Moving house: transfer or switch internet provider?

Your van is booked, and your subscription does not always follow. Transferring your internet costs €0 at Orange, €59 at Proximus, up to €90 at VOO. Before comparing those numbers, check one thing: does your provider serve your new address? If not, there is no transfer to arrange, only a cancellation.

A telecom move means transferring an existing contract to a new address: same operator, same subscription, same customer, only the socket changes. The contract follows the van with everything in it, including the price you have been paying since your promo ended. So two very different situations hide behind "moving my internet": the transfer, where your provider follows you, and the switch, where you pick a new one on arrival. Fees, lead times and your rights differ in each case.

Can you transfer your internet subscription to your new address?

Yes, provided your operator covers the new address. Proximus and Orange connect homes everywhere in Belgium. Telenet stops at Flanders and Brussels, VOO at Wallonia and Brussels. Outside their zone, those two transfer nothing: they cancel.

This is the Belgian quirk that operators' own "moving" pages rarely put up front. Cable was never national. Telenet built its network in the north, VOO in the south, and Brussels is the only place where the two overlap. A Telenet customer leaving Ghent for Namur has no transfer to request: their provider does not exist at the destination. A Liège to Charleroi move, on the other hand, stays inside VOO territory, and there a transfer makes sense.

The second check is sneakier. Even at Proximus, which covers the entire country, the technology changes from one street to the next. You were on fibre in Ixelles, you arrive in a municipality where only VDSL (the copper-line technology whose speed drops with distance to the exchange) is available: same operator, same subscription, same bill, and a completely different speed. A transfer moves a contract, not a performance level. Our guide on cable and VDSL by address explains why two neighbours never get the same speed.

How much does a move cost at Proximus, Orange, Telenet and VOO?

Between €0 and €90, depending on the operator and the state of the socket on arrival. Orange moves Love services for free. Proximus charges €59, waived on some bundles. VOO charges nothing if a cable TV socket already exists, and €90 if a new connection is needed.

The table below crosses the three things that actually decide your move: what it costs, how much time to allow, and the territory covered.

The details that inflate the bill sit in the operators' footnotes. At VOO, laying or replacing the cable stays free up to 10 metres, beyond that it is billed, and an evening appointment between 5 pm and 8 pm costs €25 extra. At Proximus, the €59 can come with connection fees if the new address is not yet linked to the network. The price shown on the "moving" page is a starting point, not a total.

Is the transfer really free?

Rarely in the strict sense. "Free" here means the operator does not bill the relocation, not that there is no cost. Orange keeps its promise on Love services, and even adds 100 GB per month for two months on the mobile plan when you move.

The rest depends on the state of the home you are moving into. A new build, a renovation, a flat that was never connected: in all three cases you are not paying for a transfer, you are paying for an installation. And an installation, at any Belgian operator, runs between €50 and €100 depending on the job.

Does moving house let you cancel for free?

No, not on its own. The SPF Économie (the federal economy department) puts it bluntly: moving does not wipe out contractual obligations, especially if the company can supply the service at the new address. What frees you is the age of the contract, not the van.

The Belgian rule is generous, and plenty of movers do not know it. After six months, any telecom contract, fixed-term or open-ended, can be cancelled without reason and without penalty (SPF Économie). The contractual notice period must be respected, but it cannot exceed two months. In plain terms: if your subscription is more than six months old on moving day, you have no reason to negotiate an exit "because I'm moving". You simply leave.

Before six months, the maths change. Early cancellation obliges you to pay the full subscription fees due until the end of the sixth month. And if you received a welcome gift, the operator can claim an additional payment, capped at the residual value of the product at the time of cancellation. A smartphone handed over in January still costs something in April.

What if the provider does not serve the new address?

There, the balance tips. An operator that cannot supply the service at your new address can no longer perform its contract, and the "especially if the company can supply the service" argument collapses. This is exactly the situation of the Telenet customer crossing the language border.

Ask for written confirmation that the address is not eligible, by email or through the form, and keep it. Cancelling by phone is not enough: the law requires something written, a letter, an email or a text to a number set up for that purpose. That written trace is worth more than an hour on the phone with customer service.

Should you use the move to switch provider?

Moving house is the best moment in a subscription's whole life to switch. There is no outage to fear, because there will be one anyway. There is no equipment to reinstall, because you will have to do it regardless. And if the contract is more than six months old, leaving costs nothing.

Operators know this, and their moving offers give it away. Telenet offers up to €150 off the subscription over the first six months when you register a move. Orange throws in 100 GB per month for two months. These gestures are not random: moving is the moment when an operator treats you like a prospect while you are already a customer, because it is the moment you are most likely to leave.

Does a transfer keep my promo?

It keeps your contract, so your current price. If your welcome promotion ended eighteen months ago, you carry the full price to the new address, and you will keep it for as long as you stay put.

This is the blind spot of the "free and hassle-free move". The relocation costs nothing, and that is true. But it reinstalls you exactly where you were: on the post-promo price, the one that pushed your bill up without you understanding why. A €0 transfer that leaves you €10 above the market for two years costs €240.

The real cost over 24 months: transfer versus switch

Do the maths before you click, it fits in three lines. Transfer side: the relocation fee, once, plus your current price times 24. Switch side: activation fees on the new line, once, plus the promo price for its duration, plus the full price for the remaining months.

A concrete example. You have been with Proximus for three years, promo long gone. The transfer costs you €59 and leaves you on your current price. If that price is €10 a month above the best equivalent offer at your new address, your "cheap" move costs €59 plus €240 in tariff gap over two years. Going to a competitor with €60 activation fees and six months at half price changes the total entirely, without a single extra minute offline.

How far in advance should you tell your operator?

Three weeks minimum at Proximus, Orange and VOO, and those three weeks assume a socket already exists on arrival. Without a connection, count on 6 to 8 weeks. Telenet is the most demanding of the lot when the cable has to be laid.

These lead times are not safety margins invented by customer service. A connection requires work on the distribution network, sometimes an authorisation, often a technician slot booked weeks ahead. Proximus itself recommends 4 to 6 weeks rather than the official 3 weeks, which says a lot about how reliable the advertised minimum is.

How do you avoid two weeks without internet?

Subscribe with the new provider before cancelling the old one, never the other way round. It is the only rule that matters, and it is the one rushed movers break most often.

Easy Switch exists precisely for this. This legally framed procedure, supervised by BIPT (the Belgian telecom regulator, IBPT in French), lets your new operator cancel your old internet or TV subscription on your behalf, synchronising the cut-off with the activation. You have nothing to arrange with the outgoing operator, and you do not pay two subscriptions in parallel for a month. Cancel yourself first and you manufacture the very gap you wanted to avoid.

For more, compare the best internet provider, check whether a no-commitment subscription is worth the premium at your new address, or go back to the guide to choosing an internet provider. Cancellation rules are detailed by the SPF Économie and the Easy Switch procedure by BIPT.