RDS

If you have an FM radio, particularly one in your car, you may benefit from RDS, the abbreviation for Radio Data System, which is implemented on all four national radio channels across the country. When you tune in to a programme, RDS will identify it and display its name. As you move but stay tuned to the programme, RDS will automatically select the strongest radio channel sending that programme. In most of the country, RDS also supports TMC, the abbreviation for Traffic Message Channel, which provides continuous road information from the Public Roads Administration (Statens vegvesen), www.vegvesen.no.

Satellite telephones (Satellitt telefon)

In 1976, Norway became the first country to implement satellite communications in its telephone network, for long-distance circuits between the mainland and the Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic. And in 1978, Norway was one of the first countries to implement satellite communications for ships, in the predecessor of the Inmarsat system. The Eik earth station, south of Stavanger on the west coast, now has the world’s greatest volume of satellite communications traffic. The earth station at Nittedal, north of Oslo, is one of the leading stations in Europe in supplying VSAT-based business communications. NERA, a Norwegian company, is a world leader in building large satellite earth stations and in manufacturing mobile satellite communications terminals for use on land and at sea. For further details, contact NERA Satcom, Bergerveien 12, PO Box 91, 1375 Billingstad, Tel: 67244700, Fax: 67244710. www.nera.no.

Satellite TV broadcasting (Satellitt kringkasting)

Over Europe, two types of geostationary satellites are used for TV broadcasting: higher-power Direct Broadcasting Satellites (DBS), and telecommunications satellites. Signals from the DBS are in the 11.7-12.5 GHz band and are intended primarily for reception directly by home viewers using parabolic “dish” antennas. Signals from the telecommunications satellites are in the 10.95-11.2 GHz and 12.5-12.71 GHz bands and are intended primarily for reception by ground stations that distribute them further by cable, but they may also be received by suitably fitted home antennas. More than 20 satellites broadcast programmes that can be received in Norway. The two leading operators are Astra, with 11 satellites, www.ses-astra.com and Telenor, with two satellites, www.thor-satellites.com.

As seen from Norway, the satellites appear at an elevation of three to five degrees above the southern horizon. So to receive broadcasts, you must have a clear view of the sky to the south toward the satellite of your choice. More than 100 TV and radio channels are available, at different frequencies, broadcasting systems and encoding. Some channels are free whilst there are charges for others. Various subscription schemes involving decoder purchase or rental and programme cards are offered. For companies that sell and install dish antennas and offer viewing subscriptions, see satellittanlegg, antenner or radio og TV in the Yellow Pages.

Station channels and frequencies (Sender kanaler og frekvenser)

As a rule, TV channel numbers and radio station frequencies are not included in the programmes published in daily newspapers. So, if you don’t know the channel number or frequency of a station, you may struggle to find it. Fortunately, there are two online interactive station locator maps of the entire country, one by NORKRING at www.norkring.no/htmldoc/forsidestasjonsnett.asp and one by leading broadcaster NRK at www.nrk.no/frekvens.

Telecommunications charges (Telekom priser)

Bills for fixed-line telephone services are made up of subscription and traffic.

The subscription charges (faste avgifter) are paid to the company that installed and owns the physical telephone lines to your home. Historically, Telenor and its predecessors have installed all lines. However, 17 other companies now provide subscriptions, either on their own lines or on lines leased from Telenor.

Traffic charges (samtaleavgifter) are paid for actual use. Usually they consist of a setup charge, which you pay for every connected call, and a call charge, calculated at a rate depending on the time of day and the location or type of service of the number called.

If you have agreed to a subscription and traffic provided by one company, you will receive one bill, usually quarterly. If you are a Telenor subscriber and elect another company for calls, you will receive two bills, one from each company.

Telecommunications companies (Telekommunikasjon)

As in other countries where telecommunications evolved as a government service, three groups of companies now compete.

A “first operator” is either a government organisation or its privatised successor and usually still supplies the fixed-line connections to subscribers. In Norway, the first operator is Telenor, the successor of the Telecommunications Directorate (Teledirektoratet), privatised 1 January 1995 and now the country’s seventh largest company, offering all telecommunications services.

A “second operator” is a company permitted to compete with the government organisation in the initial privatisation of telecommunications. NetCom is the principal second operator.

A “third operator” is a company that comes in later to compete with the established first and second operators. The leading third operator is Tele2Norge, a subsidiary of NetCom Systems of Sweden.

In Norway, privatisation began in 1989 and telecommunications were completely deregulated starting 1 January 1998. The result is that 50 companies now compete with Telenor. For an overview of the companies and their offerings and prices, visit the Norwegian Post and Telecommunications customer service website at www.telepriser.no.

Telecommunications numbers (Telekom-nummere)

Almost all telephone numbers, including those for telefax terminals and computers connected via modem or ISDN line to access Internet servers, have eight digits (there are no national destination or “area” codes). There are three exceptions:

• three-digit emergency and helpline numbers starting with 1, as 110 fire and 180 enquiries
• four-digit service numbers, as for enquiries, 1850-1899
• five-digit short numbers starting with 0 and in range 02000-09999, principally for businesses requiring countrywide numbers.

The eight digits of most numbers are most often written in groups of two digits: NN NN NN NN or in a three-three-two grouping: NNN NNN NN (N is a number, 0-9, except that the first N cannot be 0 or 1). The national prefix for Norway is 47, which is written with a plus sign, +47, ahead of the eight-digit number. Many European countries now use a double zero to access an international number, so from abroad, a Norwegian number most often is dialled 0047 NN NN NN NN. The prefixes for the public telephone, data and telex networks in the Nordic countries are listed in Table 31.

Initial digits assigned by counties. Source: Telenor.

Prefixes for countries worldwide are listed in the telephone, data communications and telex directories. Within the country, the initial digits of eight-digit telephone and telefax numbers are assigned to counties.

Telefax (Telefaks)

Any fixed or mobile telephone connection may also be used for telefax communications. Telefax terminals communicate using one of four Groups, which are protocols, or rules for transmission. The older Group 1, which transmitted a page in about six minutes, and Group 2, which transmitted a page in about three minutes, are obsolete and no longer available. Group 3, which transmits a page in about one minute via a conventional analogue telephone line, is now the most used. Group 4, which transmits a page in a few seconds via an ISDN line, is now replacing Group 3, though terminals for it are more expensive. A telefax terminal purchased abroad may be used only if it meets the requirements of the Norwegian Post and Telecommunications Authority. Mains and telephone line connectors vary from country to country, so telefax terminals brought into Norway also should be checked for compatibility with the mains power points and telephone line jacks. A separate line and number for a telefax terminal is preferable to a fax/phone switch connected to the same line as a telephone, particularly if telefaxes are to be received from abroad. This is because telefax protocols include waiting times, which are sufficient to cope with the delays in most international connections, but may be exceeded if a fax/phone switch introduces further delay.

Telephone (Telefon)

Norway is among the leading 10 countries in the world in the number of telephones compared to its population, with just 1.4 people per telephone line, only slightly more than first-place Bermuda (1.2). Many telecommunications companies compete in supplying services both conventional analogue and digital ISDN lines. A telephone brought in from another country may be used only if it meets the requirements of the Norwegian Post and Telecommunications Authority. Some older dial telephones are still in use, but are no longer sold, because the telephone keypad now is standard.

Telephone directories (Telefonkatalog)

Telephone directories are published by Findexa, a Telenor subsidiary. Directories are divided into the White Pages (Hvitesider) listing private subscribers by surname, the Pink Pages (Rosasider) A-to-Å (A-to-Z plus three additional letters, Ø, Æ, Å) listing public and private sector businesses and organisations by registered name, and the Yellow Pages (Gulesider) classified and indexed listing businesses and organisations. Listings are alphabetical, by surname or company name, then by first name(s), title or occupation, address, postcode and telephone number. For directory assistance, call Enquiries. Further details on directory use are given in English, German, French and Spanish in the general information section of the Pink and White Pages. For further information on printed, online and CD directories, contact Findexa, Olaf Helsets vei 5, PO Box 6705 Etterstad, 0609 Oslo, Tel: 81544418, Fax: 22771001, www.findexa.no.

Telephone keypad (Tastatur)

The international standard keypad is used across the country, on all telephone instruments, mobile telephones and telefax terminals, as well as on other devices for keying in numbers, such as ATM and credit card verification terminals. It has 10 number keys and two symbol keys, as shown below. The number keys do not have letters, as do the keys of the North American version of the international standard keypad. The keypads of some models of telefax terminals and digital telephone instruments have letters to facilitate keying in information for alphanumeric display. Because these letters are not used for dialling, their arrangement may or may not agree with that of the North American keyboard. So if you call a number in North America that is listed by its letters only, you will need to know the letter positions on the standard keypad. They are: ABC on 2, DEF on 3, GHI on 4. JKL on 5. MNO on 6, PRS on 7, TUV on 8 and WXY on 9; there is no Q or Z.

International standard touch-tone keypad (adapted from ITU-T Recommendation Q.23, 1988).

Television standards (TV standard)

Norwegian television, like that of other western European countries, except France, uses the PAL (Phase Alternating Line) system. So TV receivers brought in from the American continent and in Japan and other Asian countries, which use the NTSC (National Television System Committee) standard or from France or some eastern European countries, which use the SECAM (Sequential Couleur Avec Memorie) system cannot be used. There are two reasons for this. First, the way of encoding the signals that make up the TV picture differ between the three systems. Second, the NTSC system, first implemented in 1953 in the USA, has 30 picture frames per second, compatible with the 60 Hz mains frequency, whilst the PAL and SECAM systems, first implemented in Europe in the 1960s, have 25 frames per second, compatible with the 50 Hz mains frequency of Europe. TV receivers brought in from a country using the PAL systems can be used, although some may need adjustment to suit the versions of PAL used in the Norwegian VHF and UHF TV bands.

TV Licence fee (NRK lisens)

As elsewhere in Europe, the State-owned Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (Norsk Rikskringkasting – NRK) levies an annual licence fee – in 2005, NOK 1,968 (including 7% VAT) a year – on all households using a television set. A VCR with a TV receiver function counts as a television set. The licence fee must be paid in advance for six months at a time, and is due 1 March and 1 September. A television set is subject to the licence fee from and including the month of its purchase or import to Norway, as household goods. No reductions are granted for less than six months use or for lack of use due to mains failure or television set failure. A household may have more than one television set registered for one licence, including a television set at a temporary second home, such as a summer cottage, without paying another licence. If you are not registered with a licence and buy a new television set, tell the shop when you purchase it. An application form will be submitted for you along with notification of its sale. If you buy a used television set or bring one into the country, you must apply for a licence to the Licence Office; NRK Lisensavdelingen, 8607 Mo i Rana, Tel: 75122250, www.nrk.no/lisens.

Videos and VCRs (Video)

Video cassettes from abroad may not always play on VCRs (Video Cassette Recorders) in Norway, and Norwegian video cassettes may not play on VCRs abroad. This is because there are three television standards. Some VCRs will play cassettes of all three systems, so it’s best to check before buying.

However, video cassettes and VCRs are disappearing, as consumers and shops favour the more convenient Digital Video Discs (DVDs). Starting in January 2005, video shops and video rental outlets are phasing out video cassettes and stocking only DVDs.