The company had initially sought to take on 10 billion francs in debt in order to finance the acquisition of Ireland's Eircom. However, the Swiss authorities (which hold a 66% stake in Swisscom) instructed their board member to vote down any such plans, forcing Swisscom to jettison its ambitious project.

The Swiss authorities also stated that they wanted to make a full exit from the company.

Confirming the course of action for the next four years on Wednesday, the Swiss government announced that Swisscom will be permitted to make foreign acquisitions with the proviso that that target firm is not a provider of basic telephone services in its home country.

Swisscom will additionally only be allowed to borrow up to 1.5 times its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation.

Speaking to the Swissinfo news service following the cabinet meeting at which the decision was taken, Communications Minister Moritz Leuenberger announced that:

"It's a tight corset, but we have decided to privatise the company in the long term, and there would be no sense in following another strategy in the meantime."