The Belgian KPN subsidiary Base begins Tuesday with the roll-out of its 4g network. That happens in the first place in fifteen cities. Competitors Proximus and Mobistar are already working on 4g, but Mobistar has its network is still not live.
Customers can speeds expected of between 6 and 20Mbit/s, so says the provider against Datanews. The theoretical maximum speed would 86Mbit/s. The 4g network would fit in Aalst, Antwerp, Beveren, Charleroi, Gent, Hasselt, Kortrijk, Leuven, Liège, Mechelen and Namur, while the cities of Ostend, Genk, St-Truiden to Bruges and only partially covered would be by the network. Brussels is not included, because the local government there are strict radiation standards that the 4g roll-out by existing providers prevent. Within a year the majority of the Belgian population 4g by Base, as is the goal of the provider.
The 4g network operates on the 1800MHz frequency and, additionally, there are some masts that will work at 2.6 GHz, a license that KPN last year bought. That explains why all of the providers focus on cities: which frequency is well suited for urban areas, but in buildings and in rural areas the 800MHz frequency is better. That has yet to be auctioned.
Base is relatively fast with 4g: parent company KPN began last winter with the new network technology. Base was in the past late with the roll-out of 3g; that did not happen until some years ago. Base is the smallest of the three established mobile providers with multiple private networks in Belgium. Proximus has been 4g, while Mobistar at the end of this year will follow.