© MARC HERREMANS – MEDIA HOUSE
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Proximus will soon start gradually forcing its customers towards its new fiber optic technology. In March, the telecom company will stop providing services on the old VDSL cables in the first streets. There, customers have to switch to more expensive Fiber subscriptions.
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Source: BELGIAN
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Proximus has been installing new fiber optic internet cables for several years now. This technology allows much higher surfing speeds than the old copper VDSL cables. In the meantime, it has already laid new cables in various places in the country, especially in the cities. At the end of September, 686,000 homes and businesses were connected to the network.
Customers in those areas were already able to voluntarily switch to one of the Fiber subscriptions. They cost more, but offer faster speeds. However, Proximus will soon make that switch inevitable in its fiber optic regions by gradually phasing out the subscriptions to the old cable. The company does this so as not to have to maintain two networks side by side, says spokesman Fabrice Gansbeke.
commercial gesture
It starts at the end of March near the Anspachlaan in Brussels, where Proximus installed the first new fiber optic cables on the walls five years ago. Later in the year, neighborhoods in other cities such as Ghent, Hasselt and Deurne will follow. Proximus says it will inform customers well in advance of the date on which the service on the copper network will end.
Anyone who has not yet taken out a Fiber subscription by the time of the termination and still wants to stay with Proximus, will have to call in a technician to install the fiber optic connection and will have to rely on a Fiber subscription. The cheapest internet subscription for the old cable costs 27.50 euros per month, while with Fiber it becomes 42.95 euros per month. The popular Flex bundles are 5 euros more per month with Fiber.
Proximus will make a commercial gesture for the customers concerned by offering them the fiber subscription at the rate of their old subscription for a while longer. A switch to another provider is also possible, but obviously not when it comes to services on the old VDSL line.
Subscription canceled
Scarlet, the low-cost subsidiary of Proximus, currently does not offer connections on fiber. As a result, the provider cannot serve customers in areas where old copper cable is no longer active.
Some Scarlet customers have therefore already been informed that their subscription will be cancelled. Proximus wants to accommodate these customers by giving them a Proximus subscription at the much lower Scarlet rate for two years. Scarlet may also still be offering fiber optic subscriptions this year. No prices are known yet.
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