Proximus successfully sues Digi over fibre optic rollout

A Brussels court has convicted new telecoms operator Digi for failing to comply with certain safety regulations and urban planning permits in the rollout of its fibre optic network in Brussels.

The lawsuit against the new company, brought by competitor Proximus, originated from signage for construction work that was deemed missing or incomplete.

Digi launched its commercial offering in Belgium in December, but had already started building its own fibre optic network in Brussels several months earlier. It chose to lay fibre optic cables above ground, which is faster and cheaper, but reportedly lacked some of the necessary permits to do so.

Proximus claimed this constituted unfair competition and took the matter to the courts, which ruled against Digi for failing to comply with safety regulations and urban planning permits.

Digi risks a penalty of €3,000 per infringement, up to a maximum of €1.5 million, should it not resolve the matter. Digi must also remove all installations that were done without the correct permits within one month.

From lawsuits, controversial fiber optic installations and mass firings in management, Digi’s arrival to the telecoms sector in Belgium has been rocky.

The company aimed to pull customers from existing operators Proximus, Orange and Telenet with lower prices, but existing major mobile operators claim to have not seen much of an effect.

Nevertheless, the Belgian Institute for Postal Services and Telecommunications (IBPT)’s latest tariff study found that the arrival of Digi caused “a breakthrough in the mobile market”.

When Digi launched its €5-a-month mobile phone offer in December, which includes unlimited calls and texts and 15 GB of data per month, secondary brands such as Hey! Scarlet and Mobile Vikings reacted quickly with price and volume adjustments.

Primary operators - Base, Orange, Proximus, Telenet and Voo - on the other hand, have continued the underlying trend of increasing the volume offered rather than reducing the price of their offers. Some of them have even increased prices in conjunction with volume increases.

“Further adjustments are to be expected in the coming months,” the IBPT report said.

“Now more than ever, consumers can take a proactive approach and compare the offers available on the market.”

Online comparison tools such as the website www.meilleurtarif.be, which is monitored by the IBPT, allow consumers to do so.

In view of the data volume increases implemented by a number of operators, IBPT is also advising consumers to be proactive and consider whether they really need additional data, or whether it would be wise to downgrade and save money.