The Belgian Institute of Postal Services and Telecommunications (BIPT) has released a study finding that while Belgium continues to lag behind other European countries in 5G and fiber deployment, the coverage and quality of its fixed and mobile broadband networks remains very good . Nevertheless, the telecommunications regulator believes that last year's 5G spectrum auction and accelerated investment in fiber deployment will quickly close the gap.
The study confirms that 99.2 percent of the country's population has access to fixed broadband download speeds of 30Mbps and 97.2 percent to 100Mbps, although there are differences between the north of the country, where the vast majority of customers can subscribe to a supported package of 1Gbps downlink, and the less populated south. In underserved areas, some 38,000 households (including 31,000 in the southern Walloon region) still do not have access to 30Mbps download speeds. This number is expected to decline steadily due to government-subsidized fiber deployment programs. In terms of mobile networks, the report found that Belgium benefits from very good 4G coverage, with 99.9% of households enjoying good indoor coverage and 97.3% "deep indoor" coverage, although, as with fixed broadband, service in the south is less good.
