Swisscom info and facts

Swisscom announces new targeted search platform for startup innovation

Swisscom is launching Calls for Innovation – its search for ideas and proposals from the international start-up community to address specific topics and problems of specialist departments within ICT companies. Selected startups will be given the opportunity to present their solutions in front of an expert jury. The winning can expect a joint test project with the participating companies and increased public visibility. Swisscom is issuing its first Call for Innovation for “Next Generation Virtual Telco Functions & Services” jointly with Telia Company (Sweden) and Proximus (Belgium). Application deadline is 23 October 2016.

By Armin Schädeli

In response to the increased price pressure in the mobile sector and predatory competition in its core business, companies are constantly searching for new business opportunities. Swisscom believes in co-innovation with startups because they are key drivers of breakthrough innovations and are quicker to develop and test new products. Swisscom is already strongly engaged in the startup ecosystem with its StartUp Challenge, Venturing team, outpost in Silicon Valley and numerous partnerships.

Targeted scouting to address specific issues

The new Calls for Innovation programme boosts Swisscom's targeted search for collaboration partners and leverages the network currently in place for the Swisscom outpost, Swisscom Ventures and existing start-up engagement. Egon Steinkasserer, Head of Innovation & Enabling Services at Swisscom: “The new programme provides a structured approach to communicate our topics of interest and initiate specific projects with world-class startups. This helps us to bring external innovation into the company and learn from each another.” Startups that make it through the selection process and past the panel of experts will be given the opportunity to evaluate the market potential and technical feasibility of their solution in a proof of concept (PoC). Depending on the topics of interest, Swisscom will join forces with other ICT companies for future Calls for Innovation.

Call for startups working on “Next Generation Virtual Telco Functions & Services”

The first Call for Innovation is being launched together with Telia Company & Proximus (Belgium) and is targeted at startups offering innovative solutions in Next Generation Virtual Telco Functions & Services (SDN / NFV 2.0). As Mauro Costa, Head of Network Architecture and Strategy at Telia Company explains: “The network industry is currently evolving from a hardware-based to a softwarebased network model, requiring greater agility from the companies involved. SDN and NFV are core concepts that disrupt the industry. By launching Calls for Innovation we ultimately hope to achieve a faster time to market and a greater value for our customers.” Vincent Hebbelynck, Head of Technology Incubation and Corporate Venturing of Proximus: “Alongside the proof of concept, applicants succeeding in convincing the Jury, will benefit from our extensive network of contacts with suppliers, competitors and end customers, and have the opportunity to test their solution under real-life conditions in a telecommunications environment.”

About Swisscom

Swisscom, Switzerland’s leading telecoms company and one of its leading IT companies, is headquartered in Ittigen, close to the capital city Berne. Swisscom’s international activities are concentrated mainly in Italy, where its subsidiary Fastweb is one of the biggest broadband providers. Around 21,400 employees achieve a revenues of CHF 5.77 billion in the first half of 2016. Swisscom is one of the most sustainable companies in Switzerland and Europe.

About Telia Company

Our 21,000 talented colleagues serve millions of customers every day in one of the world’s most connected regions. With a strong connectivity base, we’re the hub in the digital ecosystem, empowering people, companies and societies to stay in touch with everything that matters 24/7/365 - on their terms. Headquartered in Stockholm, the heart of innovation and technology, we’re set to change the industry and bring the world even closer for our customers.

About Proximus

Proximus (Euronext Brussels: PROX) is the leading provider of telephony, internet, television and network-based ICT services in Belgium. Through its Proximus and Scarlet brands, Proximus aims to deliver the best customer experience and to simplify the customer journey by offering accessible and easy-to-use solutions to the residential, enterprise and public markets. Proximus’ high-quality interconnected fixed and mobile networks offer access anywhere and anytime to digital services and data, as well as to a broad offering of multimedia content. Proximus is active in Luxembourg through its affiliates Telindus Luxembourg and Tango and in the Netherlands through Telindus Netherlands. Its subsidiary BICS offers best-in-class international wholesale solutions for voice and mobile data service providers worldwide. At the end of 2015, Proximus had around 14,000 employees and generated an underlying Group revenue of EUR 5,994 million.

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