The Belgian telecommunications regulator BIPT has once again found that Belgian telecommunications prices are high compared to neighboring countries. Will new player Digi make a difference?

Every year the BIPT compares the prices for telecommunications services in Belgium with those in the neighboring countries Netherlands, Belgium, France and Luxembourg. The conclusion of this study has been the same for years: Belgium is an expensive country for telecommunications. The regulator is optimistic that this will change next year thanks to Digi.

Lonely height

First, the report for 2024. These are based on October prices and therefore do not take into account recently announced price changes. When it comes to subscriptions with a limited amount of mobile data (< 10 GB), Belgium is at a “lonely high” with an average price of fifteen euros per month, according to the BIPT.

After a brief stay in the middle of the pack, Belgium is sprinting to the top for subscriptions of 70GB or more. With an average subscription price of forty euros per month, only Germany is more expensive (50 euros). In comparison, in France you pay around ten euros per month for 200 GB.

Belgium is also one of the more expensive countries when it comes to landline internet. Prices start relatively cheap if you’re happy with speeds of up to 50 Mbps. If you want at least 200 Mbps or opt for a bundle, the prices will quickly rise.

Belgium has no equal, especially when it comes to the so-called “4P” packages (landline, telephony, TV, mobile subscription). For this type of package you will pay an average of eighty euros per month in Belgium and thirty euros in France. The Walloon Voo, part of Orange, then pushes the average price down. Without Voo the price would rise to ninety euros per month and Belgium would be back to lonely heights.

Price breaker

A lot has changed on the Belgian telecommunications market since October. With the arrival of Digi on December 11, our country gained a fourth national operator. The launch of Digi has not gone unnoticed. The low prices promised by the operator have already prompted Orange and Mobile Vikings, among others, to lower their prices or increase mobile data volumes.

BIPT therefore runs its analysis again and immediately sees an impact from Digi. With the addition of Digi, the average price of the most expensive subscriptions suddenly drops from forty euros per month instead of 25 euros. This means that Belgium is below the average price in Luxembourg and the Netherlands and is the second cheapest country in comparison. Digi immediately seems to live up to its status as a price breaker.