Salt Mobile, owned by Xavier Niel’s private-equity investor NJJ Capital since 2015, will charge Sfr39.95 (€34) a month for its service, which includes 300 TV channels and Apple TV.
Niel is the businessman behind France’s Iliad, which owns Free Mobile. He also owns Monaco Telecom.
Andreas Schönenberger, CEO of Salt Mobile, said: “We’re very happy to exclusively offer Apple TV 4K as the set-top box for Salt Fiber customers. The capabilities of the Apple TV platform allows us to do things we could never do on traditional set-top boxes and maximizes the customer experience. I am really proud of the result of this cooperation.”
The Salt service is being rolled out in partnership with wholesale carrier Swiss Fibre Net (SFN). “Today, the fibre network is available for inhabitants of more than 30 cities and regions in Switzerland,” said Salt Mobile. “Further geographical extensions are planned in the coming months and years.”
Schönenberger added: “Today is a great day for Swiss consumers. After several years of planning, development and technological tests, Salt is proud to bring to the market its Fiber Box offer, which will revolutionise the triple play and bundling market.”
In response to Salt's announcement, Swisscom cut its monthly fees for broadband service from Sfr130 a month to Sfr94 (€111 down to €80).
Salt said that the Fiber Box – the router which connects the fibre to the Apple TV unit – “was imagined, created and designed by Swiss designer Alfredo Häberli and comes in a modular and fresh design, breaking with the industry’s dull and emotionless past”.
The Fiber Box is equipped with 5GHz quad core processor. It acts as a media gateway with two 5Gbps USB ports, a 10Gbps Ethernet interface and four independent gigabit ports. WiFi runs at up to 2.2Gbps, using 2.4GHz and 5GHz. For those still using wired phones, the box will provide high-definition voice on its phone service, with unlimited calls in Switzerland.
SFN is a nationwide fibre network owned by Swiss utility companies, Energie Wasser Bern, Energie Wasser Luzern, Energie und Wasser Meilen, St Galler Stadtwerke and Danet Oberwallis. It has net partnership agreements with a number of other utility companies.
It provides services to internet companies, over-the-top companies and mobile operators.
