Orange may not just use the terms ‘fiber’ and ‘fiber optic’ in advertisements

In September 2023, competitor Proximus denied that Orange internet subscriptions sold as « fiber ». That name was misleading, the telecom company said. Testoopkoop also thought that. Proximus had been rolling out fiber optics for years – a billion -dollar project to put the fiber optic cables into the houses, making much higher internet speeds possible.

However, Orange uses the Telenet network, and that still consisted of « old » coax cables. In 2023 Telenet had only started a fully -fledged fiber optic network together with Fluvius. Proximus, which had a network that consisted entirely of fiber optics, had therefore summoned Orange after the « misleading advertisement ».

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« The terms ‘fiber’, ‘fiber’ and ‘fiber optic’ refer to a network that consists entirely of fiber optics to the customer’s home, » the Antwerp Court of Appeal indicates the ruling on Wednesday. « Orange uses a mixed network that consists partly of fiber optics and partly of coax. »

The Court of Appeal finds that Orange wants the consumer to believe that she offers products through a fiber network by using the term « fiber » in the names of its coax products. « As a result, the consumer is misled about the nature and qualities of these products and is influenced in his purchase decision, » it still sounds.

The Court of Appeal imposes penalty payments if Orange would not comply with the prohibition.