Setting up a telecommunications or communication services company in Geneva: OFCOM registration, correspondence address, numbering and SPTA duties

Three Geneva projects, three regimes

Geneva hosts the International Telecommunication Union and an unusual density of organisations, groups and service companies buying connectivity, telephony and communication platforms. The projects that grow out of that context fall into three families, and the law treats them differently.

A project can sit on two rows at once: an operator using both numbers and frequencies accumulates both regimes. Conversely, a Geneva reseller distributing the subscriptions of a registered operator, without holding numbers of its own, appears on no row at all and has nothing to notify.

The OFCOM licence is gone: conditional registration since 2021

The text your European counterparts have in mind is the former Article 4 of the Telecommunications Act, which until the end of 2020 required anyone providing a telecommunications service to notify the office, whatever its size or technology. The amendment of 22 March 2019 removed that universal duty.

Current law knows only registration, and reserves it for providers using radio frequencies that require a licence or addressing resources managed at national level (Art. 4 para. 1 TCA). Registration is not an authorisation: OFCOM assesses neither capital, nor competence, nor business model. It registers, then publishes the list of registered providers and the services they offer (Art. 4 para. 3 TCA).

The implementing ordinance sums the procedure up in a single duty: file the data OFCOM needs, then report every change without delay (Art. 3 para. 1 of the Ordinance on Telecommunications Services). OFCOM offers a form and recommends its eGovernment platform. No statutory processing deadline exists, and no dedicated fee either: absent a tariff, the fees ordinance bills the hours actually spent, at 210 francs each (Art. 6, in French).

One consequence matters to wholesale arrangements: a registered provider may let another provider use those resources only if that other provider has registered beforehand (Art. 4 para. 2 TCA). A Geneva MVNO must therefore be registered before its host operator opens numbers to it, and the host must inform OFCOM when it intends to do so.

The European operator that wants Swiss numbers

This is the most frequent file in Geneva: a company established in France, Belgium or elsewhere in Europe wants to offer Swiss numbers to its customers, open a customer service line with a short number, or host IP telephony for Geneva businesses. Three requirements follow.

• A UID and a Swiss correspondence address, both published. Registered providers must give « a correspondence address in Switzerland to which documents such as communications, writs and official decisions can be delivered with legal force, at the same time stating their standard business identification number » (Art. 4 para. 1 of the Ordinance on Telecommunications Services), and OFCOM publishes that address. Applicants for numbers established abroad face the same requirement (Art. 4 para. 6 ORAT, in French).
• Evidence of legal existence: for a company with its seat abroad, OFCOM may require a certified current extract from the foreign commercial register, along with the UID (Art. 4 para. 3 ORAT, in French).
• Swiss use: OFCOM may refuse an addressing resource where it is not intended to be used mainly in Switzerland (Art. 4 para. 5 let. c ORAT, in French). No one has a right to a specific addressing resource in any event (Art. 28 para. 4 TCA).

The fees are fixed: 420 francs to allocate an addressing resource, 90 francs for an individually allocated number, 200 francs a year to manage a number block or identification code, and 1,500 francs a year to manage a short number (Art. 45 and 46 of the fees ordinance, in French). For a Geneva customer service line, that last figure returns every year on top of what the carrying operator invoices.

The structure we put in place for these files is a Geneva company, GmbH or AG, that holds the UID, whose registered office is the correspondence address, and that genuinely runs the service in Switzerland: contracts with Swiss customers, staff or an agent who follows OFCOM decisions, its own accounts. A subsidiary is not a statutory requirement; it is the safest way to satisfy both the ordinance and the refusal ground in Art. 4 para. 5 let. c ORAT.

What a Geneva address can do, and what it cannot

Our company domiciliation service in Geneva answers exactly what the ordinances ask for: an address in Switzerland where decisions can be served with legal force, held by a firm that receives the mail, opens it and passes it on the same day to whoever must act. A decision served at that address starts the appeal period running whether or not the final recipient has read it; the organisation behind the address matters as much as the address itself.

Frequencies, licences and broadcasting

For frequencies, the Act starts from freedom, since the spectrum is open to use as long as the rules on use are observed (Art. 22 para. 1 TCA), before allowing the Federal Council to subject certain bands to a licence, a notification or a proficiency certificate (Art. 22 para. 2). A licence applicant must « have the necessary technical capacities » and undertake to comply with the applicable legislation (Art. 23 para. 1 TCA). OFCOM states that applicants established abroad must provide a correspondence address in Switzerland, and publishes indicative timelines: about 20 working days for a fixed licence, 10 for a temporary one, three to six months where international coordination is required. A short-notice application carries a 50 franc surcharge.

The reciprocity reservation targets foreign groups directly: the licensing authority « may refuse to grant a licence to undertakings organised under the law of another country if reciprocity is not guaranteed » (Art. 23 para. 2 TCA). A company incorporated under Swiss law does not fall into that category.

A Swiss seat becomes a legal condition as soon as the project broadcasts programme services. The Radio and Television Act leaves a choice: notify OFCOM in advance, or hold a licence (Art. 3 RTVA). But the licence, the one that comes with a performance mandate, requires the candidate to « be a natural person with residence in Switzerland or a legal person domiciled in Switzerland » (Art. 44 para. 1 let. f RTVA), and it « may be refused » to « a legal person controlled from abroad, a domestic legal person with foreign participation or a natural person without Swiss citizenship » where reciprocity is not guaranteed (Art. 44 para. 2). Licence holders pay an annual fee capped at one per cent of gross advertising and sponsorship revenue (Art. 22 RTVA).

The SPTA: messaging, VoIP and shared access

Many Geneva projects assume that without Swiss numbers they escape every obligation. The Act on the Surveillance of Post and Telecommunications says otherwise. Beyond operators, duties to cooperate bind « providers of services which are based on telecommunications services and enable one-way or multipath communication (providers of derived communications services) », « operators of internal telecommunications networks », « persons who grant third parties access to a public telecommunications » network and « professional retailers of cards and similar means which permit access to a public telecommunications network » (Art. 2 SPTA).

A messaging app, a video conferencing tool or an IP telephony platform published from Geneva is a provider of derived communications services. It « must tolerate surveillance carried out by the Service or by persons it designates » and, without delay, « grant access to their facilities » and « provide the information required for the surveillance » (Art. 27 para. 1 SPTA), and supply on request the secondary telecommunications data available to it (para. 2). Where the service takes on « major economic importance » or reaches « a large number of users », the Federal Council may impose all or some of the heavier operator obligations (Art. 27 para. 3).

Letter e also covers a hotel, a café or a coworking space opening its network to customers. That is not a reason to give up the idea; it is a reason to know, before opening, what the Service may ask for and from whom.

VAT, accounting and payroll in a Geneva telecom company

VAT on telecommunications services follows the place of the recipient: the place of supply is where the recipient « has its registered office or a permanent establishment for which the service is provided » (Art. 8 para. 1 VAT Act). A Geneva company invoicing businesses established in France supplies services located in France, without Swiss VAT, and has every reason to register voluntarily so it can recover input tax on its equipment and purchases. Conversely, a foreign operator selling subscriptions to private customers in Switzerland is « not exempt from tax liability » where it supplies « telecommunication or electronic services to recipients who are not liable to the tax » (Art. 10 para. 2 let. b no. 2 VAT Act): it becomes liable itself from 100,000 francs of worldwide turnover, and belongs with our fiscal representative service, alongside our complete guide to VAT in Switzerland.

The accounts of these companies carry lines you will not find elsewhere: subscription revenue collected in advance and spread over time, interconnection and termination charges from the host operator, annual OFCOM fees, equipment written down quickly, purchases from abroad subject to acquisition tax. Technical staff and customer service payroll fall under the Geneva social charges we handle through our general administration, accounting and payroll service. The choice between GmbH and AG follows the comparison in our guide to creating a GmbH or an AG in Geneva, and a communication product without numbering belongs with what we set out for a SaaS startup in Geneva.

Mistakes we see on these files

The first is paying an intermediary for an “OFCOM licence”: registration costs nothing beyond time spent, and exists only for those using numbers or frequencies.

The second is applying for Swiss numbers for an activity run from abroad. The ordinance allows refusal, and a Geneva address does not change that.

The third is choosing a correspondence address with no organisation behind it: a served decision starts the deadline, read or not.

The fourth is launching a messaging or VoIP service in the belief that no statute applies: the SPTA covers providers of derived communications services.

The fifth is forgetting VAT: a foreign operator selling to private customers in Switzerland becomes liable itself, with no connection to OFCOM at all.

FAQ: setting up a telecom company in Geneva

Do you need an OFCOM licence to start an operator in Geneva?

No. Since 1 January 2021 OFCOM registers only providers that use radio frequencies whose use requires a licence or addressing resources managed at national level, meaning Swiss numbers (Art. 4 para. 1 TCA). There is no authorisation, no minimum capital and no qualification requirement.

Can a French company obtain Swiss numbers?

It may apply, provided it states a UID and a correspondence address in Switzerland (Art. 4 of the Ordinance on Telecommunications Services, Art. 4 para. 6 ORAT) and produces an extract from its commercial register. OFCOM may nonetheless refuse numbers that are not intended to be used mainly in Switzerland. A Geneva company genuinely running the service is the safer route.

Is a Geneva domiciliation enough to register with OFCOM?

It provides the correspondence address the ordinance requires, provided someone there receives and handles the decisions served. It replaces neither the UID, nor the Swiss use that the addressing ordinance expects, nor the Swiss seat required for a radio or television licence.

What do numbers and registration cost?

Registration has no tariff of its own; the hours OFCOM spends on the file are billed at 210 francs each. Allocating an addressing resource costs 420 francs, managing a number block 200 francs a year, and managing a short number 1,500 francs a year.

Is a messaging service published from Geneva subject to surveillance?

Yes. A service that runs on top of telecommunications and lets people communicate falls under the derived communications services category of Art. 2 let. c SPTA. Such a publisher has to accept surveillance ordered by the Service, open its facilities to it and hand over whatever secondary data it holds (Art. 27 SPTA), even though OFCOM never registers it.

Does a Geneva radio station need a seat in Switzerland?

To broadcast on notification, no: telling OFCOM in advance is enough (Art. 3 RTVA). To hold a licence, yes: only an individual resident in Switzerland or a company domiciled here qualifies (Art. 44 para. 1 let. f RTVA), and foreign control can cost the licence where reciprocity is missing.

Sources

• Telecommunications Act (TCA, SR 784.10), Art. 4, 22, 23 and 28
• Ordinance on Telecommunications Services (SR 784.101.1), Art. 3 and 4
• Ordinance on addressing resources in the telecommunications sector (ORAT, SR 784.104), Art. 4 and 15f (in French)
• Federal Act on Radio and Television (RTVA, SR 784.40), Art. 3, 22 and 44
• Ordinance on fees and charges in the telecommunications sector (SR 784.106), Art. 6, 20, 45 and 46 (in French)
• Federal Act on the Surveillance of Post and Telecommunications (SPTA, SR 780.1), Art. 2, 22 and 27
• Federal Act on Value Added Tax (VAT Act, SR 641.20), Art. 8, 10 and 45
• OFCOM, Registration and publication as a telecommunications service provider
• OFCOM, Radiocommunications licences in general (in French)
• OFCOM, Information for radio and television broadcasters (in French)