Belgium - Digital Economy and Digital Media - Statistics and Analyses

Synopsis

Belgium’s market for bundled services has grown on the back of upgraded cable and DSL infrastructure and by a growing concentration among operators to develop fibre networks. The broadcasting sector is characterised by language variations to accommodate the French and Dutch speaking regions. Analogue broadcasts have been switched off nationally, which enabled digital dividend spectrum to be auctioned for mobile broadband services at the end of 2013.

In recent months there has been renewed impetus in the digital media market, particularly following the acquisition of KNP’s BASE subsidiary by Liberty Global’s Telenet division. This has created a multi-play operator providing viable competition to Proximus for bundled service offerings

This report provides a review of bundled services developments, as well as a comprehensive overview of the country’s digital media market. It provides statistics on the major service providers, and also notes the status of digital, cable and satellite TV.

Key developments:

Orange Belgium adds VoD to quintuple-play bundle; Proximus extends TV Everywhere service nationally; courts uphold Open Cable regulation for resale of analogue TV services, access to digital TV and the resale of broadband access; new telecom law allows customers to cancel subscriptions within two months; Altice sells its SFR Belgium unit to Telenet; report includes the regulator’s market data update for 2016, regulators’ 2016 annual report, telcos’ financial and operating data to Q1 2017, recent market developments.

Companies mentioned in this report:

Proximus, Telenet, Liberty Global, Orange Belgium.