Price war: DIGI pushes a second operator to improve its mobile subscriptions in Belgium

Monday 16th December 2024 10:13 AM

Not moving, not adapting. The risk: losing feathers, lots of feathers.
Adapt without aligning. The risk: throwing a sword into the water, or even shooting yourself in the foot by making an effort deemed insufficient.
Line up. The risk: leaving the impression that it has been possible to offer better conditions for a long time.

Supposed to sell a “premium” (high-end) service, notably through the support of their network of stores, Proximus, Orange and Base are not intended to adapt. Their surrogate adjustment variable: their sub-brands.

An effort that leaves a bitter taste in the mouth

Orange was also the first to react in this way. Its strategy: alignment via its sub-brand hey!.

The entry-level subscription hey! Mobile S will be reviewed and corrected from December 18, 2024 to match that of DIGI:

hey! mobile S today. €7 per month, 150 call minutes, 500 SMS, 5 GB of data.
hey! mobile S from December 18. €5 per month, unlimited calls and SMS, 15 GB of data.

The effort is commendable, but it leaves a bitter taste in the mouth. It gives the feeling that the entry-level mobile subscription has long been overcharged in Belgium, despite the blatant limitations of the conditions (call minutes, SMS). With the wave of a magic wand, we align ourselves and we should forget these lean years.

Unlike DIGI, hey! includes voicemail and 5G access where Orange has already deployed the next generation mobile network.

Twice as much data but an entry price still twice as high

After Orange and its sub-brand hey!, it is the turn of Proximus and its subsidiary Mobile Vikings to counterattack.

In an effort to retain customers, Mobile Vikings is making the controversial choice to adapt without aligning, by doubling today the monthly data volume of its four mobile subscriptions:

Mobile Vikings €10 per month. 150 call minutes, unlimited SMS, 8 GB of data (4G) instead of 4 GB.
Mobile Vikings €15 per month. Unlimited calls and SMS, 30 GB (4G/5G) instead of 15 GB.
Mobile Vikings €20 per month. Unlimited calls and SMS, 60 GB (4G/5G) instead of 30 GB.
Mobile Vikings €29 per month. Unlimited calls and SMS, 170 GB instead of 85 GB.

For the entry-level, it’s a dead end. Although twice as expensive, Mobile Vikings limits minutes to 150 per month and data to 8 GB. This is far from the unlimited calls and 15 GB of DIGI’s only mobile subscription.

Voicemail is one of Mobile Vikings’ additional services.

Belgium, DIGI’s fifth European market

Belgium is the fifth telecoms market that the DIGI group is targeting, after Romania, Spain, Italy and Portugal recently. In November 2024, DIGI caused a sensation in Portugal, with mobile from €4 per month and optical fiber from €10 per month.