Only one provider? What gave you that idea? Even TFA mentions four providers, and those are just the most popular, nation-wide ones. I live in Zürich and have a choice between 10 providers (going by the list of the local infrastructure provider[1] -- I don't know if that list is even complete).

Rural coverage is challenging, true. And Switzerland has some challenging terrain in places. But FTTH coverage is currently at around 60% of the population, and Swisscom's strategy is to reach 90% by 2035. That doesn't sound so bad, especially when comparing internationally.

[1] https://www.ewz.ch/en/private-customers/fibre-optic/fibre-op...