for smart 
cities, energy-efficient buildings, machine-to-machine 
networking and new digital applications, since it 
allows infrastructure, devices and things to network 
and communicate with one another – and makes the 
process tangible for users by answering questions 
such as: Where is an object? Is it moving or still? How 
warm is it? How high is its fluid level? Is there the risk 
of an operational failure? The Internet of Things thus 
enables efficient and forward-looking management 
and helps to conserve resources and administer them 
in the best way possible. Swisscom supports compa-
nies to digitise their operations and develop applica-

68
Corporate Responsibility | Networked Switzerland
tions relating to the Internet of Things. The Internet 
of Things is clearly changing the way things are 
developed. Products are no longer isolated objects; 
instead they can be extended to create advanced 
services through interconnectivity. For example, this 
approach means that a heating manufacturer can 
offer all manner of services relating to heating, and a 
manufacturer of sun protection devices can offer 
comprehensive shading solutions. 
N See www.lora-alliance.org

69
Corporate Responsibility | Innovation and development
Innovation and 
development 
At Swisscom, innovation takes place in all areas of the company as well as 
beyond. One of the main drivers of economic sustainability is innovation, 
which is also an important lever that makes it possible to remain relevant in 
the core business, generate growth in new markets and digitise internal work 
processes. Swisscom is focusing its innovation activities on seven areas of 
innovation, which in turn directly help the Group achieve its goals. 
Management approach 
Swisscom’s business environment is rapidly changing, 
so innovation and development – i.e. the commer-
cially successful implementation of new ideas – are 
becoming increasingly important. Innovation is a 
fundamental driver of economic sustainability. 
Swisscom now derives much of its revenue from 
products that are only a few years old. Innovation is 
also an important lever that makes it possible to 
remain relevant in the core business, generate growth 
in new markets and digitise internal work processes. 
Swisscom strives to anticipate strategic challenges, 
new growth areas and future customer needs at an 
early stage. Innovations are therefore driven by 
various approaches such as “open innovation”, 
“cooperation”, “ventures” and “enabling services”. 
It follows that innovation takes place in all areas of 
Swisscom and beyond, driven by partnerships with, 
for example, universities, start-ups and established 
technology companies. These are important suc-
cess factors for actively shaping the ICT future in 
Switzerland.
Success factor “open innovation” 
Swisscom recognises the importance of maintaining a 
dialogue with customers, employees, suppliers and 
other partners, since this enables a continuous, open 
process of innovation with the focus on customers 
and their needs by means of a human-centred design 
approach. Swisscom thus creates simple, inspiring 
experiences and supports its customers in the digital 
world, collaborating closely with Creaholic to achieve 
this. In 2017, the two partners jointly founded an 
innovation house in Biel/Bienne.
Within the company, Swisscom cultivates and 
promotes decentralised product development. As a 
result, new ideas are generated throughout the 
company. Various events and platforms provide 
employees with the opportunity to exchange 
trendsetting ideas and familiarise themselves with 
best practice examples. One example is the annual 
Innovation Week, during which teams of employees 
from different divisions implement a new idea that 
addresses a specific customer need, is relevant to the 
business and has potential on the market.
Three years ago, Swisscom launched the intrapreneur-
ship programme Swisscom Kickbox, which supports 
pioneers from within the company. Kickbox provides 
interested employees with the necessary tools to 
develop an idea into a prototype, including starting 
credit, a time frame and the contact details of 
innovation experts. Since 2017, the program has also 
been offered to other companies, who receive an 
introduction from Swisscom under the auspices of 
the Kickbox Academy. The pioneers then exchange 
ideas via the innovation platform and become part of 
a cross-company Open Innovation Community. In 
addition to Swisscom, SBB, Swiss Post, Axpo and 
Bâloise have already joined this community. 
N See www.getkickbox.com 
The Swisscom StartUp Challenge was held for the 
sixth time in 2018. The prize is a one-week mentoring 
programme in Silicon Valley. Swisscom’s internal 
FinTech cluster has been collaborating with start-up 
companies in the financial industry since 2016. 
Swisscom is also making targeted investments in 
promising FinTech start-ups and is pressing ahead 
with collaborations in innovative digital banking 
services. The FinTech cluster focuses on financial 
marketplaces, trust services and blockchain technol-
ogy applications for the financial industry.
Swisscom has operated in Silicon Valley since 1998. Its 
branch office carries out targeted trend and technol-
ogy scouting and helps Swisscom to remain at the 
forefront of technological development via collabora-
tions with start-ups. Swisscom has also had a branch 
office in Berlin since 2017 and in Shanghai since 2018. 
The objective is to scrutinise new business ideas and 
models and anticipate technology trends at an early

70
Corporate Responsibility | Innovation and development
stage. In addition to national initiatives, Swisscom is 
actively involved in international committees working 
on tomorrow’s technologies: e.g. in the GSMA on the 
standardisation of eSim. 
N See www.swisscom.ch/innovation
Success factor “cooperation” 
Swisscom plays an active role in shaping Switzerland’s 
future. Its commitment to fostering an innovative and 
competitive Switzerland is reflected in the backing it 
gives to a whole variety of projects. Swisscom 
supports Switzerland’s role as a research centre by 
making investments and engaging in partnerships 
with universities and institutions. For example, it 
funds the chair of Professor Adrian Perrig, head of the 
Network Security Group at the Federal Institute of 
Technology in Zurich (ETH), thereby making an 
important contribution to information security in 
Switzerland. As a partner of the Federal Institute of 
Technology Lausanne (EPFL), Swisscom enables 
research work to be performed in the areas of 
artificial intelligence, IoT, human activity and the 
smart home (“smart living”) as well as 5G for 
Switzerland. The partnership involves providing 
financial support for selected projects, establishing 
the Digital Lab (a competence centre for digitisation 
at the EPFL Innovation Park), and various other 
campus activities, such as events dealing with 
digitisation. Swisscom also collaborates with the 
Institute for Financial Services (IFZ) at Lucerne 
University of Applied Sciences and Arts and supports 
FinTech research activities.
Swisscom is also a partner of the Swiss Innovation 
Park and is closely involved in guiding this long-term 
project as a member of the Board of Trustees. 
Swisscom is supporting research in the field of energy 
through its participation in the regional innovAARE 
Park. Swisscom is also a technology and infrastructure 
partner of the regional location of Biel/Bienne. Finally, 
Swisscom is a founding member of the Digital 
Switzerland Initiative (previously known as Digital 
Zurich 2025), the aim of which is to position Switzer-
land as an attractive location for start-ups. It also 
supports initiatives such as Venture Kick, Impact Hub 
Zurich and Berne, incubators such as be-advanced 
and BlueLion, and cooperates with the Institute for 
Young Enterprises; in doing so, it cultivates a dynamic 
environment for start-ups.
Swisscom is also a founding member of the Smart 
City Hub, which was founded in August 2018 and 
brings together cities, universities and companies. 
The association’s objective is to intensify exchanges 
on all aspects of smart cities.
Since summer 2017, Swisscom has been represented 
by its CEO Urs Schaeppi on the Federal Council’s 
newly established Digital Transformation advisory 
committee, which promotes exchange between 
politics, business and science. Swisscom provides the 
Federal Council with expert advice on important 
digitisation issues.
Success factor “ventures”
Outside the company, Swisscom promotes innovation 
throughout the industry. In particular, Swisscom is 
committed to supporting start-up companies that 
offer progressive solutions in the fields of IT, commu-
nications and entertainment. Swisscom participates 
in start-ups as a project partner and investor, 
supports them by providing tailored products and 
services, and offers them access to infrastructures 
and markets. Since its inception in 2007, Swisscom 
Ventures has invested in around 50 start-ups, thus 
contributing to the creation of some 1,000 high-
skilled jobs in Switzerland. 23 of these start-ups have 
since been sold. Together with institutional investors, 
Swisscom founded the Digital Transformation Fund in 
2018, which has some CHF 150 million in capital. 
Swisscom itself is providing an additional CHF 50 
million, which it is making available for investments 
in the start-ups concerned in parallel to the Digital 
Transformation Fund. This provides start-up compa-
nies with up to CHF 200 million in new innovation 
capital.
Success factor “enabling services” 
Swisscom hopes to make its software technologies 
and infrastructure elements available internally by 
means of a strongly service-oriented procedure. It is 
confident of pressing ahead with the development of 
software solutions through standardisation and a 
self-service approach. By offering its developers all of 
the key working bases – from programming inter-
faces and hosting all the way through to technical 
support – “as a service”, Swisscom is making its 
internal processes considerably faster, more stream-
lined and cost-effective. 
To hasten and facilitate innovation, Swisscom is 
strongly committed to the BizDevOps model, in which 
development across business units becomes increas-
ingly standardised. The model aims to achieve short, 
agile development cycles of a few weeks in order to 
introduce new functions quickly.

71
Corporate Responsibility | Innovation and development
Innovation focused on specific topics
Swisscom is focusing its innovation activities on the following seven areas of innovation, which in turn directly 
help the Group achieve its goals:
Swisscom continually invests in progressive solutions 
in these areas of innovation. The aim is to provide the 
best ICT infrastructure for a digital Switzerland, tap 
new growth markets and offer its customers the best 
services and products:
Network and infrastructure 
Swisscom is focusing on a technology mix so that the 
whole of Switzerland can benefit from the opportuni-
ties offered by the digital world, from cities to alpine 
huts throughout Switzerland. By means of All IP 
transformation, it is consistently pushing ahead with 
the strict separation of access technologies and 
services in its fixed network. Its innovative architec-
ture also enables it to renew all components from the 
core network to the connection. Only a few suppliers 
worldwide are able to match the consistency with 
which it is pursuing this development. Swisscom is 
thus laying the foundations for the rapid introduction 
of new services in the future and is always ahead of 
other providers in making new developments 
available to its customers.
In the area of mobile communications, Swisscom has 
strongly promoted 5G as the next generation of 
mobile communications standards. In spring, 
Swisscom, together with the medical company 
Ypsomed, presented the first 5G applications based 
on fully digitised process chains, from the delivery of 
raw materials and the manufacture of products 
through to provision and delivery. For the first time, 
all hardware and software components were added 
directly via a 5G antenna. This was followed in the 
second half of the year by the first 5G test networks, 
in Burgdorf, Guttannen and Lucerne.
Swisscom has massively expanded its cloud offering 
with a multicloud approach in 2018. Customers have 
the choice of global public clouds as well as 
Swisscom’s own Enterprise Service Cloud, whose data 
storage facility leads the field in Switzerland. 
Swisscom helps companies migrate their IT to the 
cloud and hence to benefit from even greater agility, 
faster processes and lower costs. Swisscom also uses 
its own clouds for services such as MyCloud. The 5G 
mobile communications standard allows the network 
and the cloud to grow even closer together and opens 
up new possibilities for Swisscom and its customers. 
Internet of Things 
● Nationwide networks in Switzerland for the 
Internet of Things (IoT): Swisscom has further 
expanded its IoT portfolio. Together with the 
LTE-M and Narrow Band-IoT access technologies, it 
has added the Vodafone Global Data Service 
platforms to its connectivity management 
platforms. LTE M and Narrow Band-IoT are 
dedicated technologies for IoT applications and are 
a variant within the 4G/LTE standard. The low 
power network (LPN) now serves over 96% of the 
population. In 2018, Swisscom gained another 
cooperation partner in the shape of the SBB, which 
among other things, offers locations for network 
densification. The use of many new applications by 
customers is evidence of IoT’s increasing momen-
tum. Swisscom’s broad IoT portfolio offers all the 
components needed to implement applications 
within Switzerland and abroad. Swisscom also 
supports companies and start-ups through various 
formats, such as Techie Tuesday (a technical 
consultation hour all about IoT) or the LPN 
Bootcamps, in order to make it possible for them 
to enter the IoT and develop it further.
N See www.swisscom.ch/lpn
● Smart cities: in 2018, Swisscom united the various 
initiatives within the company around the concept 
of smart cities to form a team and is expanding 
Analytics and artificial intelligence
Development of artificial intelligence  
and analytics capabilities for internal  
and external use
Entertainment
The best offering in Switzerland  
based on a networked  
entertainment ecosystems 
Digital business
Establishment of Internet 
services in the form of data 
driven software platforms 
Digital Swisscom
Simplicity and efficiency through 
standardised digital processes 
and a clear product portfolio
Network and infrastructure
Growth through better customer  
experience and differentiation 
as well as an increase in process  
efficiency
 
Security
Development of best-in-class 
security services for internal  
and external use 
Internet of Things
Best infrastructure provider for the 
Internet of Things in Switzerland. 
Additional positioning as an E2E 
solution provider in selected areas

72
Corporate Responsibility | Innovation and development
this in line with the market. As part of the Car-
bosense IoT project, Swisscom, together with 
Empa, the Swiss Data Science Centre (SDSC) and 
Decentlab, has given an example of how the IoT 
helps cities and regions in making fact-based 
decisions. Swisscom has been actively involved in 
the establishment of the Smart City Hub as a way 
of channelling the smart city initiatives throughout 
Switzerland.
Analytics and artificial intelligence
● Artificial intelligence (AI): Swisscom makes 
targeted use of artificial intelligence to offer its 
customers an even better service. For example, AI 
is used in customer service, to detect network 
faults or to enhance the efficiency of internal 
processes. In addition, Swisscom uses AI and data 
analytics to help its customers evaluate data in a 
targeted manner.
Security
● Security thanks to artificial intelligence: threats 
from the Internet are constantly growing in 
number and becoming increasingly intelligent. 
Swisscom is already using artificial intelligence (AI) 
to help repel attacks by automatically detecting 
attacks and dangers and promptly initiating 
appropriate countermeasures to protect the 
company, its infrastructure and customers. As a 
result, Swisscom improves and accelerates 
everyday processes and makes the work of security 
experts easier. The AI-based procedure takes 
tangible form in the Swisscom 24/7 Security 
Operation Centre, which is offered as a service to 
business customers. 
In addition, the Internet Guard service blocks an 
average of eight million accesses to dangerous 
websites per month, actively protecting Swisscom 
customers. Swisscom signed up to the Cybersecurity 
Tech Accord in 2018 and is as such publicly committed 
to providing its customers and users with the best 
possible protection against cyber-attacks and to 
raising awareness of network security and of 
self-protection capabilities.  
Entertainment 
● eSports: with the “Swisscom Hero League powered 
by ESL”, Swisscom has founded its own Swiss 
eSports league in cooperation with ESL. This is 
aimed at both professionals and the population at 
large. Swisscom TV has also expanded its range by 
adding the eSports league, several game channels 
and an own game theme world. The theme world 
bundles the best gaming programmes, videos and 
apps from all sources on Swisscom TV. Swisscom is 
also constantly optimising all network compo-
nents to meet the needs of gamers. In addition to 
high broadband coverage, these improvements 
include fast response times (ping) and high upload 
speeds. In order to fulfil its social responsibility, 
Swisscom’s commitment to eSports also comprises 
offers in the media skills programme. An edition of 
the digital guidebook “enter” was dedicated to 
games and eSports and a new course module for 
parents and teachers was developed. Swisscom 
sees games and developments in the gaming 
industry as not only a social trend, but also as 
drivers for the introduction of new technologies 
and an economic factor for Switzerland that 
should not be underestimated. 
● Swisscom TV: the FIFA World Cup was the most 
important sporting event of 2018, and the quality 
of the broadcasts in Switzerland was unprece-
dented, since Swisscom TV customers were able to 
watch the matches on SRG channels (SRF, RTS and 
RSI) in ultra-high definition (UHD) and high 
dynamic range (HDR) for the first time. High 
dynamic range (HDR), when combined with UHD, 
enhances quality in a way viewers cannot fail to 
notice at once. UHD quadruples the number of 
pixels compared to HD, while HDR provides much 
higher contrast and a much wider colour spectrum. 
Televised images are not only sharper, but also 
feature a noticeable visual depth for the first 
time ever.
Digital Swisscom
To get ahead in a digital world, Swisscom must first 
digitise itself and become a model digital company. In 
2018 it therefore again took consistent steps to 
digitise its network, its workplaces and its processes. 
Agile collaboration models and cloud-based produc-
tion speed up innovation cycles, increasing the 
number of points of contact and enhancing customer 
proximity. One far-reaching consequence of digitisa-
tion – which can even be described as a paradigm 
shift – can be seen in new cooperation models with 
partners. Swisscom has entered into IoT-related 
cooperation agreements with SBB, Swiss Post and 
Neovac in order to rapidly consolidate the network via 
each partner’s locations. Swisscom also works closely 
with selected partners on various network issues. 
Swisscom is also taking the next step on the road to a 
smart cooperation culture by further developing its 
own workplaces. The introduction of a hybrid 
workplace environment – a combination of Microsoft 
Office 365 Cloud services and Swisscom’s own data 
centre – simplifies access to data from any mobile and 
registered end device. In addition, the smart environ-
ment enhances usability and data security. Swisscom 
is making progress towards the working world of the 
future, playing an active part in the paradigm shift 
and gaining valuable experience from which its 
customers will ultimately benefit.
Swisscom has pressed further onward with the 
introduction of agile models, which include SAFe 
Frameworks and BizDevOps. They serve to promote 
and implement developments in faster innovation 
cycles both within Swisscom and in cooperation with 
customers. These cooperation models also offer 
employees interesting further training opportunities,

73
Corporate Responsibility | Innovation and development
increase the attractiveness of the individual functions 
in the company and enable them to take advantage of 
all the opportunities offered by cloud-based develop-
ment. The basis for this is the digitisation of net-
works, for example with All IP.
In 2018, Swisscom made even greater use of artificial 
intelligence (AI) in customer service. Customer 
advisors rely on adaptive algorithms to analyse and 
classify e-mails automatically. In network operations, 
AI helps to analyse potential disruptive factors and to 
rectify network problems automatically.
Digital business
In the field of digital business innovation, Swisscom 
supported developments within and outside its own 
company in 2018 by promoting intrapreneurship and 
by setting up joint ventures with strategic partners.
● Kickbox: expanding the in-house intrapreneurship 
programme and making it a cross-company 
innovation ecosystem providing employees with 
resources (for example, time and budget) to realise 
innovation projects.
● FinTech: launching three FinTech joint ventures 
together with partners. The Credit Exchange is a 
platform for the granting of mortgages. It brings 
together banks, insurers, pension funds and 
others, and enables end customers to choose the 
mortgage that represents the best value for them. 
Daura enables unlisted companies to register or 
issue equities via blockchain and to transfer them 
securely worldwide. Digitised shares of this kind 
make it possible for such companies to extend 
their circle of potential investors. Book-entry 
securities such as shares are becoming increasingly 
digitised. Daura is the first step towards making 
Swisscom a leading provider of digital property 
registration, custody and transfer services. The 
intended next step is that Custodigit AG should be 
established as a platform for regulated financial 
services, providing its end customers with a safe 
place to store their digital assets.
● IoT – foundation of autoSense with AMAG: the 
company connects vehicles to the Internet. With 
the autoSense app and a compact adapter, users 
gain direct access to valuable information about 
the journey and their vehicle. The service currently 
includes a logbook, remote diagnostics and 
warnings of engine problems. Additional digital 
services for refuelling and parking as well as 
tailor-made vehicle insurance are planned.
● Digital identity: in spring 2018, SwissSign Group 
AG was founded as the sponsor of SwissID. The 
company is widely supported by state-owned 
enterprises, finance and insurance companies. The 
shareholders want SwissID to become a means of 
establishing an open and simple system for digital 
identification. Swisscom has acquired a stake in 
the SwissSign Group. 
In addition to its activities in innovation fields, 
Swisscom is constantly investigating the opportuni-
ties presented by new technologies, such as the 
disruptive blockchain technology, drones and 
robotics. The aim is for Swisscom to provide the best 
infrastructure for a digital Switzerland, tap new 
growth markets and offer its customers the best 
services and products.
Many Swiss SMEs have not generally benefited from 
digitisation up to now. Swisscom’s subsidiary 
Directories Ltd (localsearch) helps SMEs in the digital 
world achieve success, enabling them to be found 
online, to acquire new customers and secure their 
loyalty; in these ways, localsearch helps SMEs use 
digital marketing to make their mark. Thanks to 
localsearch’s MyPRESENCE, SMEs gain access to over 
25 online services with just one central entry. 
MyPRESENCE was launched in November 2017 and 
has already amassed more than 5,000 customers. In 
addition, the local.ch and search.ch directories 
operated by localsearch have the most extensive 
reach in Switzerland.
N See www.localsearch.ch
N See www.local.ch

74
Corporate Responsibility | About this report
About this report 
Scope of the report
Swisscom’s Group structure is described in the “Group 
structure and shareholders” section of this year’s 
Annual Report. A list of Group companies, comprising 
all the subsidiaries, associates and joint ventures, is 
provided in the Notes to the consolidated financial 
statements 2018 (Annual Report, page 153).
● Principles: The scope of the Sustainability Report 
according to standards of the Global Reporting 
Initiative (GRI) is generally defined as follows: 
Swisscom Ltd. and all subsidiaries domiciled in 
Switzerland which are fully consolidated in 
accordance with International Financial Reporting 
Standards (IFRS). This excludes the Group company 
CT Cinetrade Ltd. The participation in the Cinet-
rade Group is not included within the scope of the 
report due to the fact that its effect is immaterial 
and not all of the requirements listed in the 
section on management approaches apply. In line 
with GRI reporting requirements, acquisitions are 
included from 1 January of the following year after 
the date of acquisition and disposals up to the date 
of disposal. Group companies domiciled abroad 
and investments in associates and joint ventures 
are not included in the scope. Swisscom’s most 
important foreign holding is Fastweb in Italy. 
Fastweb publishes its own sustainability report in 
line with GRI standards, “Core” option, which is 
reviewed by Bureau Veritas AG, an external, 
independent auditor. The closely related founda-
tions comPlan (pension fund) and sovis (social 
foundation) are also not included in the scope. 
● Personnel information system: In the year under 
review, the Swiss subsidiaries local search AG, 
CT Cinetrade Ltd, Mila AG, Swisscom Digital 
Technology SA, AdUnit AG, Swisscom Blockchain 
Ltd, Global IP Action AG, Custodigit AG and itnetX 
(Switzerland) AG were not included in the central 
HR compensation system, but in local, compa-
ny-specific HR compensation systems. The central 
HR compensation system thus has a coverage ratio 
of 95% (prior year: 95%).
● Environment: the environmental key figures 
(especially regarding energy, water and waste 
water, emissions and waste) cover almost 100% of 
Swisscom’s FTEs in Switzerland. This excludes the 
Group company CT Cinetrade Ltd. The CO2 emis-
sions of Fastweb are included, but are excluded 
from the calculation of the 2:1 target. The report 
therefore includes all buildings managed by 
Swisscom Real Estate in Switzerland as well as the 
vehicle fleet managed by Swisscom’s Managed 
Mobility in Switzerland. As regards energy 
consumption, the data compilation system also 
encompasses Swisscom (Switzerland) Ltd’s mobile 
base stations, proprietary production of solar 
energy and the transmitter stations Swisscom 
Broadcast Ltd operates in Switzerland and just 
across the Swiss borders. The consumption of 
third-party tenants is deducted from the total 
energy consumption. The data regarding emissions 
in the supply chain is based on a projection that 
takes account of 71 suppliers (prior year: 56) as 
well as audits carried out as part of the Joint Audit 
Cooperation (JAC). The data on which the projec-
tion is based and the audits account for 48% (prior 
year: 46%) of the order volume. 
● Social aspects: the information on social relation-
ships within the supply chain is based on audits 
carried out as part of the Joint Audit Cooperation 
(JAC) or on self-declarations and CR contract 
annexes. These annexes cover almost all suppliers. 
Swisscom attributes particular importance to the 
situation outside OECD countries.
Reporting: procedure and 
organisation
This Sustainability Report complies with the GRI 
principles on reporting. It therefore contains specific 
GRI standard information in addition to the general 
standard information. The recommendations of the 
SDG Compass were again taken into account and 
implemented. The SDG Compass is a joint guide 
produced by GRI, WBCSD and the UN Global Compact. 
It offers guidelines for determining contributions by 
companies to the SDGs as well as corresponding 
measures for implementation and disclosure. 
Swisscom also took into account the recommenda-
tions of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial 
Disclosures (TFCD) as far as possible in the section on 
energy efficiency and climate protection and in the 
Climate Report. 
In the past few years, Swisscom has developed a clear 
understanding of the issues pertaining to its immedi-
ate environment. In addition, stakeholder groups 
present issues directly to Swisscom. We also use 
findings from current studies, market research, trend 
analyses and benchmark reports. All of these issues 
are included in the materiality matrix. 
Swisscom involves its internal and external stake-
holder groups in order to assess the importance they 
attach to their issues and to determine their strategic 
priorities. It has conducted a survey of representative 
stakeholder groups for the past three years, with 
response rates ranging from 70% to over 90%. It is 
now conducting a specific in-depth survey on 
environmental issues. The analysis of the responses is 
described in the introduction relating to the participa-
tion of stakeholder groups. The results of the 
materiality analyses and the responses from stake-
holder groups make a significant contribution to the

75
Corporate Responsibility | About this report
formulation of the CR strategy and the definition of 
thematic focus areas. They form the basis for the 
report.
Swisscom often involves stakeholder groups in the 
corresponding validation of the issues in its reporting. 
During the year under review, for example, Swisscom 
had its Sustainability Report assessed by internal 
stakeholder groups, and also brought in an external 
partner to review the management approaches. 
The processes and procedures to be used with some 
stakeholder groups can be defined directly wherever 
necessary. Swisscom collaborates with the Swiss 
Federal Office of Energy (SFOE), for instance, to 
provide information on its contribution to the 
“Exemplary Role of the Confederation in Energy” 
(ERCE) working group. In addition, it works with the 
Energy Agency of the Swiss Private Sector (EnAW) and 
WWF. In collaboration with other businesses in the 
ICT sector and in contact with the Federal Social 
Insurance Office (FSIO), Swisscom also makes a 
contribution to media skills in Switzerland.
During the year under review, Swisscom nurtured 
targeted relationships with the following stakeholder 
groups or held discussions on topics that are included 
in this report: 
● Customers: surveys on topics including customer 
satisfaction (Annual Report, page 35).
● Shareholders and external investors: discussions 
on financial topics (revenue, dividends, etc.) at the 
Annual General Meeting on 6 April 2018 or at road 
shows (Financial Report). Swisscom also had 
contact with SRI fund managers or investors, e.g. in 
relation to governance topics or finance issues 
(“green bonds”).
● Public authorities: dialogue with municipal 
authorities regarding the topic of antennas and 
transmitter stations (2018: 300 dialogues; see 
Sustainability Report, page 45), with cantonal 
authorities (once each per canton) and with 
members of parliament (twice a year) on topics 
such as roaming, the FTTH roll-out and the ICT 
environment.
● Suppliers: Swisscom maintains commercial 
relationships with its suppliers and further 
contacts within the framework of self-assessments 
and audits (see the section “Fair supply chain” in 
the Sustainability Report).
● Employees and Employee Committees: Swisscom 
meets once a month with the trade unions and the 
seven employee committees to discuss various 
topics, as laid down in the collective employment 
agreement (CEA) or stipulated in the Co-Determi-
nation Act. There are also two plenary meetings of 
the employee committees every year. Topic-spe-
cific ad-hoc meetings are also held that are 
organised in accordance with the participation 
table in the CEA (see the Annual Report, page 27 
and the Sustainability Report, page 76).
● Partners and NGOs: two “leadership dialogues” 
and an exchange with partners within the 
framework of individual projects took place within 
the year under review. 
The reporting process comprises the company 
brochure, the Annual Report, the Sustainability 
Report and the Climate Report. The Annual Report 
and the Sustainability Report are subject to the same 
internal validation stages and are validated by the 
Disclosure, Review and Audit Committees to ensure 
the quality of the disclosures. The Sustainability 
Report and the Climate Report are also verified 
externally.

76
Corporate Responsibility | SGS verification
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
SGS CERTIFICATION of the Swisscom AG 2018 GRI Sustainability Report 
SCOPE  
SGS was commissioned by Swisscom to conduct an independent assurance of the GRI-based disclosure on sustainability in 2018. Our 
assurance scope included the GRI disclosure obligations and figures in accordance with the GRI Index included in the sustainability 
report. The scope of the assurance, based on the SGS Sustainability Report Assurance methodology, included all texts and 2018 data in 
accompanying tables contained in the printed Annual Report 2018, the Sustainability Report 2018 and referenced information on the 
webpage of Swisscom as quoted in the GRI index. The assurance process did not consider any data from previous years.  
 
CONTENT 
The Board of Directors or the Managing Director and the Management of the organisation are responsible for the details provided in the 
annual report and on the website and in the presentation. SGS was not involved in the preparation of any of the material included in the 
GRI Index and acted as an independent assuror of the data and text using the Global Reporting Initiative Sustainability Reporting 
Standards, Version 2016 as a standard. The content of this Assuror’s Statement and the opinion(s) it gives is the responsibility of SGS. 
 
CERTIFIER INDEPENDENCE AND COMPETENCIES 
The SGS Group is active as a globally leading company in the areas of assurance, testing, verifying and certifying in more than 140 
countries and provides services, including the certification of management systems and services. SGS confirms that it is independent from 
Swisscom. It is unbiased and no conflicts of interest exist with the organisation, its subsidiaries and beneficiaries. The assurance team 
was assembled based on knowledge, experience and qualifications for this assignment. 
 
METHODOLOGY 
The SGS Group has developed a set of protocols for the assurance of Sustainability Reports based on current best practice guidance 
provided in the Global Reporting Initiative Sustainability Reporting Standards, Version 2016. SGS has also certified the environmental 
management systems of Swisscom (Switzerland) Ltd., of Swisscom Broadcast Ltd. and of Cablex Ltd. in accordance with ISO 
14001:2015. In addition the greenhouse gas inventory of Swisscom AG was verified by SGS according to ISO 14064. 
The assurance comprised the evaluation of external sources, meetings with relevant employees, a verification of the documentation and 
recordings as well as the validation of these with external institutions and/or beneficiaries, where required. Financial data drawn directly 
from independently audited financial accounts was not checked back to its source as part of this assurance process. 
 
OPINION 
The statements in the report refer to the system threshold disclosed (Group companies based in Switzerland). On the basis of the above 
methodology, we did not detect any instances from which we would have to conclude that the information and data disclosed by 
Swisscom Ltd. in accordance with the GRI Index 2018 may be incorrect. The information and data disclosed represent, to our mind, a fair 
and balanced picture of the sustainability efforts made by Swisscom in 2016. The implementation of the GRI-relevant instructions was 
carried out at those parties involved, where Swisscom regarded them to be significant or feasible. 
We believe that the sustainability report meets the requirements of the option “comprehensive” of the GRI Standard (2016) in accordance 
with the GRI Index.  
 
SIGNED FOR AND ON BEHALF OF SGS 
 
 
 
 
Albert von Däniken, Lead Auditor 
Elvira Bieri, Lead Auditor 
 
Zurich, 30.01.2019  
 
www.SGS.COM 
CERTIFICATION

77
Corporate Responsibility | GRI Index
GRI Index
The GRI Index provides a standardised overview of reporting which is broken down by subject.
  
  
 
 Reference MC = Management Commentary, SR = Sustainability Report, 
Indicators  
  
Status 
 CG = Corporate Governance, RR = Remuneration Report, FS = Financial Statements or Website Swisscom 
  
  
 
 Key: Indicator according to GRI Standards (within scope of the report) 
  
  
 
 Ø =not relevant ˛ = not covered o= partially covered ˇ = totally covered 
   
 
  
  
 
 
 
102 General Disclosures 
    
 
 
Organizational profile 
    
 
 
102-1  
Name of the organization  
ˇ  FS P. 169 Notes to the financial statements: general information 
102-2  
Activities, brands, products  
ˇ  MC P. 32 Brands, products and services 
  
and services  
   
102-3  
Location of headquarters  
ˇ  See 102-1, CH-3048 Worblaufen 
102-4  
Location of operations  
ˇ  CG P. 64 2 Group structure and shareholders; FS P. 153 5.4 Group companies 
102-5  
Ownership and legal form  
ˇ  FS P. 169 Notes to the financial statements: general information 
102-6  
Markets served  
ˇ  MC P. 20 Swiss market trends in telecoms and IT services 
102-7  
Scale of the organization  
ˇ  MC P. 4 KPIs of Swisscom Group; MC P. 5 Business overview; 
  
  
  MC P. 45 Financial review; CG P. 64 2 Group structure and shareholders 
102-8  
Information on employees and  
ˇ  MC P. 27 Employees;  
  
other workers  
  SR P. 59 Total workforce in Switzerland; 
  
  
  SR P. 75 Scope of the report: Personnel information system 
102-9  
Supply Chain  
ˇ  SR P. 8 Value chain, supply chain and key aspects of Corporate Responsibility; 
  
  
  SR P. 61 Fair supply chain 
102-10  
Significant changes to the  
ˇ  MC P. 64 2 Group structure and shareholders; 
  
organization and its supply chain  
  No significant changes in the supply chain. 
102-11  
Precautionary principle or approach  
ˇ  MC P. 60 Health and the environment; CG P. 98 Pension fund and fringe benefits; 
  
  
  FS P. 144 Defined benefit plans; SR P. 24 Precautionary principle; SR P. 52 comPlan pension fund;  
  
  
  SR P. 61 Supplier risk management 
102-12  
External initiatives  
ˇ  www.swisscom.ch/cr-partnerships 
102-13  
Membership of associations  
ˇ  SR P. 27 Public Affairs 
  
  
  www.swisscom.ch/cr-partnerships 
   
 
  
  
 
 
 
Strategy  
    
 
102-14  
Statement from senior decision maker  
ˇ  MC P. 6 Shareholders’ letter 
  
  
  SR P. 4 Stakeholders’ letter 
102-15  
Key impacts, risks, and opportunities  
ˇ  Context: MC P. 17 General conditions; SR P. 6 Sustainable environment; 
  
  
  Risks: MC P. 59 Risks; SR P. 65 Main risk factors in the supply chain; 
  
  
  Chances: MC P. 32 Brands, products and services; SR P. 43 Work and life; 
  
  
  Goals and strategy: MC P. 14 Corporate strategy; 
  
  
  SR P. 14 Corporate Responsibility strategy 
   
 
  
  
 
 
 
Ethics and integrity 
    
 
 
102-16  
Values, principles, standards, and  
ˇ  www.swisscom.ch/basicprinciples – Code of Conduct; SR P. 13 Vision; 
  
norms of behaviour  
  CG P. 78 4.9.3 Compliance management; 
  
  
  SPAG: http://www.public-affairs.ch/de/standeskommission/standesregeln; 
  
  
  Codex from Lisbon: 
  
  
  https://prsuisse.ch/sites/default/files/basicfiles/kodex_von_lissabon_verhaltensno256.pdf 
  
  
  SR P. 23 Ethics in the digital world 
102-17  
Mechanisms for advice and concerns  
ˇ  SR P. 25 Compliance management; 
  
about ethics  
  CG P. 78 4.9.3 Compliance management; 
  
  
  CG P. 79 4.9.4 Internal auditing

78
Corporate Responsibility | GRI Index
  
  
 
 Reference MC = Management Commentary, SR = Sustainability Report, 
Indicators  
  
Status 
 CG = Corporate Governance, RR = Remuneration Report, FS = Financial Statements or Website Swisscom 
  
  
 
 Key: Indicator according to GRI Standards (within scope of the report) 
  
  
 
 Ø =not relevant ˛ = not covered o= partially covered ˇ = totally covered 
   
 
  
  
 
 
 
Governance 
    
 
 
102-18  
Governance structure  
ˇ  SR P. 22 Corporate responsibility – governance and implementation;  
  
  
  CG P. 64 2 Group structure and shareholders;   
  
  
  CG P. 68 4 4 Board of Directors; CG P. 74 4.5 4.5 Internal organisation and modus 
  
  
  operandi; CG P. 77 4.8 Assignment of powers of authority; CG P. 80 5 Group Executive Board 
102-19  
Delegating authority  
ˇ  See GRI 102-18 
102-20  
Executive level responsibility for   
ˇ  See GRI 102-18 
  
economic, environmental, and social topics     
102-21  
Consulting stakeholders on economic,  
ˇ  CG P. 86 7.3 7.3 Convocation of the Annual General Meeting and agenda items; 
  
environmental, and social topics  
  Internet contact page www.swisscom.ch/de/about/investoren/kontakt.html; 
  
  
  See also Website https://ip-ho.computershare.ch/swisscom  
  
  
  for registered shareholders of Swisscom. 
102-22  
Composition of the highest governance   ˇ  CG P. 68 4 Board of Directors; 
  
body and its committees  
  CG P. 80 5 Group Executive Board 
102-23  
Chair of the highest governance body  
ˇ  CG P. 68 4 Board of Directors; 
  
  
  CG P. 80 5 Group Executive Board 
102-24  
Nominating and selecting the highest  
ˇ  CG P. 73 4.34.3 Election and term of office; 
  
governance body  
  CG P. 77 4.7 4.7 Committees of the Board of Directors: Nomination Committee 
102-25  
Conflicts of interest  
ˇ  www.swisscom.ch/basicprinciples – Organisational Regulations; 
  
  
  CG P. 77 4.9 Information and controlling instruments of the Board of Directors 
  
  
  vis-à-vis the Group Executive Board 
102-26  
Role of highest governance body in   
ˇ  www.swisscom.ch/basicprinciples – Organisational Regulations; 
  
setting purpose, values, and strategy  
  See 102-18 
102-27  
Collective knowledge of highest   
ˇ  CG P. 74 4.5 Internal organisation and modus operandi 
  
governance body  
   
102-28  
Evaluating the highest governance   
ˇ  See 102-29, 102-32; 
  
body’s performance  
  Group Executive Board members were nominated as internal sponsors for the strategic priorities 
  
  
  of the CR strategy; SR P. 22 Corporate responsibility – governance and implementation 
102-29  
Identifying and managing economic,  
ˇ  See 102-18, 102-22; 
  
environmental, and social impacts  
  SR P. 22 Corporate responsibility – governance and implementation; 
  
  
  CG P. 77 4.9 Information and controlling instruments of the Board of Directors visa-vis 
  
  
  the Group Executive Board 
102-30  
Effectiveness of risk management   
ˇ  CG P. 77 4.9 Information and controlling instruments of the Board of Directors vis-à-vis 
  
processes  
  the Group Executive Board; 
  
  
  CG P. 78 4.9.1 Risk management; 
  
  
  CG P. 79 4.9.4 Internal auditing 
102-31  
Review of economic, environmental,  
ˇ  CG P. 77 4.9 Information and controlling instruments of the Board of Directors vis-à-vis 
  
and social topics  
  the Group Executive Board: annual; 
  
  
  CG P. 78 4.9.1 Risk management: quarterly at the Audit Committee; 
  
  
  CG P. 78 4.9.2 Internal control system and financial reporting:  
  
  
  quarterly at the Audit Committee; 
  
  
  CG P. 78 4.9.3 Compliance management: quarterly at the Audit Committee; 
  
  
  CG P. 79 4.9.4 Internal auditing: quarterly at the Audit Committee 
  
  
  In urgent cases: contemporary 
102-32  
Highest governance body’s role in  
ˇ  The Audit Committee from the Board of Directors is validating the report in two steps 
  
sustainability reporting  
  before the publication: An independent proxy is validating the Remuneration Report; 
  
  
  The report is released by the Board of Directors; See 102-18 
102-33  
Communicating critical concerns  
ˇ  CG P. 77 4.9 Information and controlling instruments of the Board of Directors vis-à-vis 
  
  
  the Group Executive Board: The Chairman of the Audit Committee is informed in real time  
  
  
  in urgent cases on new essential risk. 
102-34  
Nature and total number   
˛  As a basic principle of the Whistleblowing anonymity is guaranteed, for this reason, 
  
of critical concerns  
  Swisscom communicates neither the number nor other details about concerns. 
102-35  
Remuneration policies  
ˇ  CG P. 95 3 Remuneration of the Group Executive Board 
102-36  
Process for determining remuneration  
ˇ  FS P. 144 4.2 Key management compensation 
102-37  
Stakeholders’ involvement   
ˇ  SR P. 10 Dialogue with stakeholder groups and strategic priorities;  
  
in remuneration  
  CG P. 86 7.3 Convocation of the Annual General Meeting and agenda items; Protocol 
102-38  
Annual total compensation ratio  
ˇ  SR P. 59 Total workforce in Switzerland 
102-39  
Percentage increase in annual   
ˇ  SR P. 59 Total workforce in Switzerland 
  
total compensation ratio

79
Corporate Responsibility | GRI Index
  
  
 
 Reference MC = Management Commentary, SR = Sustainability Report, 
Indicators  
  
Status 
 CG = Corporate Governance, RR = Remuneration Report, FS = Financial Statements or Website Swisscom 
  
  
 
 Key: Indicator according to GRI Standards (within scope of the report) 
  
  
 
 Ø =not relevant ˛ = not covered o= partially covered ˇ = totally covered 
   
 
  
  
 
 
 
Stakeholder engagement 
    
 
 
102-40  
List of stakeholder groups  
ˇ  SR P. 10 Dialogue with stakeholder groups and strategic priorities 
102-41  
Collective bargaining agreements  
ˇ  SR P. 59 Total workforce in Switzerland 
102-42  
Identifying and selecting stakeholders  
ˇ  See 102-40 
102-43  
Approach to stakeholder engagement  
ˇ  SR P. 8 Stakeholder involvement; See 102-46, 102-40 
102-44  
Key topics and concerns raised  
ˇ  See 102-46, 102-40 
   
 
  
  
 
 
 
Reporting practice 
    
 
 
102-45  
Entities included in the consolidated   
ˇ  CG P. 64 2 Group structure and shareholders; FS P. 153 5.4 Group companies 
  
financial statements  
   
102-46  
Defining report content   
ˇ  SR P. 74 Scope of the report 
  
and topic boundaries  
  SR P. 74 Reporting: procedure and organisation 
102-47  
List of material topics  
ˇ  SR P. 7 Stakeholder involvement; SR P. 12 Material issues,  
  
  
  SR P. 12 Swisscom materiality matrix 2018; SR P. 74 Reporting: procedure and organisation 
102-48  
Restatements of information  
ˇ  No “restatements” in 2018 
102-49  
Changes in reporting  
ˇ  none 
102-50  
Reporting period  
ˇ  01.01.2018–31.12.2018 
102-51  
Date of most recent report  
ˇ  www.swisscom.ch/bericht2018 
102-52  
Reporting cycle  
ˇ  annual 
102-53  
Contact point for questions   
ˇ  FS P. 181 Publishing details 
  
regarding the report  
   
102-54  
Claims of reporting in accordance   
ˇ  SR P. 3 Introduction  
  
with the GRI Standards  
  It is structured in line with the Comprehensive option under GRI. 
102-55  
GRI content index  
ˇ  SR P. 77 GRI Index 
102-56  
External assurance  
ˇ  SR P. 76 SGS Certification 
   
 
  
  
 
 
 
200 Economic Topics 
    
 
 
103-1  
Explanation of the material topics and  
ˇ  MC P. 6 Shareholders’ letter; 
  
its boundaries  
   
103-2  
The management approach   
ˇ  MC P. 6 Shareholders’ letter; 
  
and its components  
  Link: www.swisscom.ch/basicprinciples – Code of conduct 
  
  
  MC P. 14 Corporate strategy; MC P. 56 Financial outlook 
103-3  
Evaluation of the management approach  ˇ  MC P. 6 Shareholders’ letter; 
   
 
  
  
 
 
 
201 Economic Performance 
    
 
 
201-1  
Direct economic value generated  
ˇ  MC P. 55 Statement of added value. 
  
and distributed  
   
201-2  
Financial implications and other risks   
ˇ  MC P. 16 Corporate Responsibility 
  
and opportunities due to climate change  
  See 302-3, 302-4, 302-5, 305-4 und 306-5; 
  
  
  www.cdp.net 
201-3  
Defined benefit plan obligations and  
ˇ  FS P. 144 4.3 Post-employment benefits;  
  
other retirement plans  
  SR P. 52 comPlan pension fund; See 401-3 
201-4  
Financial assistance received   
Ø  From a Group standpoint there were no matters in 2018 requiring disclosure in accordance 
  
from government  
  with IAS 20 and no government grants at all. 
   
 
  
  
 
 
 
202 Market Presence 
    
 
 
202-1  
Ratios of standard entry level wage by  
ˇ  MC P. 28 Employee remuneration;  
  
gender compared to local minimum wage  
  SR P. 59 Total workforce in Switzerland 
202-2  
Proportion of senior management   
Ø  There is no location-based staff selection. 
  
hired from the local community  
   
   
 
  
  
 
 
 
203 Indirect Economic Impacts 
    
 
 
203-1  
Infrastructure investments and  
ˇ  MC P. 44 Capital expenditure; SR P. 68 Basic service provision;  
  
services supported  
  SR P. 49 Internet for Schools initiative 
203-2  
Significant indirect economic impacts  
ˇ  SR P. 67 Networked Switzerland

80
Corporate Responsibility | GRI Index
  
  
 
 Reference MC = Management Commentary, SR = Sustainability Report, 
Indicators  
  
Status 
 CG = Corporate Governance, RR = Remuneration Report, FS = Financial Statements or Website Swisscom 
  
  
 
 Key: Indicator according to GRI Standards (within scope of the report) 
  
  
 
 Ø =not relevant ˛ = not covered o= partially covered ˇ = totally covered 
   
 
  
  
 
 
 
204 Procurement Practices 
    
 
 
103-1  
Explanation of the material topics and  
ˇ  SR P. 61 Management approach 
  
its boundaries  
   
103-2  
The management approach and its  
ˇ  SR P. 61 Management approach 
  
components  
   
103-3  
Evaluation of the management approach  ˇ  SR P. 61 Management approach 
204-1  
Proportion of spending on local suppliers  ˇ  There is a location-based supplier selection for the location Switzerland. 
   
 
   
 
205 Anti-Corruption 
    
 
 
103-1  
Explanation of the material topics and  
ˇ  SR P. 25 Precautionary principle 
  
its boundaries  
  SR P. 25 Compliance management 
103-2  
The management approach and its  
ˇ  SR P. 25 Compliance management 
  
components  
   
103-3  
Evaluation of the management approach  ˇ  SR P. 25 Compliance management 
205-1  
Operations assessed for risks related  
ˇ  Risk-prone procedures are examined. 
  
to corruption  
   
205-2  
Communication and training about  
ˇ  SR P. 17 CR targets: Anti-corruption (GRI 205-2) 
  
anti-corruption policies and procedures  
  SR P. 25 Compliance management 
205-3  
Confirmed incidents of corruption and  
ˇ  In a suspicious case, Swisscom filed a criminal complaint. 
  
actions taken  
   
  
  
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
 
206 Anti-Competitive Behaviour 
    
 
 
103-1  
Explanation of the material topics and  
ˇ  SR P. 25 Precautionary principle 
  
its boundaries  
  SR P. 25 Compliance management 
103-2  
The management approach and its  
ˇ  SR P. 25 Compliance management 
  
components  
   
103-3  
Evaluation of the management approach  ˇ  SR P. 25 Compliance management 
206-1  
Legal actions for anti-competitive   
ˇ  MC P. 18 Legal environment; MC P. 19 Federal Cartel Act (CartA); 
  
behaviour, anti-trust, and monopoly practices    FS P. 143 Contingent liabilities arising from competition law proceedings 
  
  
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
 
300 Environmental Topics 
    
 
 
103-1  
Explanation of the material topics and  
ˇ  SR P. 30 Management approach 
  
its boundaries  
   
103-2  
The management approach and its  
ˇ  SR P. 30 Management approach 
  
components  
  SR P. 38 Other environmental aspects in the company 
103-3  
Evaluation of the management approach  ˇ  SR P. 30 Management approach (at the end of the section) 
   
 
  
  
 
 
 
301 Materials 
    
 
 
301-1  
Materials used by weight or volume  
ˇ  SR P. 38 Other environmental aspects in the company 
301-2  
Recycled input materials used  
ˇ  SR P. 40 Recycling 
301-3  
Recycled products and   
ˇ  SR P. 16 CR Goals: Mobile phone return and paper consumption reduction 
  
their packaging materials  
  SR P. 37 Paper consumption: types, quantities and quality 
  
  
  SR P. 68 Recycling and packaging of devices 
   
 
  
  
 
 
 
302 Energy 
    
 
 
302-1  
Energy consumption   
ˇ  SR P. 32 Consumption of electricity from renewable sources and eco-electricity (electricity mix); 
  
within the organization  
  SR P. 32 Efficiency measures for fuel consumption, heat and CO2 reduction; 
  
  
  SR P. 33 Efficiency measures in fuel consumption, mobility and CO2 reduction; 
  
  
  SR P. 42 Environmental key figures in Switzerland; 
  
  
  Separate climate report Swisscom 2018 
  
  
  available online at the link: www.swisscom.ch/climatereport2018 
302-2  
Energy consumption   
Ø  SR P. 36 Energy consumption and emissions by customers and the initiative to reduce 
  
outside of the organization  
  them thanks to improved devices; 
  
  
  separate climate report Swisscom 2018, § 2.2 Energy consumption by customers Scope 3 
  
  
  cat. 11 (use of the products) online under www.swisscom.ch/climatereport2018 
302-3  
Energy intensity  
ˇ  SR P. 30 Energy efficiency and climate protection; 
  
  
  SR P. 34 Energy intensity; 
  
  
  SR P. 17 The most important indicators fort he achievement of Swisscom’s CR targets 
302-4  
Reduction of energy consumption  
ˇ  SR P. 31 Energy efficiency: energy consumption and savings at Swisscom; 
  
  
  SR P. 42 Environmental key figures in Switzerland 
302-5  
Reductions in energy requirements of  
ˇ  SR P. 34 Efficiency gains through sustainable ICT services at Swisscom; 
  
products and services  
  SR P. 36 Energy consumption and emissions by customers and the initiative to reduce 
  
  
  them thanks to improved devices; 
  
  
  SR P. 42 Environmental key figures in Switzerland

81
Corporate Responsibility | GRI Index
  
  
 
 Reference MC = Management Commentary, SR = Sustainability Report, 
Indicators  
  
Status 
 CG = Corporate Governance, RR = Remuneration Report, FS = Financial Statements or Website Swisscom 
  
  
 
 Key: Indicator according to GRI Standards (within scope of the report) 
  
  
 
 Ø =not relevant ˛ = not covered o= partially covered ˇ = totally covered 
   
 
  
  
 
 
 
303 Water  
    
 
303-1  
Interactions with water   
ˇ  SR P. 42 Environmental key figures in Switzerland; 
  
as a shared resource  
  SR P. 38 Other environmental aspects in the company: Water 
303-2  
Management of water discharge-related  Ø  Not relevant, as water is only used for sanitary purpose. 
  
impacts  
   
303-3  
Water withdrawal  
Ø  Household water only. 
   
 
  
  
 
 
 
304 Biodiversity 
    
 
 
304-1  
Operational sites owned, leased,   
ˇ  SR P. 40 Other environmental aspects in the company: Soil and biodiversity 
  
managed in, or adjacent to, protected   
   
  
areas and areas of high biodiversity   
   
  
value outside protected areas  
   
304-2  
Significant impacts of activities,   
ˇ  SR P. 40 Other environmental aspects in the company: Soil and biodiversity 
  
products, and services on biodiversity  
   
304-3  
Habitats protected or restored  
ˇ  SR P. 40 Other environmental aspects in the company: Soil and biodiversity 
304-4  
IUCN Red List species and national  
Ø  Not collected as not relevant. 
  
conservation list species with habitats   
   
  
in areas affected by operations  
   
   
 
  
  
 
 
 
305 Emissions 
    
 
 
103-1  
Explanation of the material topics and  
ˇ  SR P. 30 Management approach 
  
its boundaries  
   
103-2  
The management approach and its  
ˇ  SR P. 37 Carbon footprint 
  
components  
   
103-3  
Evaluation of the management approach  ˇ  SR P. 37 Carbon footprint 
305-1  
Direct (Scope 1) GHG emissions  
ˇ  SR P. 31 Energy efficiency: energy consumption and savings at Swisscom; 
  
  
  SR P. 42 Environmental key figures in Switzerland; Separate climate report Swisscom 2018 
  
  
  available online at the link: www.swisscom.ch/climatereport2018 
305-2  
305-2 Energy indirect (Scope 2)  
ˇ  SR P. 31 Energy efficiency: energy consumption and savings at Swisscom; 
  
GHG emissions  
  SR P. 42 Environmental key figures in Switzerland; Separate climate report Swisscom 2018 
  
  
  available online at the link: www.swisscom.ch/climatereport2018 
305-3  
Other indirect (Scope 3) GHG emissions  
ˇ  SR P. 31 Energy efficiency: energy consumption and savings at Swisscom; 
  
  
  SR P. 42 Environmental key figures in Switzerland; Separate climate report Swisscom 2018 
  
  
  available online at the link: www.swisscom.ch/climatereport2018 
305-4  
GHG emissions intensity  
ˇ  SR P. 17 The most important indicators fort he achievement of Swisscom’s CR targets; 
  
  
  Separate climate report Swisscom 2018 
  
  
  available online at the link: www.swisscom.ch/climatereport2018 
305-5  
Reduction of GHG emissions  
ˇ  SR P. 34 Efficiency gains through sustainable ICT services at Swisscom; 
  
  
  SR P. 36 Energy consumption and emissions by customers and the initiative to reduce 
  
  
  them thanks to improved devices;  
  
  
  SR P. 42 Environmental key figures in Switzerland; Separate climate report Swisscom 2018 
  
  
  available online at the link: www.swisscom.ch/climatereport2018 
305-6  
Emissions of ozone-depleting  
ˇ  SR P. 39 Cooling systems and refrigerants 
  
substances (ODS)  
   
305-7  
Nitrogen oxides (NOX),   
ˇ  SR P. 42 Environmental key figures in Switzerland 
  
sulphur oxides (SOX), and other   
   
  
significant air emissions  
   
   
 
  
  
 
 
 
306 Effluents and waste 
    
 
 
306-1  
Water discharge by quality   
ˇ  Water is only used for sanitary purposes. 
  
and destination  
   
306-2  
Waste by type and disposal method  
ˇ  SR P. 40 Other environmental aspects in the company: Waste and Recycling; 
  
  
  SR P. 42 Environmental key figures in Switzerland 
306-3  
Significant spills  
ˇ  No significant releases known. 
306-4  
Transport of hazardous waste  
Ø  Not relevant. Swisscom 
  
  
  did not transport in 2018 waste classified under the Basle Convention. 
306-5  
Water bodies affected by water  
Ø  Not relevant. 
  
discharges and/or runoff  
  Waste water is discharged into municipal sewage treatment plants.

82
Corporate Responsibility | GRI Index
  
  
 
 Reference MC = Management Commentary, SR = Sustainability Report, 
Indicators  
  
Status 
 CG = Corporate Governance, RR = Remuneration Report, FS = Financial Statements or Website Swisscom 
  
  
 
 Key: Indicator according to GRI Standards (within scope of the report) 
  
  
 
 Ø =not relevant ˛ = not covered o= partially covered ˇ = totally covered 
   
 
  
  
 
 
 
307 Environmental compliance 
    
 
 
307-1  
Non-compliance with environmental   
ˇ  No fines or penalties for non-compliance were imposed in 2018.  
  
laws and regulations  
  SR P. 25 Compliance management 
   
 
  
  
 
 
 
308 Supplier Environmental Assessment 
    
 
 
103-1  
Explanation of the material topics and  
ˇ  SR P. 63 Management approach 
  
its boundaries  
   
103-2  
The management approach and its  
ˇ  SR P. 63 Management approach 
  
components  
   
103-3  
Evaluation of the management approach  ˇ  SR P. 63 Management approach 
308-1  
New suppliers that were screened  
ˇ  SR P. 63 Audits 
  
using environmental criteria  
   
308-2  
Negative environmental impacts in the  
ˇ  SR P. 63 Audits; SR P. 65 Main risk factors in the supply chain 
  
supply chain and actions taken  
   
   
 
  
  
 
 
 
400 Social  
    
 
103-1  
Explanation of the material topics and  
ˇ  SR P. 51 Responsible employer 
  
its boundaries  
   
103-2  
The management approach and its  
ˇ  SR P. 51 Responsible employer 
  
components  
   
103-3  
Evaluation of the management approach  ˇ  SR P. 51 Responsible employer 
  
  
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
 
401 Employment 
    
 
 
401-1  
New employee hires and employee   
ˇ  SR P. 59 Total workforce in Switzerland 
  
turnover  
   
401-2  
Benefits provided to full-time employees   ˇ  MC P. 27 Employees; 
  
that are not provided to temporary or   
  SR P. 52 Remuneration: Fringe benefits 
  
part-time employees  
   
401-3  
Parental leave  
ˇ  SR P. 52 Remuneration: Fringe benefits 
   
 
  
  
 
 
 
402 Labour/management relations 
    
 
 
103-1  
Explanation of the material topics and  
ˇ  MC P. 27 Employees in Switzerland 
  
its boundaries  
   
103-2  
The management approach and its  
ˇ  MC P. 27 Employees in Switzerland 
  
components  
   
103-3  
Evaluation of the management approach  ˇ  MC P. 27 Employees in Switzerland 
402-1  
Minimum notice periods regarding  
ˇ  CEA § 3.3 Negotiations should be engaged early enough with the contracting unions. 
  
operational changes  
   
   
 
  
  
 
 
 
403 Occupational health and safety 
    
 
 
103-1  
Explanation of the material topics and  
ˇ  SR P. 57 Occupational health and safety 
  
its boundaries  
   
103-2  
The management approach and its  
ˇ  SR P. 57 Occupational health and safety 
  
components  
   
103-3  
Evaluation of the management approach  ˇ  SR P. 57 Occupational health and safety 
403-1  
Occupational health and   
ˇ  MC P. 27 Collective employment agreement (CEA); 
  
safety management system  
  MC P. 27 Employees (100% of staff); 
  
  
  SR P. 57 Occupational health and safety 
403-2  
Hazard identification, risk assessment,  
ˇ  SR P. 59 Total workforce in Switzerland 
  
and incident investigation  
   
403-3  
Occupational health services  
ˇ  SR P. 57 Types of injuries, occupational illnesses, days lost due to illness, absences and 
  
  
  number of work-related deaths;  
  
  
  SR P. 57 Occupational health and safety 
403-4  
Health and safety issues covered  
ˇ  SR P. 58 Health and safety issues covered by formal agreements with  trade unions 
  
by formal agreements with   
   
  
trade unions

83
Corporate Responsibility | GRI Index
  
  
 
 Reference MC = Management Commentary, SR = Sustainability Report, 
Indicators  
  
Status 
 CG = Corporate Governance, RR = Remuneration Report, FS = Financial Statements or Website Swisscom 
  
  
 
 Key: Indicator according to GRI Standards (within scope of the report) 
  
  
 
 Ø =not relevant ˛ = not covered o= partially covered ˇ = totally covered 
   
 
  
  
 
 
 
404 Training and education 
    
 
 
103-1  
Explanation of the material topics and  
ˇ  SR P. 53 Training and education 
  
its boundaries  
   
103-2  
The management approach and its  
ˇ  SR P. 53 Training and education 
  
components  
   
103-3  
Evaluation of the management approach  ˇ  SR P. 53 Training and education 
404-1  
Average hours of training per year  
ˇ  SR P. 54 Average number of hours of training and further education per year and employee 
  
per employee  
   
404-2  
Programs for upgrading employee skills  
ˇ  SR P. 54 Programmes to improve employees’ skills and provide transitional assistance; 
  
and transition assistance programs  
  Language courses/language skills and training opportunities on new media: 
  
  
  partnership with the swiss education-portal www.ausbildung-weiterbildung.ch 
404-3  
Percentage of employees receiving  
ˇ  SR P. 54 Evaluating performance and career development;  
  
regular performance and  
  SR P. 59 Total workforce in Switzerland; 
  
career development reviews  
  MC P. 27 Collective employment agreement (CEA) 
   
 
  
  
 
 
 
405 Diversity and equal opportunity 
    
 
 
103-1  
Explanation of the material topics and  
ˇ  SR P. 55 Diversity and equal opportunities 
  
its boundaries  
   
103-2  
The management approach and its  
ˇ  SR P. 55 Diversity and equal opportunities 
  
components  
   
103-3  
Evaluation of the management approach  ˇ  SR P. 55 Diversity and equal opportunities 
405-1  
Diversity of governance bodies   
ˇ  CG P. 68 4 Board of Directors; 
  
and employees  
  CG P. 80 5 Group Executive Board; 
  
  
  SR P. 59 Total workforce in Switzerland 
405-2  
Ratio of basic salary and remuneration  
ˇ  MC P. 28 Employee remuneration;  
  
of women to men  
  SR P. 51 Equal pay;  
  
  
  SR P. 59 Total workforce in Switzerland 
   
 
  
  
 
 
 
406 Non-discrimination 
    
 
 
103-1  
Explanation of the material topics and  
ˇ  See GRI 204 
  
its boundaries  
   
103-2  
The management approach and its  
ˇ  See GRI 204 
  
components  
   
103-3  
Evaluation of the management approach  ˇ  See GRI 204 
406-1  
Incidents of discrimination and  
ˇ  SR P. 66 Audit results – Example of engagements with suppliers: 
  
corrective actions taken  
  Number of issues 
   
 
  
  
 
 
 
407 Freedom of association and collective bargaining 
    
 
 
103-1  
Explanation of the material topics and  
ˇ  See GRI 204 
  
its boundaries  
   
103-2  
The management approach and its  
ˇ  See GRI 204 
  
components  
   
103-3  
Evaluation of the management approach  ˇ  See GRI 204 
407-1  
Operations and suppliers in which   
ˇ  Covered mutually thanks to agreed peace obligation pursuant to CEA. 
  
the right to freedom of association and   
   
  
collective bargaining may be at risk  
   
   
 
  
  
 
 
 
408 Child labour 
    
 
 
103-1  
Explanation of the material topics and  
ˇ  See GRI 204 
  
its boundaries  
   
103-2  
The management approach and its  
ˇ  See GRI 204 
  
components  
   
103-3  
Evaluation of the management approach  ˇ  See GRI 204 
408-1  
Operations and suppliers at significant   
ˇ  SR P. 65 Main risk factors in the supply chain 
  
risk for incidents of child labour

84
Corporate Responsibility | GRI Index
  
  
 
 Reference MC = Management Commentary, SR = Sustainability Report, 
Indicators  
  
Status 
 CG = Corporate Governance, RR = Remuneration Report, FS = Financial Statements or Website Swisscom 
  
  
 
 Key: Indicator according to GRI Standards (within scope of the report) 
  
  
 
 Ø =not relevant ˛ = not covered o= partially covered ˇ = totally covered 
   
 
  
  
 
 
 
409 Forced or compulsory labour 
    
 
 
103-1  
Explanation of the material topics and  
ˇ  See GRI 204 
  
its boundaries  
   
103-2  
The management approach and its  
ˇ  See GRI 204 
  
components  
   
103-3  
Evaluation of the management approach  ˇ  See GRI 204 
409-1  
Operations and suppliers at   
ˇ  SR P. 65 Main risk factors in the supply chain 
  
significant risk for incidents   
   
  
of forced or compulsory labour  
   
   
 
  
  
 
 
 
410 Security practices 
    
 
 
410-1  
Security personnel trained in   
ˇ  Not relevant: Sub-contracted to Securitas. 
  
human rights policies or procedures  
   
   
 
  
  
 
 
 
411 Rights of indigenous peoples 
    
 
 
411-1  
Incidents of violations involving rights of  ˇ  Not relevant for company locations, see List of Group companies 
  
indigenous peoples  
  (MC P. 153 note 5.4 Group companies). 
   
 
  
  
 
 
 
412 Human rights assessment 
    
 
 
412-1  
Operations that have been subject to  
ˇ  No new company locations in 2018. 
  
human rights reviews or impact assessments     
412-2  
Employee training on human rights   
ˇ  SR P. 23 Ethics in the digital world 
  
policies or procedures  
   
412-3  
Significant investment agreements and  
ˇ  The Corporate Responsibility Contract Appendix (CRV) is part of all contracts. 
  
contracts that include human rights clauses      
  
or that underwent human rights screening     
   
 
  
  
 
 
 
413 Local communities 
    
 
 
103-1  
Explanation of the material topics and  
ˇ  SR P. 47 Management approach 
  
its boundaries  
   
103-2  
The management approach and its  
ˇ  SR P. 22 Corporate responsibility – governance and implementation 
  
components  
   
103-3  
Evaluation of the management approach  ˇ  SR P. 47 Management approach 
413-1  
Operations with local community   
ˇ  MC P. 23 Infrastructure; 
  
engagement, impact assessments,   
  SR P. 68 Basic service provision; 
  
and development programs  
  SR P. 48 Media protection for minors and promoting media skills; 
  
  
  SR P. 49 Internet for Schools initiative;  
  
  
  SR P. 53 Activation programmes 
413-2  
Operations with significant actual   
ˇ  SR P. 48 Media protection for minors and promoting media skills:  
  
and potential negative impacts   
  Media protection for minors and guidelines on media content 
  
on local communities  
   
   
 
  
  
 
 
 
414 Supplier social assessment 
    
 
 
103-1  
Explanation of the material topics and  
ˇ  See GRI 204 
  
its boundaries  
   
103-2  
The management approach and its  
ˇ  See GRI 204 
  
components  
   
103-3  
Evaluation of the management approach  ˇ  See GRI 204 
414-1  
New suppliers that were screened using  ˇ  SR P. 63 Audits 
  
social criteria  
   
414-2  
Negative social impacts in the   
ˇ  SR P. 63 Audits;  
  
supply chain and actions taken  
  SR P. 65 Main risk factors in the supply chain

85
Corporate Responsibility | GRI Index
  
  
 
 Reference MC = Management Commentary, SR = Sustainability Report, 
Indicators  
  
Status 
 CG = Corporate Governance, RR = Remuneration Report, FS = Financial Statements or Website Swisscom 
  
  
 
 Key: Indicator according to GRI Standards (within scope of the report) 
  
  
 
 Ø =not relevant ˛ = not covered o= partially covered ˇ = totally covered 
   
 
  
  
 
 
 
415 Public policy 
    
 
 
103-1  
Explanation of the material topics and  
ˇ  SR P. 27 Swisscom’s commitment; 
  
its boundaries  
  SR P. 27 Actor in public debates 
103-2  
The management approach and its  
ˇ  SR P. 27 Public Affairs 
  
components  
   
103-3  
Evaluation of the management approach  ˇ  SR P. 27 Public Affairs 
415-1  
Political contributions  
ˇ  SR P. 27 Responsibility towards the public; 
  
  
  Swisscom is politically and confessional neutral and doesn’t support financially political parties. 
   
 
  
  
 
 
 
416 Customer health and safety 
    
 
 
103-1  
Explanation of the material topics and  
ˇ  SR P. 25 Precautionary principle 
  
its boundaries  
   
103-2  
The management approach and its  
ˇ  SR P. 24 Sustainable product design; 
  
components  
  SR P. 25 Compliance management 
103-3  
Evaluation of the management approach  ˇ  SR P. 25 Compliance management 
416-1  
Assessment of the health and safety   
ˇ  SR P. 45 Low-radiation communications technologies;  
  
impacts of product and service categories  
  SR P. 48 Media protection for minors and guidelines on media content 
416-2  
Incidents of non-compliance   
ˇ  Relevant health standards for the mobile network are contained in the ICNIRP Guidelines 
  
concerning the health and safety   
  and, in particular, the ONIR.  
  
impacts of products and services  
  SR P. 44 Certification of the quality assurance system for compliance with ONIR limits; 
  
  
  with the ICNIRP standards Swisscom complies with the ONIR limits. 
  
  
  SR P. 25 Compliance management; No violations of relevant health standards 
  
  
  or standards on product labelling detected in 2018. 
   
 
  
  
 
 
 
417 Marketing and labelling 
    
 
 
103-1  
Explanation of the material topics and  
ˇ  SR P. 25 Precautionary principle 
  
its boundaries  
   
103-2  
The management approach and its  
ˇ  SR P. 25 Responsible marketing 
  
components  
   
103-3  
Evaluation of the management approach  ˇ  SR P. 25 Responsible marketing 
417-1  
Requirements for product and service  
ˇ  SR P. 46 Duty to provide information on products offered at points of sale; 
  
information and labelling  
  Not relevant for Switzerland, except with respect to Ordinance on the Disclosure of Prices. 
417-2  
Incidents of non-compliance   
ˇ  SR P. 25 Compliance Management;  
  
concerning product and service   
  No violations of product information labelling standards detected in 2018. 
  
information and labelling  
   
417-3  
Incidents of non-compliance   
ˇ  SR P. 25 Responsible marketing;  
  
concerning marketing communications  
  Minor fines for negligent violation. 
   
 
  
  
 
 
 
418 Customer privacy 
    
 
 
103-1  
Explanation of the material topics and  
ˇ  SR P. 47 Data protection 
  
its boundaries  
   
103-2  
The management approach and its  
ˇ  SR P. 47 Data protection 
  
components  
   
103-3  
Evaluation of the management   
ˇ  SR P. 47 Data protection 
  
approach  
   
418-1  
Substantiated complaints concerning   
ˇ  SR P. 47 Data protection 
  
breaches of customer privacy and   
  Two customer complaints that were resolved immediately. 
  
losses of customer data  
  Swisscom filed a criminal complaint regarding the case disclosed in 2017. 
   
 
  
  
 
 
 
419 Socioeconomic compliance 
    
 
 
103-1  
Explanation of the material topics and  
ˇ  SR P. 25 Precautionary principle 
  
its boundaries  
   
103-2  
The management approach and its  
ˇ  SR P. 25 Compliance management 
  
components  
   
103-3  
Evaluation of the management   
ˇ  SR P. 25 Compliance management 
  
approach  
   
419-1  
Non-compliance with laws and   
ˇ  SR P. 25 Compliance management 
  
regulations in the social   
  MC P. 18 Legal environment 
  
and economic area