The minimum speed for using the internet in Switzerland will be increased by three times from next year. 

The proposal, which seeks to reduce delays for all internet users across the country, improves the speeds associated with both downloads and uploads. 

The proposal improves the minimum download speed from three to ten megabits per second, while upload speeds will be increased from 0.3 to one mbps. 

The changes, handed down on Wednesday by the Federal Council, are set to come into effect on January 1st, 2020. The Federal Council said it was incumbent upon the universal service provider, Swisscom, to make sure the new speeds would be adhered to. 

In a statement, the Federal Council said the impacts would be particularly beneficial for Swiss residents in rural and regional areas where there are limited connection options. 

“Residents of regions where there are no alternative offers on the market will particularly benefit from the measure,” the statement said. 

The Federal Council also pointed out the economic benefits of improving connection speeds, while promising that the costs associated with connecting to the internet would remain low. 

“A faster connection increases the possibilities for the population concerned to participate in social and economic life through the internet.”

“In addition, in multi-person households, it improves the simultaneous use of Internet services and applications.”

Despite its geographic hurdles and linguistically diverse regions, Switzerland already has some of the fastest internet speeds of any country on earth. 

The Speediest Global Index ranks Switzerland seventh of all countries globally for internet speeds, with Singapore by far boasting the quickest internet 

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According to the rankings, Switzerland has the fourth-fastest internet speed in Europe, after Romania, Monaco and Hungary.