Proximus : launches 4.5G technology as first in Belgium

Proximus continuously invests in the coverage and, even more importantly, the quality of its mobile networks. To go a step further and anticipate the customers' future needs, Proximus is proud to announce the start of the roll-out of 4.5G in Antwerp, Charleroi & Ghent.

Proximus, first operator in Belgium to roll out 4.5G

The average data traffic is expected to increase eight fold by 2020, partly due to the increase in mobile data and more intensive use of video. Therefore, in the run-up to 5G and after the successful 4.5G and 5G speed tests done in May and November 2016, Proximus is proud to announce - as first operator in Belgium - the roll out of the 4.5G network starting as of today, Tuesday 28th February, in Antwerp, Charleroi and Ghent. Thanks to this, customers with compatible devices will soon have the opportunity to enjoy a speed up to 450Mbps (first step towards 1Gbps). Proximus and Samsung are closely collaborating to launch soon compatible devices.

4,5 G speeds are achieved by advanced radio transmission techniques and by combining different frequency bands which have been licensed to Proximus.

This innovation opens the door to a bright future for new bandwidth hungry applications such as 2K/4K video, 360 degree video, virtual reality, augmented reality, …which will greatly enhance the customer's experience, even in areas at high density of traffic.

With this innovation, Proximus is once again taking the lead in order to provide its customers with the best possible user experience. Technology at the service of the customer.

Ever high-performant mobile network

To always offer its customers an excellent user experience and also anticipate their future needs Proximus continues to make substantial investments in its existing mobile networks too by building additional mobile sites, by increasing capacity to support the mobile data growth and by further rolling-out the 4G and 4G+ technologies for mobile Internet at high speed. When considering both coverage and download speed, Proximus still offers the most high-performant mobile network. In terms of indoor coverage (4G: 97.7%, 3G: 97%) and outdoor coverage (4G: 99.7%, 4G+:39,4%, 3G: 99.9%) its performance is also recognized in the BIPT's Atlas coverage results published on their website. The maps present the measurements of the 3 mobile operators coverage (Base, Orange and Proximus) for 2G, 3G and 4G.

With regard to speed (average 4G download speed: 38.3 Mbps, average 3G download speed 11,2Mbps), they are on average higher than that of the competition, as shown in recent measurements taken by the independent research firm Commsquare.

Proximus: a tradition of mobile innovations, driven by the customer's user experience

In 1994, Proximus became a pioneer in Belgium by launching the very first mobile network. This was followed (in 2004) by the 3G network, for a fast surfing experience. To also offer customers a super-fast surfing experience, Proximus was the first to test (in 2012) and launch (in 2014) the 4G network. But that still wasn't fast enough! In 2015, 4G+ followed in major cities. In that same year, Proximus offered customers three other mobile innovations: Mobile Coverage Extender (to boost mobile coverage in every room of the home or office), Smart Wi-Fi (free automatic switching between mobile Internet and Wi-Fi while on the move) and finally, LoRa technology, that makes the Internet of Things possible. In 2016, Proximus launched HD voice on 3G and Voice over 4G (VoLTE) offering crystal-clear calls while surfing on 4G. And in November, it was the first Belgium operator to test 5G technology with speeds of up to 70 Gbps.