The number of complaints about poor mobile coverage in 2023 doubled in comparison with the previous year according to data from the Telecoms Ombudsman. Poorer coverage means mobile calls are often interrupted even though there are sometimes obvious solutions.
Last year, the Telecoms Ombudsman received a striking number of complaints about interrupted and disrupted phone calls. Consumers complained that they have to stand outside or close to a window to make calls. In total ombudsman Luc Tuerlinckx received some 200 complaints. That's twice as many as the year before.
What is the cause?
According to the Telecoms Ombudsman, poorer mobile coverage indoors is often due to building materials and insulation. Telecom providers Telenet, Orange and Proximus acknowledge this is a problem.
"Especially with today's increasingly stringent insulation standards, it is not always easy to ensure optimal indoor coverage. Even insulating windows have an effect on reception," says Proximus spokesman Fabrice Gansbeke.
According to Ombudsman Tuerlinckx, another cause of the problem is the saturation of the 4G network: "The 4G network has become too crowded, causing delays and failures."
Bart Boone of operator Telenet puts the argument of network saturation into perspective: "That is only at busy times of the day, when many people call at the same time."
According to Boone, there are other causes for the poor coverage. "Your own smartphone can also be a cause of an interrupted call. It depends on the type, the built-in antenna and the year of manufacture."
Your location in relation to antennas also determines range. "Maybe you live too far from the mobile phone antennas, or just in between 2 antennas. Single houses in rural areas, such as a forest, also have poor coverage."
So why aren't additional antennas simply built? "In Flanders, there are strict radiation standards, which are 20 times stricter than that prescribed by the World Health Organisation. You can't just get a licence for an antenna," Boone says.
Are there solutions?
To make the network better and more stable, operators are busy rolling out the 5G network. This should provide not only faster internet, but also more bandwidth. Compare it to a wider motorway. This should also make mobile calls smoother in the future.
At some companies, at shopping centres, healthcare institutions and hospitals, Telenet often also instals a kind of antenna inside the building. That too can be a solution, but that is not a solution for individuals. What can you as an ordinary consumer do?
"You can make calls over Wi-Fi, instead of over 4G. You will have to change a setting on your mobile phone," Sven Adams of Orange explains. A simple and free solution, but few people know about it. "Only 10 per cent of our customers know and use this setting. Presumably many people are unaware of this option.
Telenet has also noticed that few people know about this setting.