Brussels, 1October 2013 - Mobistar is accelerating its 4G deployment. Between now and the end of 2013, Mobistar will be opening up its 4G network to its customers in more than 15 cities and municipalities: Antwerp, Ghent, Kortrijk, Leuven, Mons, Bruges, Oostende, Sint-Stevens-Woluwe, Diegem, Kraainem, Zellik, Strombeek-Bever, Vilvoorde, Heverlee, Deurne, Borgerhout, Berchem, Wilrijk and Hoboken. In the first quarter of 2014 Mobistar will open up its 4G network in more than 40 additional cities and municipalities. The commercial offers will be launched at the beginning of 2014.
Mobistar´s 4G network deployment is shifting into high gear. After having pioneered this technology by launching the first 4G network in Antwerp in July 2012, Mobistar today announces that it will be opening up its expanded test network for its customers between now and the end of this year. Mobistar will thus be giving several thousands of its customers an opportunity to try out 4G free of charge in the cities of Antwerp, Ghent, Kortrijk, Leuven, Mons, Bruges, Oostende, Sint-Stevens-Woluwe, Diegem, Kraainem, Zellik, Strombeek-Bever, Vilvoorde, Heverlee, Deurne, Borgerhout, Berchem, Wilrijk and Hoboken. Outside of Belgium, Mobistar has already launched its 4G commercial offers in Luxembourg via its subsidiary Orange Luxembourg.
The opening up of the 4G network will enable Mobistar customers equipped with a compatible terminal (smartphone or tablet) and a tariff plan including mobile data to test 4G in the cities covered by the 4G network. Today, fewer than 5% of Belgian users are already equipped with a 4G-compatible device. By opening up its 4G network in test mode, Mobistar wishes to allow these pioneers to try for themselves the enormous improvements offered by 4G. In Antwerp, the tests conducted since 2012 showed that 4 out of 5 customers regarded the 4G surfing speed to be equivalent to or greater than the surfing speed achieved via a high-speed fixed connection at home.
More than 50 cities and municipalities covered
Mobistar is preparing the commercial launch of 4G for the beginning of 2014. Mobistar´s priority is to offer an optimal 4G customer experience, with a good indoor coverage and a quality of customer experience that makes it possible to use the full potential of this technology.
At this stage, two obstacles still need to be overcome between now and the end of 2013 in Belgium:
- the modification of the emission standards in Brussels, which the Brussels Government promised by the end of this year
- the availability of the 800 MHz frequencies, licences for which will be put up for auction in November 2013 and for whose purchase Mobistar is naturally a candidate; the 800 MHz frequencies make it possible to offer the best coverage inside homes
During the first quarter of 2014, Mobistar will be adding more than 40 additional cities and municipalities to its 4G network. Besides the cities that were already opened in test mode in 2013, the cities of Mechelen, Namur, Charleroi, Waterloo, Braine-l´Alleud, Genval, La Hulpe, Rixensart, Malmédy, Chimay, Couvin, Deinze, Huy, Jodoigne, Thuin, Florennes, Lessines, Waremme, Braine-le-Comte, Ath, Bornem, Menen, Nivelles, Lokeren, Ronse, Hasselt, Eupen, Ciney, Oudenaarde, Leuze-en-Hainaut, Soignies, Tubize, Sint-Truiden, Auvelais-Sambreville, Ieper, Binche, Louvain-la-Neuve, Jambes, Marcinelle, as well as all of the main cities along the Belgian coast and in the periphery of Brussels, will form part of the cities covered in 4G by Mobistar. 4G coverage of Brussels will be offered as soon as the Brussels Government makes it possible.