COUNTRY FOCUS: BELGIUM
“
THIS MOBILE ACCESS
NETWORK SHARING WILL ALLOW
US TO AIM FOR A FASTER AND
BROADER 5G ROLL OUT AND TO
IMPROVE THE MOBILE NETWORK
CAPACITY AND COVERAGE TO THE
BENEFIT OF OUR CUSTOMERS.
More than 20 companies helped create
this online course. Large companies,
such as Microsoft, IBM, Brussels Airport
Company and Proximus, as well as small
businesses and start-ups like Faktion, In The
Pocket, Froomle, Radix and Reimagine. The
course also contains more than 30 specific
applications as examples to provide as much
inspiration as possible.
“These examples show the thriving
ecosystem around Artificial Intelligence in
Belgium today. Belgium harbours a wealth
of expertise and many companies are
already running projects or are in the process
of implementing Artificial Intelligence. And
yet, there is still a lot of unused potential.
Not only large businesses can implement
Artificial Intelligence. Smaller companies can
also benefit from AI,” said Goderis.
Belgium is not only innovating by using
smart technologies like AI, telecom
companies are also contributing to the
country’s ongoing development and success.
It has been announced that Belgian telcos,
Proximus and Orange Belgium, have signed
an agreement to set up a shared mobile
access network.
Sandrine Dufour, CEO ad interim of Proximus,
and Michael Trabbia, CEO of Orange Belgium,
signed the final agreements to establish the
previously announced mobile access network
sharing collaboration.
The shared mobile access network will be
designed, built and operated by a new joint
venture, owned 50/50 by Proximus and
52
INTELLIGENTCIO
Orange Belgium, which will be based in
Brussels. Each party confirms its respective
expected benefits and investment as per
complementary information for investors
and analysts issued on July 11, 2019.
“I’m glad that we finalised the mobile
access network sharing agreement between
Proximus and Orange Belgium before the
end of the year. This mobile access network
sharing will allow us to aim for a faster and
broader 5G roll out and to improve the
mobile network capacity and coverage to
the benefit of our customers. Proximus will
continue to differentiate to offer the best
mobile experience,” said Sandrine Dufour,
CEO ad interim of the Proximus Group.
“I look forward to implementing our
agreement for the benefit of Belgian
customers as well as society. This
collaboration will enable Orange Belgium to
continue to challenge the telecom market,
while facilitating a faster and more extensive
5G deployment in Belgium and meeting
the growing demand of our customers for
mobile data. The agreement will therefore
reinforce the competitive environment and
maintain a strong differentiation on services
and customer experience,” said Michaël
Trabbia, CEO Orange.
Proximus has also partnered with
MolenGeek in the field of e-skills
development, education and innovation in
the presence of Bernard Clerfayt, Minister
for employment, vocational training and
digital transition in the Brussels region, and
Stefaan De Clerck, Chairman of the Board
of Directors of Proximus.
MolenGeek is a citizen initiative to create
a bottom-up tech ecosystem based
in Molenbeek, Belgium. MolenGeek’s
mission is to make technology and
entrepreneurship accessible to everyone
and the creative partnership will
therefore provide significant benefits to
both parties. Their commitment aims
to improve employment, stimulate an
entrepreneurial spirit and create new
opportunities for digital talent. From now
on, the Molenbeek initiative will be able
to count on all the technological expertise
of Proximus to continue developing its
work and activating digital talent on a
larger scale.
This partnership will take different forms:
provision of equipment and telecom
www.intelligentcio.com