On 31 July 2025, the Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) announced the opening of an ex officio investigation into the memorandum of understanding (MoU) concluded on 24 July 2025 between telecommunications operators Orange Belgium (Orange) and Proximus for the roll-out of fiber networks in Wallonia (see, attached press release). The BCA seeks to determine “whether, and to what extent, the envisaged cooperation is likely to reserve a fair share of the cost-savings and other efficiency gains for the users of the networks”. The BCA indicates that, given the scale of investment required to build fiber infrastructure, its investigation will take a long-term perspective.

The BCA’s interest in this MoU is not surprising. Already in October 2023, the BCA had announced that it would review any form of cooperation between telecommunications operators for the roll-out of fiber infrastructure in Belgium. It said it would do so in close cooperation with the Belgian Institute for Postal Services and Telecommunications (BIPT). For its part, the BIPT signalled that it would review such agreements to balance the operators’ wish to share the financial burden of rolling out expensive infrastructure with the need to safeguard and promote infrastructure-based competition.

The BCA’s review of the proposed deal between Orange and Proximus may benefit from its findings in the protracted and still ongoing investigation of a similar transaction in Flanders involving Fiberklaar (a joint venture company between Swedish investment firm EQT and Proximus), again Proximus, Telenet, and Wyre (a joint venture company between utilities firm Fluvius and Telenet). (see, VBB Belgian Antitrust Watch of 30 July 2024).