Proximus, also known as Belgacom Mobile, the largest of Belgium\'s three mobile telecommunications companies, has become the first of the country\'s operators to launch LTE-based services in Brussels, TeleGeography reported Wednesday.

In a press release confirming the development, Belgacom announced that at launch around 20percent of the capital\'s population is within the network footprint. The company also looks to ramp up the infrastructure switch-on once Belgian authorities implement decrees that will introduce a new standard of six volts per meter (6V/m). In terms of an expected timetable for a city-wide rollout, Belgacom has said that it plans to take "12 to 18 months to develop a high-quality network with sufficient coverage for customers".

Earlier this month Belgacom revealed that Proximus was upgrading all of its customers to 4G at no additional cost. With the company saying that it wanted "to let all its customers benefit from the best mobile experience", it confirmed that over a two-week period it will activate access to its LTE for pre- and post-paid customers, while both residential and business subscribers will benefit from the automatic upgrade. In making the announcement Belgacom also confirmed that its 4G infrastructure is now available in some 260 cities and municipalities, with more than 50 percent of the population within the network footprint.