Orange leads growth in Belgian mobile market in Q1 as Telenet, Proximus struggle

The Belgian mobile market grew for a third consecutive quarter in Q1 2019, adding 21,000 new subscribers for a total of 11.4 million Sims at the end of March, according to figures compiled by Telecompaper. While there was the usual seasonal slowdown compared to Q4, the growth was slightly stronger than in Q1 2018. Orange continues to drive the market growth, and was the only operator to add customers on a quarterly basis. 

Compared to the end of 2018, Orange added a net 63,000 new customers, while Proximus lost 16,000 and Telenet/Base shed another 26,000 mobile customers. This confirms the trend started in early 2017 when Orange relaunched its fixed services offer, with discounts and extra data for customers already taking its mobile services. The operator has been growing steadily since then, narrowing the gap in mobile market share with leader Proximus. 

New propositions

Both Proximus and Telenet introduced new mobile offers in Q1 in an attempt to keep up with Orange. Telenet remains focused on the higher end of the market, with new unlimited data offers under both the Base and Telenet brands launched in February as well as the new (pricey) Yugo bundle of mobile, broadband and online TV. Action in the mass market did not come until the end of the quarter, when it finally increased the data on its standard plans to bring them more in line with rivals. 

Proximus meanwhile revamped its mobile offers under the Scarlet brand to better compete at the lower end of the market, added new data options for prepaid users and at the end of the quarter launched a new fixed-mobile bundle under its Epic youth brand.  

Orange continues to stress its low prices, with a marketing campaign highlighting how it will not raise prices for customers. Proximus also faces increased competition from the cable operator Voo, which has improved both its mobile and fixed-mobile bundles and is offering significant discounts in its regular promotions. The competition is reflected in the weak results reported by both Telenet and Proximus for Q1. 

The above figures are taken from Telecompaper's continuous research into the Belgian communications market. For a full breakdown of KPIs on the Belgian mobile market, see our quarterly Belgian mobile operators Excel sheet. A more detailed analysis of the entire Belgian market is available in the quarterly Belgian Total Communications market report, the most recent edition of which will be published later this month. For more information, contact research@telecompaper.com.