Antwerp is the 4G testing ground for Flanders
Today, Mobistar is opening its 4G pilot network in Antwerp, the largest Flemish city and its economic driving force. After Luxemburg, Antwerp is Mobistar's first 4G city in Belgium. For the roll-out of this new technology, Mobistar can rely on the experience, know-how and technical support of the Orange Group, which is also providing 4G in the French cities of Marseille, Lyon and Nantes.
Jean-Marc Harion, CEO of Mobistar: “Mobistar will deploy 600 sites more on the 4G network in Belgium in 2013. It is known that Brussels is not currently on the list for the 4G roll-out because of the extremely stringent radiation standards that apply there.”
The commercial launch of the network is planned for 2013. The first 4G smartphones and tablets will start to become available in small quantities this year on the European market, and in 2013, they will also be offered for sale by Mobistar.
As a challenger, Mobistar aims to meet the consumer’s future needs. Olivier Ysewijn, Chief Strategy Officer Mobistar: “The more mobile devices that are connected, and the more mobile content and applications are delivered, the better the network should perform, so that the customer can enjoy the best possible mobile experience.”
In September 2009, only 7 per cent of the number of mobile phones sold in Belgium was a smartphone, in May of this year smartphone sales had reached 44 per cent, or more than a six-fold increase in less than 3 years. The amount of mobile content is also increasing steadily. The percentage of consumers who surf the Internet on their mobile device almost quadrupled between 2009 and 2012, from 7 to 26 per cent.
Emergency services and the media embrace 4G technology
The police and emergency services will benefit from the faster 4G network, including the ability to send real-time images from an incident to their control room. The Local Police recently proposed a new instrument for maintaining order, the Combi Camera. This is a 360-degree camera mounted on the roof of a police van, which can send live images to the radio room via the Internet. They can evaluate the situation better and faster, and take appropriate action.
Commissioner Luc De Kock, Antwerp police: “In the future, we will be able to use the 4G network to transmit images to the command centre. This will considerably improve the quality of the images. The images can then be used as evidence to identify suspects.” Whenever a police van camera is used, the operation will be under the responsibility of an administrative police officer, who will inform the mayor and the Privacy Commission.
The police will now also start testing the Camka. This is a robust handheld camera (with SIM card) that sends high-resolution images over the 4G network to a server. It can be used to supervise interventions by police and/or emergency services remotely.
The media also see a lot of promise in the new 4G network when it comes to sending their images. ATV journalists today use 3G to send their news packages to the studio, but that is often slow. Hans Hellemans, chief editor ATV: “Today we have to use multiple 3G SIM cards to provide sufficient upload capacity. By using one 4G connection of only one operator, we can substantially increase the speed of the connection.”
Applications for the general public
The applications where 4G will prove useful for the general public are those requiring high bandwidth and instant Internet, such as photographs, video, film, gaming and watching television. Laurent De Hauwere, Director Devices & Mobile Data at Mobistar: “The main advantages of 4G for consumers are twofold: speed and response time. The speed is about the time that the network needs to download a web page. The response time is the time that the Internet needs to answer a request that you send to a server, such as Google.”
With 4G, you will be able to post pictures and videos on Facebook almost immediately. You will also be able to make video calls easily with your smartphone. With a 4G tablet, you will be able to watch unlimited movies of perfect quality. Streaming of live TV will be a piece of cake. And gaming consoles will soon be outdated: why buy a console if you can do the same with a tablet?
Mobistar (EURONEXT BRUSSELS: MOBB), one of the largest players in the telecommunications market in Belgium and Luxembourg, operates in mobile voice and data services, in fixed telephony, ADSL, TV and other markets with major growth potential. The company develops innovative products and services for the residential and the business market. Mobistar is listed on the Brussels Stock Exchange, and belongs to the France Télécom group.
For more information, contact:
Press Service: press@mail.mobistar.be -
Patti Verdoodt +32 (0)495 55 96 26
Mathieu Van Overstraeten +32 (0)496 21 52 45
Investor relations - Christophe Lemaitre: +32 (0)2 745 72 26 – e-mail: ir@mail.mobistar.be
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