Swisscom cuts prices as Salt targets telecom giant's turf
ZURICH, March 21 (Reuters) - Swisscom cut the price of an internet offering on Wednesday as the Swiss telecoms giant seeks to boost its appeal a day after rival Salt Mobile announced it was entering the nation's fixed-line market with aggressive offers.
The company trimmed the monthly package price of home and mobile internet for unlimited full-speed surfing on the Swisscom network to 94 Swiss francs ($98.64) a month from 130 francs.
"The market is in flux and largely saturated, while the competition has grown more intense," Swisscom's Wingo brand said in an email to Reuters.
Salt, controlled by billionaire Xavier Niel, announced on Tuesday that it would partner with Swiss Fibre Net to offer broadband connections of 10 GB/second, 300 TV channels and unlimited telephony in Switzerland for 49.95 francs a month. Adding a mobile phone pushes the package to 64.90 francs.
The offer from Salt undercut deals from rivals such as Swisscom, Sunrise Communications and Liberty Global's UPC.
The incursion by Salt, which already competes in Switzerland's mobile market, had helped to send Swisscom and Sunrise shares lower on Tuesday.
Swisscom shares fell again on Wednesday, dropping 1 percent by 1230 GMT. Sunrise shares slipped by 0.8 percent. ($1 = 0.9530 Swiss francs) (Reporting by John Miller Editing by David Goodman)
