The 27th August 1996 is a historic date in the landscape of Belgian telecommunications. On that day, only nine months after obtaining its licence, Mobistar began its commercial activity with a mobile network covering 97% of the Belgian population from the very start. An impressive achievement, which was even mentioned in the Guinness Book of records! Success came immediately, with 68,000 customers by the end of 1996. A success which has not diminished with time, as Mobistar has more than 4.1 million customers today.
“In only 15 years, we have brought real dynamism to the Belgian market, achieving much more than we dreamed of at the start”, explains Mobistar CEO, Benoit Scheen. “We are confident of continuing on this trajectory, making still more new products and services available on the Belgian market and continuing to improve the customer experience, be that in mobile telephony or in other fields. We are going to be around a lot longer still!”
Over these fifteen years, Mobistar has shown itself to be a major company within the Belgian economy, with more than 2.8 billion euros invested in networks since 1996, more than 1,650 currently directly employed and a huge number indirectly employed by our partners, turnover of more than 1.6 billion euros in 2010 and a network of 165 Mobistar Center shops, to quote just a few of the impressive figures. The company has also been a major technological and commercial innovator: over the years, Mobistar was not only the first mobile operator to launch prepaid cards on the Belgian market, it also was a pionnier in GPRS and Edge technologies, in mobile payment, in mobile TV, in HD voice, and it was the first to introduce the Blackberry and the iPhone in Belgium.
To celebrate this important peak, Mobistar has chosen to honour its most loyal customers, those who have been using Mobistar services since 1996, some of them since the very first days of the brand’s existence. This August 26th, a bottle of champagne will be sent to more than 4,500 business and residential customers by way of thanking them for their loyalty.
Guy Thérache, customer since 31 August 1996: “Basically, when I joined Mobistar, I did it mainly to leave Belgacom. But since then, I have never had any reason to regret that choice. I only use my mobile for phoning and texting because I don’t want to become a slave to my mobile, but sooner or later I expect I will move up to a smartphone, because that really is a way of having a global communication tool right there in your pocket. In the future, I would like to see even more competition in the Belgian telecoms market, as there is in France.”
Jean-François Lambert, customer since 6 September 1996: “I became a Mobistar customer through a friend who had a phone shop in Tournai. At the very start network coverage wasn’t ideal, but it rapidly improved so I remained a loyal customer. In the last few years I tend to send more and more texts, about 600 a month. Mobile telephony has changed my life: on the one hand I am much more easily contactable, but, on the other, I feel a little less free.”
Carina Truyens, customer since 11 September 1996: “At the time, I opted for Mobistar because it was new! I am extremely satisfied with the flexibility I get as a Mobistar customer. Mobile telephony has not really changed my life, but I do believe it’s tremendously convenient to be able to phone and text wherever you are.”
Chantal Vaesen, customer since 12 September 1996: “I wanted to be rid of the Belgacom monopoly at all costs! When you are constantly moving around like I am, it’s fantastic to be contactable everywhere at all times thanks to Mobistar mobile technology. Being a very price-aware consumer, I really appreciate the lower international rates we have now. I call and surf a lot and when I have a problem I can always get prompt help from customer service. They are always very friendly and helpful.”
Frédéric Van Laethem, customer since 13 September 1996: “I have no bad memories of dealing with Mobistar. In 15 years I have never had the slightest problem. I use my mobile phone to stay in touch with certain people or for work, but also increasingly to check my e-mails or follow the sports results. If I had one piece of advice for Mobistar, it would be: keep it up and do even more promotions!”