Belgians Paying More for Mobile Services and Internet Compared to Neighboring Countries, Says BIPT Study

Compared to neighboring countries, Belgians pay relatively much for mobile services, fixed internet and telecom bundles. The rates in Belgium are relatively high, especially for large bundles, or for mobile subscriptions with little or a lot of data. That’s what BIPT says.

The Belgian Institute for Postal Services and Telecommunications has compared the prices of Belgian telecom providers with the prices of Dutch, French, German, Luxembourgish and British providers. This annual survey shows that Belgium is ‘generally expensive for both mobile services and fixed internet and telecom bundles’.

When it comes to mobile subscriptions, Belgian providers have a ‘middle position’ in ‘medium subscriptions’ with a data bundle of between 20GB and 70GB. For smaller or larger data bundles, the rates are ‘far above those of all neighboring countries’.

In terms of fixed internet, Belgium is ‘remarkably more expensive’ than France and the United Kingdom, with the caveat that these two countries offer by far the cheapest fixed internet services. Belgium is relatively cheap when it comes to small bundles, mainly due to a Scarlet offer with 30 TV channels, a fixed internet speed of 50Mbit/s and fixed telephony. Here too, as the customer’s needs increase, Belgians will pay more and more in relative terms compared to other countries.

BIPT says providers have increased prices over the past year, citing rising inflation as the reason. In addition, the providers on the mobile market have increased the data bundle. In addition, the regulator says that Orange has shifted from a challenger to an established player this year, because the provider sharply increased its prices, just like competitors. If DIGI, Belgium’s fourth largest provider, also starts offering fixed services, this could, according to BIPT, ‘lead to a revival of the competitive dynamics on the fixed market’.

2023-12-20 19:20:12
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