Proximus’ mobile network was still being affected almost eight hours after terrorist attacks on the main Belgian airport and a metro station in central Brussels on Tuesday.
“It’s not back to normal yet, but it will be better when people get home later,” spokesman Jan Margot said. “The best performing network isn’t built to handle thousands and thousands of simultaneous calls. There was lots of congestion.”
Belgium’s mobile phone network was quickly overloaded after the attacks, with carriers urging users to avoid making phone calls in lieu of text messages and using web-based communications services instead.
Proximus, the country’s largest telecoms company tweeted earlier that “due to the circomstances [sic] in Brussels our network is heavily loaded. Don’t call, but SMS. Our thoughts are with the victims #prayforbelgium.” The company’s text messaging, mobile data and voice services doubled today.
Telenet’s network was also under strain and prompted the company to open up its Wi-Fi network to reduce congestion, spokeswoman Nina Mallants said.
The country’s deputy prime minister, Alexander De Croo, echoed the statement, tweeting: “Brussels mobile networks are getting saturated. Please contact through data messages: Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter. Avoid calls.”
And telecoms operator Telenet had opened its Wi-Fi hotspots for public use in Brussels on Tuesday.