On 1 May, Proximus will increase the prices of its popular telecom bundles Flex and Epic. The company announced this on Tuesday. These are significant price increases, for which Proximus refers to increased costs for wages and technological equipment.
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In January, Proximus had already raised the rates of a number of old formulas. Now the popular bundles Flex and Epic follow. The Business Flex packs for companies are also becoming more expensive. It concerns price increases of 3 to 4 euros per month.
For example, a basic Flex subscription with only internet and television will cost 63.99 euros per month from May, instead of 59.99 euros. That is an increase of 6.7 percent. For those who take two mobile subscriptions, the price goes from 83.99 euros to 88.99 euros, or plus 6 percent.
Proximus refers to the high inflation in Belgium. In February, it exceeded 8 percent, mainly due to increased energy prices. Indexation makes staff more expensive, and according to Proximus, suppliers have also increased their prices. In addition, the telecom company is currently investing heavily in its networks.
Proximus CEO Guillaume Boutin said earlier this month that his company wants to help people who are hard hit by inflation. He does this by reducing the price of the basic internet subscription: from 1 May it will cost 25 euros per month instead of 27.50 euros. The name changes from Internet Start to Internet Essential. A monthly volume of 100 gigabytes is included and the download speed is a maximum of 50 mbps.
Too little competition
Consumer organization Test Aankoop believes that with its previous price increase in January, in which some older packs were increased in price, Proximus intended to lure customers to the new Flex packs.
“Amid the energy crisis and with inflation exceeding 8 percent, this new hike has once again hit households hard for a product that has become essential in our daily lives: the internet,” said Test Aankoop spokesman Simon November.
The consumer organization has long said that there is too little competition on the Belgian telecom market. ‘The average price for internet, television and fixed telephony in one package is 73 euros per month in Belgium, while in Germany it is 32 percent lower and in France even 59 percent’, according to Test Aankoop.
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