Orange Belgium, originally named Mobistar, is a telecommunications company operating in Belgium. The company was established in 1996 as a joint venture between Telinfo and France Télécom, now known as Orange S.A. The company underwent a rebranding process in May 2016, adopting the name Orange in alignment with its parent company's name change in 2013. Orange Belgium is a subsidiary of Orange S.A., indicating the ownership of the company.
3G Network
The company operated a 2G GSM network on 900 and 1800 MHz, and provides 3G services over B1 (2100 MHz) since August 2006. 3G services were upgraded in May 2008 with the launch of B8 (900 MHz), and again in June 2013 with the activation of DC-HSPA+.
The network shutdown was announced for 31/12/2025.
3G Frequency Bands
| Network Frequency Band | Status |
|---|---|
|
Active
|
|
|
Active
|
3G Network Events
| Date | Event | Subtype |
|---|---|---|
|
|
Launch of 3G Network
|
Launch
|
4G Network
In 2011 the Belgian telecommunications regulator approved the use of both 1800 MHz for LTE services, Orange began deploying a B3 (1800 MHz) LTE network shortly after. The network was commercially launched in November 2013.
In November 2013 the Belgian telecommunications regulator auctioned off the 800 MHz spectrum with Orange securing a 10 MHz block over which it deployed B20 (800 MHz) LTE. Orange Belgium began LTE-A (marketed as 4G+) trials in 2014 leading to a launch in May 2015 which saw data rates of up to 213 Mbps over B3 (1800 MHz) and B20 (800 MHz) carrier aggregation. In mid-2016 the company activated its B7 (2600 MHz) LTE network to provide additional capacity. VoLTE and ViLTE were implemented June 2018.
Orange upgraded their LTE network to support NB-IoT and LTE-M to support the growing demand for LPWA IoT. The company reached 100% national coverage in December 2017.
4G Frequency Bands
| Network Frequency Band | Max. Channel Bandwidth | Status |
|---|---|---|
|
20
|
Active
|
|
|
20
|
Active
|
|
|
10
|
Active
|
4G Network Events
| Date | Event | Subtype |
|---|---|---|
|
|
Launch of 4G Network
|
Launch
|
5G Network
Orange has teamed up with technology partner Nokia to present 5G use cases for Belgium. In September 2018 Orange Belgium conducted testing of 3.5 GHz 5G, achieving 6 Gbps peak downlink data rates. The company commenced its network rollout in 2019, but due to national spectrum auction delays the network did not commercially launch until February 2022. The network is reported to also use n50 and n51 carriers.
5G Frequency Bands
| Network Frequency Band | Max. Channel Bandwidth | Status |
|---|---|---|
|
25
|
Active
|
|
|
5
|
Active
|
|
|
100
|
Active
|
5G Network Events
| Date | Event | Subtype |
|---|---|---|
|
|
Launch of 5G Network
|
Launch
|