Belgium's capital city Brussels is finally on course to launch 5G services, with the service set to go live this September.

Up until now, the city has effectively blocked the service from launching in the city due to its strict radiation rules, even halting a 5G pilot in 2019 due to concerns.

Brussels
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But from September that is set to change, as an executive order allowing for the deployment of 5G antennas has now been published in the official journal, according to Belgian paper L'Echo.

It follows parliamentary approval earlier this year which relaxed strict limits on radio frequency emissions in the city.

Belgium's three mobile network operators; Proximus, Telenet, and Orange, will submit their permit applications to the regional environment authority, which is expected to grant authorization within 30 days.

The operators will need to upgrade the existing antennas in the city from 4G to 5G once approval has been received. The publication reports that this operation is expected to take a few days, with priority given to the most densely populated areas of the capital region.

It could take a further year before the whole capital has 5G coverage, as the strict radiation limit of 14.5 volts per meter will require the deployment of additional antennas on existing sites to meet demand.

Orange has already installed 3.5GHz antennas across several sites in Brussels. Telenet and Proximus have yet to deploy 5G equipment, but do expect to gradually deploy the network this year.