Connected and satisfied
Connectivity
Highlights
→Only 1% of respondents have no internet connection at home
→Two in three adults who have internet at home don’t know their broadband speed
→28% of 5G users state that their experience on 5G is about the same as on 4GOver the years a reliable internet connection at home has become essential for one’s private and professional life.
Checking the balance on your bank account, booking a doctor’s appointment, reserving a table at a restaurant or taking a Teams call all require you to be connected to the internet. Unsurprisingly, only 1% of respondents have no internet connection at home. While 76% have a fixed broadband internet connection, 23% rely mainly on mobile internet at home.
Home Internet Satisfaction
Home Internet Satisfaction
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Telco operators are heavily investing in updating their fixed and mobile network technologies with the aim to improve performance of their network, and thus customer experience. Seven in ten adults who have internet at home, however, are satisfied with their internet connection.
Home Internet Speed:
Home Internet Speed:
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Two in three adults who have internet access at home (65%) do not even know their broadband speed. Compared to some of our neighboring countries e.g. Germany (34%) and UK (44%), this percentage is rather high.
Which makes one wonder if there is an actual customer need and willingness to pay for improved internet in Belgium today?
Drivers to change home internet
Drivers to change home internet
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Similarly to last year 65% (64% in 2022) of respondents did not make a change to their internet service in the past 12 months. Lowering costs (9%) was the main driver to change internet service for 30% of respondents that did change internet service. Belgium’s largest broadband providers at home raised their prices at least once in 2023 referring to high inflation. It is, thus, not surprising that Belgians are on the lookout for the best internet service at the lowest price. For only 7% of respondents higher speed was the reason to change whereas 11% of the respondents in Germany and 15% of the respondents in UK changed for higher speed.
5G Experience
5G Experience
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The Belgian 5G spectrum auction was finalized only in July 2022. Before the auction operators had to rely on provisional 5G licenses and existing 3G/4G licenses. Proximus was first to launch what they called ‘5G light’ (i.e. 3G frequency band used to deploy 5G) in 2020.
Since the auction operators have been gradually deploying their 5G networks. 5G is the fifth generation mobile network. It promises low latency, high bandwidth and high connection density, resulting in seemingly endless applications.
34% of respondents claim to currently use 5G which is in line with the numbers reported in Germany but less than in the UK (40%). More than one in four of 5G users (28%) state that their experience on 5G is about the same as on 4G.
