Orange Belgium (known as Orange) is a Belgian

telecommunications Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...

company. It competes with

Proximus Proximus (formerly known as Belgacom Mobile) is the largest of Belgium's three mobile telecommunications companies and is a part of Proximus Group (previously Belgacom Group). It competes with Orange Belgium and Base. History Proximus was f ...

and Base. It also operates internet and mobile services in Luxembourg through its local subsidiary, Orange Luxembourg, following the acquisition of VOXMobile in 2007, which was subsequently rebranded under the Orange Brand. It was incorporated by

France Télécom Orange S.A. (; formerly , stylised as france telecom) is a French multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications corporation founded in 1988 and headquartered in Issy-les-Moulineaux, near Paris. ''Orange'' has been the corporation' ...

in 1996 under the name of Mobistar. The company re-branded as Orange on 9 May 2016 (following its parent company's own change of name in 2013).

History

Mobistar, today Orange Belgium, was founded in 1996 as a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

between Telinfo and France Télécom (now

Orange S.A. Orange S.A. (; formerly , stylised as france telecom) is a French multinational telecommunications corporation founded in 1988 and headquartered in Issy-les-Moulineaux, near Paris. ''Orange'' has been the corporation's main brand for mobile, ...

), building a GSM 900 network and then founding a complementary DCS 1800 network. Initially Mobistar added to its network coverage by signing contracts with providers such as

Motorola Motorola, Inc. () was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois. It was founded by brothers Paul and Joseph Galvin in 1928 and had been named Motorola since 1947. Many of Motorola's products had been ...

& Talkline, Cellway, a subsidiary of Martin Dawes Telecommunications and Debitel Belgium, the latter two which it would take over respectively in 1997 and 2000. Mobistar claims to have been the first

GPRS General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), also called 2.5G, is a mobile data standard on the 2G cellular communication network's Global System for Mobile Communications, global system for mobile communications (GSM). Networks and mobile devices wit ...

operator in Belgium. In May 2007 Mobistar bought 90% of the shares of VOXmobile (today: Orange Communications Luxembourg S.A.), a mobile phone company of Luxembourg. VOXmobile was rebranded as Orange on 28 October 2009. In October 2010 Mobistar launched a €55/month hybrid satellite/internet TV package, Starpack to provide phone customers with multichannel TV. Mobistar TV combines DTH

satellite TV Satellite television is a service that delivers television programming to viewers by relaying it from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth directly to the viewer's location.ITU Radio Regulations, Section IV. Radio Stations and Systems ...

with

ADSL Asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) is a type of digital subscriber line (DSL) technology, a data communications technology that enables faster data transmission over Copper wire, copper telephone lines than a conventional voiceband modem ...

Internet to provide over 500 satellite TV and radio channels, along with interactive services, catch-up TV and content-on-demand via the Internet, and programme recording management via a smartphone. The satellite TV package includes Flemish national channels, HD and 3D channels, and a range of European

free-to-air Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscri ...

channels, all transmitted from Astra satellites. Mobistar has announced that this service will end on September 15, 2013. In May 2016 Mobistar was rebranded in Orange Belgium. The company became a convergent operator with the launch of its TV and internet offer based on the cable technology a few months earlier.

Company

Orange Belgium is majority-owned by the

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...

Atlas Services Belgium (ASB), which holds a 76.97% stake. It is a member of the FreeMove alliance.

Mobile virtual network operator

The Orange Belgium network is used by a number of

mobile virtual network operator A mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) is a wireless communications services provider that does not own the wireless network infrastructure over which it provides services to its customers. An MVNO enters into a business agreement with a mobil ...

Technical information

Orange Belgium offers 2G, 3G, 4G, 4G+ and 5G mobile technologies. Orange proposes Internet, mobile, TV and triple-play offers via co-axial cable.

References

External links

* {{Orange S.A. Internet service providers of Belgium Mobile phone companies of Belgium Orange S.A. Belgian brands Companies listed on Euronext Brussels Telecommunications companies established in 1996 Belgian companies established in 1996 Belgian subsidiaries of foreign companies