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After 9 years as boss, Urs Schaeppi is leaving Swisscom at the end of May. His successor is inheriting a demanding legacy.
Christoph Aeschlimann is 45 years old, father of two children and IT engineer. His career so far has been steep: within a few years he has risen from the head of a medium-sized software company to the management of Swisscom – and is now the head of almost 19,000 employees. Internally and externally, he is seen as a quick thinker, as dynamic.
Despite his enthusiasm, he will not turn Swisscom upside down: “I am currently concentrating on my current position. In my opinion, the company is very well positioned. We have a clear strategy on how we want to move forward – and we will continue to pursue it.”
Legend:
Aeschlimann is currently in charge of the backbone of today’s communication at Swisscom: He is responsible for IT, networks and infrastructure – or to put it simply for mobile phone antennas, fiber optic cables, software and hardware.
key stone
Technology has accompanied Aeschlimann throughout his career; started as a computer engineer at the ETH Lausanne. It is precisely this technical understanding – especially for software – that industry experts and business partners see as a big plus for the new boss. At the same time, Swisscom is not just a technology group, but also a company with the federal government as the majority shareholder.
Expand networking to federal Berne
This means that Swisscom is regularly at the center of political debates. Political networking is therefore also important. What about this network? “In my current position, I’ve had a lot to do with politics and authorities – for example in the expansion of mobile communications, keyword 5G,” says Aeschlimann. This will now intensify again. “But we also have many other people at Swisscom who are involved in this area.” In other words, a task that the board of directors can also take on.
Nevertheless, he will still have to expand his network in federal Bern. The 5G mobile communications technology in particular will remain one of the major construction sites. The new Swisscom boss is also aware of this: “This is one of the big issues of the future.”
5G has been controversial since it was launched almost three years ago. Especially in the adopted home of Aeschlimann, the canton of Geneva. He lives there with his family. The canton of Geneva, but also the cantons of Neuchâtel and Jura, have submitted professional initiatives calling for a moratorium on 5G technology – i.e. that the expansion is not pushed any further until open questions have been clarified, for example on radiation.
Here his knowledge of local conditions and his language skills – Aeschlimann speaks perfect French – would certainly help him, he is convinced: “Of course I was already in close contact with the cantonal authorities there. I will continue to maintain this dialogue. It’s definitely good if you live in the region and can understand the concerns of the population.”
Endangered Swissness
But of course he is fully behind the 5G technology – and further investments are to be made in this technology, as he explained at today’s media conference. Just as Aeschlimann will also push ahead with fiber optic expansion, although this is currently blocked by court proceedings. A boss with a technical background comes at the right time.
At the same time, he will also have to ensure that Swisscom does not lose its identity and Swissness because of all the technology. Or even degenerate into a shell that only relies on software and hardware from foreign tech giants. Swisscom is already using Amazon’s infrastructure in the cloud sector, for example. A point on which he must keep a watchful eye.