How it started
History
Proximus was founded in 1994 as a joint venture between Belgacom, 75%, and AirTouch, 25%, respectively. AirTouch was later merged with Vodafone. In 2006, Belgacom bought the remaining Vodafone shares.
Starting in January 1994, Proximus took over the operatorship of the old MOB2 analogue network, as well as the new second-generation GSM network, originally only in the GSM 900 range. The obsolete MOB2 network was retired in 1999. When necessary, Proximus can also use GSM 1800 to complement its network.
It was originally a de facto monopoly, but after deregulation, Mobistar (now Orange Belgium), a second GSM 900 operator, soon joined the game in 1998, followed by BASE – then known as KPN-Orange UK – in 1999.
In 2014, Belgacom included its Pay-TV business under the Proximus brand name, which then would include its landline and mobile telephone services as well as all of its broadband services.
Proximus has remained a leader, having between 40-50% of the market share at the end of 2024, with Telenet (which includes BASE) and Orange Belgium trailing behind with 20-30% each.
From Wikipedia’s article on Proximus, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3