Swisscom has ditched plans to buy Irish incumbent telco Eircom after being blocked from expanding abroad by the Swiss Government. Last month the Swiss Government - which owns 66 per cent of Swisscom - said it would vote against any plans to invest overseas.

The Government's position has now been confirmed and Swisscom has been forced to rewrite its business strategy.

In a statement today the telco said that in light of the Government's position, it will "not make any decisions on acquisitions of holdings in foreign telecoms companies with a public service mandate" until new strategic goals have come into force.

As a result, the telco said today: "Swisscom has broken off talks, confirmed on 9 November, with Eircom of Ireland in relation to a possible transaction. Under the circumstances Swisscom sees no possibility of a takeover bid."

Instead of looking to invest overseas, Swisscom intends to chuck €650m (£440m) a year invest in Switzerland's telecoms infrastructure and services such as broadband TV. ®

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