Communication (telephone, internet, mobile, tv) in Belgium

Expats moving to Belgium can take solace in the widely available avenues of communication that can be used to keep in touch with loved ones abroad and to cultivate a network within the country.

Internet cafes are widely available in Belgium and ADSL is available through service providers like Scarlet, Mobistar, Belgacom and Skynet (also part of Belgacom). Many more companies exist and almost all of them provide full triple play services which include Television, internet and telephone. Cable Internet providers include Telenet, VOO and Numéricable and each offer different speeds. Bandwidth in Belgium is relatively fast, but some internet providers have bandwidth caps in place to limit the amount of data transferred.

Landlines are via companies like Belgacom, Scarlet and BASE. Belgium is under a closed telephone numbering plan, but retains the code ‘0’ for all national calling and, while international calls can be expensive, if you have broadband Skype is the most cost-effective way to make long-distance calls. The international access code for Belgium is +32. The outgoing code is 00 followed by the relevant country code (e.g. 0027 for South Africa). Public phones take coins or phone cards.

Mobile Telephones

There are three licensed mobile network operators in Belgium, namely Proximus (owned by Belgacom), Mobistar and BASE and numerous other mobile virtual network operators. Mobile phones operate on GSM networks.

Belgium’s public television is controlled by the VRT  (Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroep) for Dutch speaking regions such as Flanders and Brussels, while the RTBF (Radio télévision belge de la communauté française) controls the French speaking regions of Wallonia and Brussels and the BRF (Belgischer Rundfunk) controls the German community. Satellite channels are available in Flanders, Brussels and Wallonia and are operated by Airfield Belgium or Digidream.