Proximus, also known as Belgacom Mobile, is the largest 2G GSM and 3G UMTS operator of Belgium.
History
Proximus was founded in 1994 as a 75%-25% joint venture between Belgacom and Airtouch , respectively. Airtouch was later merged with Vodafone. Starting January 1994, Proximus took over the operatorship of the old MOB2 analog network, as well as the new second generation GSM network, originally only in the GSM900 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 , a second GSM 900 operator soon joined the game in 1998, followed by BASE , then known as KPN Orange in 1999. Despite the aggressive price offerings of the latter two, especially BASE, Proximus still has continued growing its customer base to some 4.500.000 customers, just a little over 50% of the market now considered as saturated.
Company
Of the about 4.500.000 customers, about half are prepaid subscribers. Meanwhile, the revenue mostly still is coming from the postpaid subscribers. Because of historical, reputation and quality reasons, corporate Belgium and multinationals also seem to have a slight preference for Proximus as a mobile operator which means that a Proximus customer is "worth" more than a BASE customer for instance. Proximus has until now maintained a stance of demanding high fees but giving back in return a high added value .
The 2G network covers virtually 100 % of the Belgian population although coverage in rural regions is weaker, because this in no way means 100% territory coverage. It is nevertheless reputed for being the better of the three GSM networks, at least at technical level.
Proximus is a subsidiary of Belgacom which had an IPO in 2004 but remains for 50+% state owned. It is also owned for 25 % by the Vodafone Group. In 2004, it had a revenue of 2239 millions € and an EBITDA of 1135 millions €.
The company employs some 2.500 persons directly, in Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent, Mons and Namur. A substantial part of them are engineers, people with an IT profile and customer services agents. Most of them are rather young, with an age average below in the 30. Proximus is a regular top winner of the Employer of the Year and winner of the 2004 Gender Equality Award .
Challenges
In the future, the company will have to deploy the 3G UMTS infrastructure, currently only deployed in 12 Belgian cities. It is also expected that at some point VoIP will be the method of choice for voice telephony. In 2005, Proximus will implement Simpay, which will allow people to pay small expenses using their mobile handset.
The highest challenge Proximus faces for the coming year is the ruthless competition with the other two operators. Proximus will have a hard time to retain the customers from taking attractive offers from BASE and MVNOs especially. 2005 has already seen its share of reactive attractive offers from Proximus though, and new bonuses campaigns were announced in April.
External links
Proximus web site
Data
- Belgacom Financial results for 2004