Ordinance on Telecommunications Services (OTS)
English is not an official language of the Swiss Confederation. This translation is provided for information purposes only and has no legal force.
Section 1 Security Communication
Amended by No I of the O of 18 Nov. 2020, in force since 1 Jan. 2021 (AS 2020 6183).
Art. 90 Services
1 Telecommunications service providers may be enlisted to support the bodies referred to in Article 47 paragraph 1 TCA in providing the following telecommunications services: a. voice and data transmission services via fixed and mobile communications networks; b. services to alert the population and facilitate the related incident communication. 2 They must be able to provide these services throughout Switzerland and if necessary to prioritise them in relation to other civil telecommunications traffic. The data integrity, the bandwidth and the availability the services must be guaranteed to the required extent. 3 The bodies entitled to do so may only demand services and functionalities that meet the normal international standards and for which there is harmonised radio regulation in relation to frequency usage. 4 The providers must make premises and installations available with a view to and in special and exceptional situations and tolerate exercises. 5 On request by the bodies entitl
Art. 90 — Amended by No I of the O of 18 Nov. 2020, in force since 1 Jan. 2021 (AS 2020 6183).
Art. 91
Repealed by No I of the O of 18 Nov. 2020, with effect from 1 Jan. 2021 (AS 2020 6183).
Art. 92 Providers
1 In principle, the bodies referred to in Article 47 paragraph 1 TCA shall order on a contractual basis the services that they require from the telecommunications service provider of their choice. 2 If there is no bid made in response to an invitation to tender, the bodies may ask OFCOM, subject to submission of the tender documentation, to require a provider to provide the necessary services. 3 The Federal Council may require telecommunications service providers whose installations or services are of importance in extraordinary circumstances to prepare for such situations.
Para. 1 — Amended by No I of the O of 18 Nov. 2020, in force since 1 Jan. 2021 (AS 2020 6183). Para. 2 — Amended by No I of the O of 18 Nov. 2020, in force since 1 Jan. 2021 (AS 2020 6183).
Art. 93 Compensation
1 Compensation for telecommunications service providers for their services shall be contractually regulated with the bodies referred to in Article 47 paragraph 1 TCA. In principle, the customary market prices shall be considered for the required services. 2 If the required services must be provided specifically to meet the needs of the bodies referred to in Article 47 paragraph 1 TCA, compensation shall be based on the cost price. Shared costs associated with providing commercial services shall be broken down in a non-discriminatory manner within the meaning of Article 52 and shall only be allocated proportionally to the cost price. 3 Contributions from public funds shall be deducted from the costs of the services provided by the providers in accordance with their purpose. 4 When a provider in accordance with Article 92 paragraph 2 is obliged to provide the required services, OFCOM shall determine the compensation in accordance with the factors mentioned in paragraphs 1–3.
Art. 93 — Amended by No I of the O of 18 Nov. 2020, in force since 1 Jan. 2021 (AS 2020 6183).
Section 2 Restriction of Telecommunications
Art. 94 Measures related to security communication
1 Provided the chosen technology allows, DETEC may in exceptional situations order that civil telecommunications be restricted for the benefit of the bodies referred to in Article 47 paragraph 1 TCA. 2 The National Emergency Operations Centre may order the restriction of civil telecommunications for the benefit of the bodies referred to in Article 47 paragraph 1 TCA for a maximum of 36 hours. It shall notify OFCOM immediately. 3 Telecommunications service providers are authorised to partially restrict telecommunications for the benefit of the bodies referred to in Article 47 paragraph 1 TCA for no more than 36 hours if they find that their networks are overloaded. They shall notify OFCOM immediately.
Art. 94 — Amended by No I of the O of 18 Nov. 2020, in force since 1 Jan. 2021 (AS 2020 6183). Art. 94 — Amended by No I of the O of 14 Jan. 2026, in force since 1 March 2026 (AS 2026 42).
Art. 94a Measures to be taken in the event of power outages to ensure mobile communications
1 Mobile telephony licensees may restrict mobile communications in the event of a power outage only to the extent required. 2 If restrictions are necessary, they must, as a matter of priority, restrict internet access for services that consume large amounts of data and are primarily intended for entertainment purposes. 3 They must inform users and OFCOM of the restrictions. 4 The following shall not be restricted: a. emergency services; b. the public telephone service; c. basic services for the hearing impaired (Art. 15 para. 1 let. e); d. services under Article 90; e. radio broadcasts. 5 The following third-party services provided via the internet shall also not be restricted, provided that it is technically possible to exempt them from the restriction: a. official communications and announcements; b. telemedicine applications; c. applications that serve public safety. 6 Providers of the services referred to in paragraph 5 must inform mobile telephony licensees of services that may no
Art. 94a — Inserted by No I of the O of 14 Jan. 2026, in force since 1 March 2026 (AS 2026 42).
Art. 94b Contact point
1 Mobile telephony licensees must operate a contact point to receive the following reports: a. information pursuant to Article 94a paragraph 6; b. reports of services that have been wrongly restricted. 2 They must publish the contact details for the contact point.
Art. 94b — Inserted by No I of the O of 14 Jan. 2026, in force since 1 March 2026 (AS 2026 42).
Art. 95 Preparatory measures
1 Federal Commission for Telematics in the field of Rescue and Security, together with telecommunications service providers, shall prepare the measures in accordance with Article 94 paragraphs 1 and 2. 2 The Confederation shall bear the costs of the preparatory measures, unless the restrictions in accordance with Article 94 prove to be commercially beneficial to providers.
Art. 95 — Amended by No I of the O of 18 Nov. 2020, in force since 1 Jan. 2021 (AS 2020 6183).
Section 3 Reporting Faults
Amended by No I of the O of 16 Nov. 2022, in force since 1 Jan. 2023 (AS 2022 726).
Art. 96
1 Telecommunications service providers must immediately report faults in telecommunications installations and services that could affect at least 10,000 customers to the National Emergency Operations Centre, and provide information on the faults on a publicly accessible website. 2 The National Emergency Operations Centre shall inform OFCOM of the faults reported.
Section 4 Unauthorised Manipulation of Telecommuni
Inserted by No I of the O of 16 Nov. 2022, in force since 1 Jan. 2023 (AS 2022 726).
Art. 96a Security measures
1 Internet access providers shall be entitled to block or restrict the use of internet accesses or addressing resources that threaten to disrupt the proper operation of telecommunications installations. Provided it is technically feasible, they shall exempt access to emergency call services from these measures. They shall immediately inform their customers that have been or could be victims of unauthorised manipulation that such blocking or restriction measures have been taken. They may maintain these measures for as long as the threat persists. 2 They shall take appropriate technical measures to prevent outgoing calls from being made with falsified addressing resources, in order to counter attacks on the availability of services caused by a large number of targeted requests from a large number of sources (distributed denial-of-service attacks). 3 If they provide their customers with telecommunications installations, they shall configure their security features according to the recogni
Art. 96b Contact point
The internet access providers shall operate a contact point to receive reports of unauthorised manipulation of telecommunications installations by means of telecommunications transmissions. They shall take appropriate measures to counter the manipulation within a reasonable time.
Art. 96c Enforcement
OFCOM shall enforce the provisions of this Section in cooperation with the National Cyber Security Centre.
Art. 96c — Amended by No II 12 of the O of 22 Nov. 2023, in force since 1 Jan. 2024 (AS 2023 746).
Section 5 Security of Mobile Telephony Licensees’
Inserted by No I of the O of 16 Nov. 2022, in force since 1 Jan. 2023 (AS 2022 726).
Art. 96d Applicability
Articles 96e–96g apply to mobile telephony networks that meet the international technical specifications for networks from the fifth generation onwards.
Art. 96e Security management system
1 The mobile telephony licensees must develop, implement and continually review a management system for information security based on a risk analysis and the security targets resulting therefrom. 2 As part of this security management system, they shall implement a plan for operational continuity management and a plan for managing security incidents.
Art. 96f Operation of security-critical telecommunications installations
1 The mobile telephony licensees must ensure that the security-critical telecommunications installations that they operate correspond to the state of the art. OFCOM may determine the installations concerned. 2 The mobile telephony licensees shall operate their network operation centres exclusively in Switzerland or in states whose legislation guarantees an adequate level of data protection.
Art. 96g Applicable regulations, standards and supervision
1 OFCOM may issue technical and administrative regulations in order to provide more specifics on the provisions of this Section, and declare generally recognised technical standards to be binding. 2 If there is justified suspicion of an infringement of the law and if it proves necessary to establish the circumstances, OFCOM may request the mobile telephony licensees to undergo an audit by a suitably qualified body at their expense or to have their telecommunications installations investigated.
Section 6 Availability of Mobile Telephony License
Inserted by No I of the O of 14 Jan. 2026, in force since 1 March 2026 (AS 2026 42).
Art. 96h Duty to prepare and scope of guarantee
1 Mobile telephony licensees must take the necessary measures to ensure that, in the event of power outages lasting up to four hours, followed by a period of power supply lasting at least twice as long as the outage, they are able to maintain the telecommunications services referred to in Article 94a paragraphs 4 and 5 and internet access services. 2 They must ensure that, in the event of a power outage as referred to in paragraph 1, at least 99 per cent of their customers in each commune have access to mobile telecommunications services at their registered address. 3 If coverage under normal circumstances is less than 99 per cent, they must ensure that at least this lower level of coverage is achieved. 4 In the event of other power supply disruptions, the best possible level of telecommunications services must be guaranteed.
Art. 96i Tests
1 Mobile telephony licensees must carry out regular tests. 2 They must report annually to OFCOM on the conduct and results of the tests.
Art. 96j Audit
If there is reasonable suspicion that a mobile telephony licensee is failing to fulfil its obligations under Article 96h, OFCOM may commission an audit at the licensee’s expense.