Digi, the 4th telecom operator in Belgium, launched its first commercial offer on Wednesday. This offers calls, SMS and 15 GB of mobile internet for a price of 5 euros per month. The offer is available nationwide.
“For nearly 75% of Belgians, this mobile offer includes enough data so that they can stay connected and fully enjoy their daily activities, without worrying about a lack of data,” estimates the operator, who had promised “never seen prices” in Belgium.
One package
With its “unmatched” prices, the company intends to prove that “quality and accessibility can go hand in hand”. It says its mission is to make the telecoms market “cheaper, simpler and faster”. Mobile users will benefit from “reliable” 4G mobile coverage throughout the country, thanks to a commercial infrastructure rental contract concluded with its rival Proximus.
At the same time, Digi continues to build its own 4G/5G mobile network. The first 5G antennas should be activated at the beginning of 2025. If a customer exceeds 15 GB of the offer – the only one offered at the moment – they will have to pay 60 cents per additional GB, a price 100 times cheaper than the market average , says the operator.
First comparison
According to a comparison made during the launch press conference, Digi is well below other major operators. You have to pay 14 euros at Orange for 8 GB of data, more than 16 euros at Proximus and Telenet for 5 GB, and 18 euros at VOO for 15 GB. However, the comparison does not include the low-cost brands (Base, Hey!, Mobile Vikings or Scarlet) of these different operators.
And the internet?
Digi also offers an internet offer, with unlimited data volume and symmetrical download and upload speeds, from 10 euros per month (for 500 Mbps) via optical fiber. You will have to pay 15 euros to benefit from a 1 Gbps connection and 20 euros for speeds of up to 10 Gbps. The modem will be free, as will the installation.
However, these products are currently only available in the Cureghem district of Anderlecht (around 10,000 connections), and 140,000 other households will gradually be connectable in other municipalities in Brussels in the coming weeks. They will then extend to other Belgian municipalities, mainly in urban areas, during 2025.
Here too, the offer would be much cheaper than the competition, according to Digi: 34 euros for 100 Mbps at Telenet, around 40 euros at VOO (200 Mbps) and Proximus (100 Mbps) and 45 euros on the other side. ‘Orange (200 Mbps). Again, the comparison does not include low-cost brands.
Digi aims to connect up to 2 million homes to its fiber network within five years, therefore focusing mainly on urban areas. The company is in contact with several cities to deploy its network there. However, it emphasizes that to offer such prices, it cannot afford to rent the fiber network of other operators, which is why deployment in other municipalities and cities takes time.
For other regions, the company advocates the creation of a single network through open access to available ducts and maximum reuse of existing passive infrastructure. All telecom operators combined, fiber optic coverage is currently 30% of the territory, points out the boss of Digi Belgium, Jeroen Degadt.
No TV
The TV offer is not planned immediately, but is promised for “soon”. “By defying the rules of the local telecommunications sector, Digi wishes to only offer transparent price offers: no automatic price increases, no promotions or combinations of packages,” maintains the operator. He hopes to become “as big as possible” on the Belgian market and “is not here to be satisfied with 100,000 customers”.
The head of the Romanian group Digi was present for this launch. Valentin Popoviciu took the opportunity to point out that markets with four mobile operators offer average prices more than 50% cheaper than in countries where there are three players. For internet services, the price difference is -40% on markets with four operators.
The company will be accessible via its website, through partnerships with supermarkets, such as Cora, or even via its own stores in Ghent and Brussels (during 2025). Its customer service, based in Belgium, will be available 7 days a week, from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Digi Belgium, the result of a joint venture between the Romanian group of the same name and the Belgian group Citymesh, currently employs 300 people, and up to 500 if we count staff on the ground. It aims to reach 600 employees within a year.
The Digi group employs 22,000 people in the countries where it is already active (Romania, Spain, Portugal and Italy) and offers 26 million telecoms services.
