Digi launches cut-price mobile telecoms service in Belgium
Belgium’s fourth telecom operator has launched its mobile offering. Digi will initially use Proximus’ 4G network and is working on rolling out its own 4G/5G network.
"We are on a mission to make telecom affordable for all Belgians. Today we are taking a first step to provide access to quality services at a fair price," said Jeroen Degadt, general manager of Digi Belgium. "We design, test and build everything ourselves."
The company's tariff offers unlimited calls and texts and 15GB of data for 5 euros a month, it announced at the launch on Wednesday. The offer is available throughout Belgium.
If a customer exceeds the 15GB of the offer - the only tariff offered at present - they will pay 0.60 euros per additional GB, 100 times cheaper than the market average, according to the operator.
TV and fixed internet
Digi is also launching its own limited fixed internet service over a fibre network, with subscriptions costing 10, 15 and 20 euros. The offer is currently only available in the Anderlecht district of Cureghem, but the company is aiming for a rapid rollout elsewhere in Brussels and other cities.
Within five years, it hopes to connect up to 2 million households to its network, and it intends to also launch its own TV service.
Digi Belgium is a joint venture between Belgium’s Citymesh, which offers telecoms services to businesses, and Romanian telecoms group Digi, which already operates in Spain, Portugal, Italy and Romania. It will offer its services in Belgium alongside existing providers Proximus, Telenet and Orange.
"For far too long, Belgian consumers have paid too much for their telephony because the market was dominated by three big players"
Markets with four mobile operators offer average prices that are more than 50 per cent lower than in countries with three operators, Valentin Popoviciu of Digi said at the launch.
Consumer association Test Achats welcomed the development. "For far too long, Belgian consumers have paid too much for their telephony, in comparison with other European countries, because the market was dominated by three big players," a spokesperson said.
Shares in Proximus, which is majority-owned by the Belgian government, fell some 7 per cent since the launch of Digi Belgium, to 5.12 euros, its lowest level this year.
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