2015 Belgium - Telecoms, IP Networks and Digital Media

Telenet emerges as a key player in Belgium’s mobile market

Though relatively small, Belgium’s telecom market has attracted investment from some of the region’s major players, including Liberty Global and Orange. There have been significant developments in the competitive landscape in recent years, fostered by regulatory measures which in April 2015 finalised requirements for cablecos to allow competitors access to their networks. This has enabled Movistar to become a viable force in the market for bundled services offerings, hitherto dominated by Proximus. In addition, Telenet in early 2015 acquired BASE from KPN. The deal propelled Telenet as the second largest mobile services provider in the country, a position bolstered overall by the company’s existing strong presence in the TV and broadband sectors.

Belgium enjoys effective competition between the DSL and cable platforms, and benefits from comprehensive coverage. Network investments from Telenet and Proximus using a combination of DOCSIS 3.0, hybrid fibre/VDSL and FttP technologies have greatly improved the availability of faster services in recent years. Related to this development is the growing popularity of bundled services offerings among consumers, and the efforts among telcos to offer the full range of services.

Belgium’s mobile market is dominated by Movistar, Proximus and a newly formed BASE/Telenet following KPN’s sale of its local division. All three have invested in network upgrades, and mid-2015 LTE was available to over 90% of the population.

This report profiles Belgian’s mobile market, providing the latest statistics on the main players, as well as the most recent developments on HSPA and LTE rollouts, emerging data markets and data services such as SMS, i-mode and mobile TV.

This report provides data and analyses on key aspects of the Belgian telecom market. It assesses the latest statistics on fixed-network services and also reviews the principal regulatory issues, noting the status of interconnection, local loop unbundling, number portability and carrier preselection. The national telecom infrastructure and major fixed-network operators are also profiled, including operational and financial data and an assessment of company strategies in a highly competitive environment. The report also reviews developments bundled services, and assesses the country’s digital media landscape, supported by statistics on the major service providers. It also profiles Belgium’s fixed and wireless broadband markets, including forecasts for selective years to 2020, as well as the mobile market, covering the main players as well as recent developments with HSPA and LTE rollouts, and emerging data services.

Key developments:

• Regulator proposes reducing cable network access charges by a third, adopts review of access processes;
• Proximus’s VDSL2 network providing over 88% population coverage, serving over one million subscribers;
• Regulator approves cable wholesale offers;
• Telenet acquires BASE for €1.33 billion;
• Numéricable upgrades broadband services to 200Mb/s;
• Networks on track to reach national 30Mb/s connectivity by 2020;
• Movistar adds VoD to quintuple-play bundle;
• New telecom law allows customers to cancel subscriptions within two months;
• Mobistar refinances in June 2015 with an additional €420 million;
• Report update includes regulator’s market data reports, telcos’ financial and operating data to Q1 2015, recent market developments. 

Companies mentioned in this report:

Belgacom (Proximus), COLT, Mobistar, Scarlet, Tele2, Telenet, Versatel, Telenet, Liberty Global, BASE