Legislation on public WiFi!

Many of you are wondering what rules companies offering public WiFi have to comply with.
That’s why we’ve decided to take a look at the most important information available on theOFCOM website.
OFCOM is the Swiss Federal Office of Communications, responsible for administering telecommunications and other legislation in Switzerland.

First of all, we need to define the terms used in this legislation.

A natural or legal person who transmits, or has transmitted, information on behalf of third parties by means of telecommunications technology.
In addition, he/she is liable to this third party, within the framework of a contractual relationship under private law, for the provision of the promised service.

The transmission or reception of information, over lines or radio waves, by means of electrical, magnetic, optical or other electromagnetic signals

. In addition, according to OFCOM’s FAQ on WLAN,

WLANs are used to create “broadband islands” that provide fast access to the Internet in relatively small but busy places such as airports or hotels, or to the corporate network in offices.

According to Article 4 of the Law on Telecommunications of April 30, 1997,

anyone providing a telecommunications service must register with the Federal Office of Communications.

Here is the form to be used in this situation.
In the same vein, article 96 of Ordinance 784.101.1 on telecommunication services obliges providers to report disruptions to the operation of their networks if they affect a large number of customers.
It should be noted, however, that according to article 3 of Ordinance 784.101.1 on telecommunication services :  

The following are not subject to the obligation to register:
a. providers of international telecommunication services who entrust the termination of their connections in Switzerland to other providers who have registered their services;
The Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM) may exempt providers of telecommunications services of minor economic and technical importance intended exclusively for scientific applications from the obligation to register.

Under Article 21b of the Law on Telecommunications of April 30, 1997, the provider may, in certain cases, be obliged to provide leased lines conforming to international standards in specific areas.
Prices for these are set according to cost.
In addition, article 47 on services in extraordinary situations stipulates that the supplier may be obliged to provide telecommunications services in extraordinary situations, in particular for the needs of the army, the police, the rescue services, and so on.
In such situations, the Federal Council may even requisition personnel.

The retention period for connection logs has been set at 6 months, but not all data is suitable for storage.
For example, article 43 deals with the obligation to observe secrecy:

It is forbidden for any person who has been or is responsible for providing a telecommunications service to give third parties information on user communications; likewise, it is forbidden to give anyone the possibility of communicating such information to third parties.

Article 45 provides further details on location data:

Telecommunication service providers may only process data enabling them to locate their customers for the purpose of providing and billing telecommunication services; they may only use such data to provide other services if the customer has consented or the data has been anonymized.