Plan for ultrafast internet in Belgium

At present, Belgium is doing pioneering work in rolling out new technologies for ultrafast Internet. The Belgian government must make every effort not to lose that pioneering role. It can do this by stimulating the operators to continue rolling out a high-speed and high-performance network.

Ultrafast internet is crucial for the growth of the digital economy and to allow the digital society to flourish. The digital economy is one of the most dynamic and promising economic sectors in terms of development potential. Mobile traffic doubles every year and Internet traffic every two to three years. Well over 4 million people work in the ICT sector in Europe, and their share is growing annually by 3% despite the crisis. 

The objective of the Digital Agenda for Europe is to ensure that by 2020 all Europeans have access to Internet speeds of at least 30 Mbps, and half of all households at least 100 Mbps.

Belgium wants to go further. By 2020 at least half of the connections in Belgium must achieve Internet speeds of up to 1 Gbps. Mobile broadband technologies, such as 4G and LTE Advanced, must be rolled out as soon as possible across the entire Belgian territory. Moreover, a proactive 5G framework needs to be created to ensure Belgium is in the lead when the Internet-of-everything is rolled out.

With 17 specific measures in 4 thematic areas of action, this plan will strongly stimulate the roll-out of Ultrafast internet in Belgium. 

Read the full version of the “Plan for ultrafast Internet 2015-2020” (PDF) here.