Proximus (stylised as pro⌘imus; formerly known as Belgacom Mobile) is the largest of
Belgium's three mobile
telecommunications companies and is a part of
Proximus Group (previously Belgacom Group). It competes with
Orange Belgium and
Base.
History
Proximus was founded in 1994 as a
joint venture between
Belgacom, 75%, and
AirTouch, 25%, respectively. AirTouch was later merged with
Vodafone. In 2006, Belgacom bought the remaining Vodafone shares.
Starting January 1994, Proximus took over the operatorship of the old MOB2
analogue network, as well as the new second generation GSM network, originally only in the GSM 900 range. The obsolete MOB2 network was retired in 1999. When necessary, Proximus can also use GSM 1800 to complement its network.
It was originally a de facto monopoly, but after deregulation Mobistar (now
Orange Belgium), a second GSM 900 operator soon joined the game in 1998, followed by
BASE - then known as
KPN-
Orange UK - in 1999.
Proximus has just a little over 45% of the market, which is now considered as saturated.
In 2014 Belgacom included its Pay-TV business under the Proximus brand name which then would include its landline and mobile telephone services as well as all of its broadband services.
Company
Proximus mobile was a
subsidiary
A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a s ...
of
Belgacom, which had an
IPO
An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...
in 2004 but remains more than 50% state owned. A 25% share was owned by the
Vodafone Group until 2006, when Vodafone agreed to sell its stake to Belgacom. In 2004, it had a revenue of €2,239 million and an
EBITDA
A company's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (commonly abbreviated EBITDA, pronounced , , or ) is a measure of a company's profitability of the operating business only, thus before any effects of indebtedness, stat ...
of €1,135 million. In 2014, Belgacom was rebranded to Proximus, under the leadership of
Dominique Leroy. As of January 2015, Belgacom continued partnership with Vodafone, even after sold to Belgacom. Proximus mobile is now fully integrated in the Proximus Group and is no longer a subsidiary.
Proximus uses the brand name Tango in Luxembourg.
Technical information
The operator's display logo is PROXIMUS (sometimes displayed as BEL PROXIMUS or Proximus), the net code is 206 01 and operates under
GSM 900/1800 MHz,
UMTS 900/2100 MHz and
LTE
LTE may refer to:
Science and technology
* LTE (telecommunication) (Long-Term Evolution), a telephone and mobile broadband standard
** LTE Advanced, an enhancement
*** LTE Advanced Pro
* Compaq LTE, a line of laptop computers produced by Compaq
* ...
1800 MHz frequencies. Its prepaid service is called Pay&Go.
Mobile virtual network operator
The Proximus network is used by a number of
Mobile Virtual Network Operator
A mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) is a wireless communications services provider that does not own the wireless network infrastructure over which it provides services to its customers. An MVNO enters into a business agreement with a mobil ...
s such as TMF Mobile (
MTV Networks Benelux), Mobisud, RSCA Mobile, Dommel and PostMobile (
bpost).
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Internet service providers of Belgium
Mobile phone companies of Belgium
Proximus Group
Belgian brands
Telecommunications companies established in 1994