Swiss government scuppers eircom talks

Swisscom has ended talks to buy Ireland’s national operator eircom after the Swiss government put pressure on the company not to make acquisitions abroad. The state, which holds a 66% stake in Swisscom, now plans to ban the company from making bids for companies overseas, saying that the rumours of a move for eircom had caused ‘public controversy’ and ‘great uncertainty’ among Swisscom customers, investors and employees. The telco will instead continue with and expand its main domestic operations and will invest USD760 million per annum in Switzerland on infrastructure and telecoms services. Political opposition and higher bids from rivals have already scuppered Swisscom’s attempts to take control of Telekom Austria and Cesky Telecom.