Mobile Vikings uses the Proximus network

Managing fixed and mobile Internet traffic on the Proximus network

Legal framework

Proximus offers fixed and mobile Internet services of the highest quality. Therefore we apply a number of procedures to measure and shape Internet traffic on the fixed and mobile networks in order to prevent network connections from becoming saturated.

In application of Article 4.1 of the Regulation 2015/2120 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2015 on open internet access, Proximus informs its customers in a general and easy‐to‐understand manner about this situation specifically and its possible impact on the quality of the fixed and mobile Internet services

Measures taken by Proximus for fixed and mobile Internet access

Proximus proactively takes measures to minimize the risk of saturation of the Internet on fixed and mobile networks.

To this end, it permanently analyzes network occupation to adapt the dimensioning of Proximus’ fixed and mobile networks where necessary, in order to offer customers a continuous service of the best possible quality.

In spite of the measures taken by Proximus, sporadic network saturation cannot be excluded. Customers will notice this through a slow‐down in their Internet traffic.

For instance, an online movie may not play smoothly or it can take longer to load a webpage or download or upload a document.

Of course, such delays can also occur on your PC, smartphone or laptop for other reasons.

Specifically for mobile Internet access

On the mobile network, multiple customers at once can use mobile services via the same antenna. This has a number of specific consequences for the customer.

1. Access to the mobile data network

The customer accesses mobile Internet via the nearest GSM antenna, or the antenna with the strongest signal.

The access to each antenna is dimensioned in such a way that in normal circumstances customers can always use mobile voice services and mobile Internet.

One and the same antenna can provide access to both mobile telephony and mobile Internet. Where that is the case, the mobile telephone traffic via the antenna is assigned a higher priority than the mobile Internet traffic.

If, at a given time, the number of simultaneous users becomes too large after all, customers may temporarily lose access to their telephone or Internet service.

If a customer temporarily loses mobile access he will experience a certain delay when using his mobile data services. Most mobile devices keep trying to re‐establish a connection to the mobile Internet, which is why the customer will experience little or no inconvenience.

2. Priority in case of saturation, depending on the subscription chosen

The available bandwidth reserved for mobile data services on an antenna is normally distributed evenly between the various simultaneous users of data services via that antenna.

However, customers who have subscribed to the Business Priority service benefit from greater bandwidth for their data traffic in the event of saturation on an antenna. Saturation on this antenna will have a greater impact on customers who have not subscribed to the Business Priority service.

As a general rule, no distinction is made between the types of applications or services used by customers on mobile internet. Any saturation will therefore affect all types of internet traffic in the same way.

Customers may experience a slowdown in all their Internet applications and services. The maximum available capacity of Proximus mobile internet allows all customers nationwide to surf at a speed of 250 Gbps per datacenter.