Belgium boasts a highly developed mobile network infrastructure, ensuring seamless connectivity for both locals and visitors. Whether you’re an expat, a tourist, or simply looking to stay connected on the go, choosing the right mobile internet and SIM card plan is crucial for a hassle-free experience. In this article we’ll delve into the different options and present you the best deal for your money.
Quick Answers
Mobile Network providers in Belgium
Belgium has three mobile network providers: Proximus, Orange and Telenet/Base. Depending on which current mobile network provider you’re using, your cellphone will automatically connect with one of them.
Data roaming in Belgium
Due to EU regulations, European Citizens are entitled to use their mobile phone plans at no extra cost while roaming within the European Economic Area, which includes Belgium.
For travelers from outside the EU, these roaming costs can be expensive and add up quickly. Therefore it’s always advised to check with your current network provider about the roaming costs in Belgium.
Most travelers will choose to turn off roaming and either purchase a local sim card, or an electronic sim card to avoid these pricey roaming costs.
E-Sim Cards
An eSIM is a digital chip that is embedded in your device and connects you to a mobile network. It works the same way as a traditional SIM card, but you do not need to insert or remove a physical SIM card. Most smartphones built since 2018 have this eSIM option.
eSIMs are becoming increasingly popular as they offer a number of advantages over traditional SIM cards. They are more convenient, as you can easily switch between plans or carriers. You’ll be able to receive phone calls and sms on your main phone number, whilst using the eSIM for data without having to pay for roaming costs.
With the eSims from Airalo, you can get 10GB of data for 20$, which is a better deal then you’ll get with a physical pre-paid sim card in Belgium.
Purchasing a SIM Card in Belgium
When your phone doesn’t support e-SIM cards, a regular pre-paid SIM card is still a great option to dodge roaming costs and have access to mobile internet.
Where to buy Belgium Sim Cards
As a tourist or expat, you can easily purchase a Belgian SIM card at one of the official retail stores of the major mobile operators, as well as from many supermarkets, convenience stores, and kiosks. Expats can also purchase their SIM cards online on the mobile operator’s website.
All SIM cards sold in Belgium must be registered. That means you’ll have to provide some proof of identity upon purchase.
Recharging your Belgium Sim Card
Recharging your Belgian Pre-Paid Sim Card is in most cases best done online, as it will get you some better deals and bonuses with some providers. Except from Orange, since their websites are not in English.
Prepaid Sim cards in Belgium
The Belgian mobile market is dominated by three major players: Proximus, Orange, and BASE. These operators offer a wide range of prepaid and postpaid plans, catering to diverse needs and budgets. Let’s explore them further into detail.
Proximus
Proximus is the largest mobile provider in Belgium, with the widest network coverage. It offers a wide range of plans, including prepaid and postpaid options.
Their pre-paid cards are called Pay&Go. At first, the pricing looks a bit complicated and underwhelming, however thanks to the online deals, bonuses and possibility to exchange call credit for additional data, they do offer a fair good deal.
Top up your pay&go sim card online and receive a bonus, valid for 31 days.
| Value | Call time | SMS | Mobile Data |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10€ | 33 mins + 10 bonus | 83 + 500 bonus | 500 MB bonus |
| 15€ | 50 mins + 20 bonus | 125 + unlimited bonus | 3 GB bonus |
| 25€ | 83 mins + 50 bonus | 208 + unlimited bonus | 5 GB bonus |
When you don’t need the call credit, you can exchange it for mobile data. If you trade in 12€ you’ll get 3GB of mobile data. That means that you can get 6GB of mobile data for a 15€ recharge.
More info: https://www.proximus.be/en/id_cr_prepaid_cards/personal/mobile/prepaid-cards.html
Orange
Orange is the second largest mobile provider in Belgium. It offers a good range of plans, including some of the most affordable options on the market.
The Tempo Giga plan offers the best data plans for pre-paid sim cards from this provider. Their best deal is the 15€ for 8GB data, however this plan doesn’t give you any call time or SMS.
With the tempo giga plan, you have unlimited calls to other Tempo Giga plan customers, except with the cheapest 10€ reload.
There’s also a Tempo Easy plan, which is focused on more call time and less data.
| Value | Call time | SMS | Mobile Data |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10€ | 28 mins | 500 | 1 GB |
| 15€ | 42 mins | 4000 | 5 GB |
| 15€ | 0 | 0 | 8 GB |
| 20€ | 57 mins | 5000 | 7 GB |
| 50€ | 142 mins | 10000 | 10 GB |
For some strange reason, this big international player only offers its local websites in the local languages. Therefore it’s only available in Dutch and French.
Telenet / Base
Telenet/Base is the third largest mobile provider in Belgium. It is known for its high-speed internet connections, and it also offers a good range of mobile plans.
| Credit | Call time | SMS | Mobile data |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5€ | 20 mins | / | / |
| 10€ | 40 mins | 250 | 1 GB |
| 15€ | 60 mins | 1000 | 4 GB |
| 20€ | 80 mins | 1000 | 4 GB |
| 25€ | 100 mins | 5000 | 8 GB |
Topping up your credit with 10€ or more, will give you unlimited call time to other Base phone numbers in Belgium. You can recognize these phone numbers since they all start with +048
Don’t need the call time? Then you can swap it in for extra mobile data instead! Get 2gb of data in exchange for 10€ call credit, 4gb in exchange for 15€ call credit and 8gb in exchange for 25€ call credit.
Thanks to this exchange policy, you can get 8GB of data for 15€
Tariffs for your call credit in Belgium and Europe: €0.25/min – €0.12/SMS – €0.25/MMS – €0.50/MB
Mobile Vikings
Mobile Vikings is a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), which means that it does not own its own network infrastructure. Instead, it leases network capacity from Proximus. Mobile Vikings is known for its innovative plans and its customer service.
| Credit | Call time | SMS | Mobile data |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10€ | 25 mins | unlimited | 1 GB |
| 10€ | 50 mins | unlimited | 500 MB |
| 15€ | 50 mins | unlimited | 4 GB |
| 15€ | 100 mins | unlimited | 2 GB |
| 20€ | 66 mins | unlimited | 6 GB |
| 20€ | 133 mins | unlimited | 3 GB |
With Mobile Vikings you’ll get unlimited SMS in Belgium. Unlimited calls to other Mobile Vikings are also included with each plan.
On the downside is that they don’t have any physical sales points and their pre-paid plans aren’t as competitive as those from Base, Orange or Proximus.
What’s the best pre-paid sim card for data in Belgium?
Now that I’ve explained the different and sometimes confusing pricing plans, lets compare them. I will use the 15€ credit as a benchmark and purely focus on mobile data, since this is the most important for tourists. Extra bonuses for topping up online, or exchanging call time for extra data will also be included.
| Telenet / Base | 8 GB |
| Orange | 8 GB |
| Proximus | 6 GB |
| Mobile Vikings | 4 GB |
And the winner is… Telenet / Base. Due to the lack of an English interface, Orange loses the battle for best pre-paid sim card for tourists in Belgium.
Conclusion
Data roaming for non-Europeans is best avoided in Belgium. If your phone supports an e-SIM, you’ll obviously get the best deal with Airalo with 10GB for 20$. When it comes to physical pre-paid sim cards, Telenet/Base is the absolute winner, where you can get 8GB for 15€.
