Norway is a “wired country” in the modern sense. On a per-capita basis, it ranks among the top 10 countries in the world in telephones installed, mobile phones in use, Internet hosts and Internet use. Though there are no comparative figures, it probably leads in the number of broadcast stations, due to its rugged topography and sparse population. And its most remote town, Longyearbyen on the main island of the Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic, is the world’s most wired community, thanks in part to two optical fibre telecommunications cables laid to the mainland in 2003.

Understandably, competition is fierce, and the array of telecommunications, home entertainment and Internet services is large and varied, with the result that prices are reasonable and in some cases lower than in other European countries.

Broadband (Bredbånd)

Broadband Internet access, usually shortened to “broadband”, is defined as a data transmission at rates greater than the 384 kbit/s possible via ISDN lines.

Two means of broadband transmission, ADSL and cable, are available across the country and are most used in homes and in small businesses. ADSL, the abbreviation for Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line, enables high data-rate transmission over conventional copper telephone lines and is available almost everywhere that digital services are provided via lines already in place. Broadband via cable is available wherever cable TV services are provided. Both ADSL and cable can carry broadband at rates of up to 4000 Kbit/s downstream (from the network to the subscriber) and up to 400 Kbit/s upstream (from the subscriber to the network), and most service providers offer three or four alternative subscriptions, graduated in price according to the transmission rates supplied. Higher transmission rates, as used by businesses, are available in urban areas.

Larger businesses, particularly those with high-content image or video transmission, will have more costly, higher transmission rate connections that operate at rates of up to nearly 40 Gbit/s. Three technologies are available: leased lines, wireless access and optical fibres.

Broadcasting companies (kringkastingsselskap)

There are five national broadcasting companies as well as numerous local broadcasting stations. The five national companies are NRK, TV2, TV3, TVNorge and P4:

• NRK, the abbreviation of Norsk Rikskringkasting (“Norwegian national broadcasting”), is the former governmental monopoly. In 1988, broadcasting was deregulated, and NRK accordingly was reorganised to compete with new private broadcasters. It now has two TV channels, NRK 1 and NRK 2, and three radio channels, P1, P2 and P3 as well as the classical radio (NRK alltidklassisk) and news (alltidnyheter) channels in major cities and the Sámi-language service (Sami radio) in Finnmark county, the most northern in the country, www.nrk.no.
• TV2 is the principal national private, advertising-financed competitor to NRK, with its headquarters and major studios in Bergen. In 1992, it started TV broadcasting, www.tv2.no, and it is the principal owner of Kanal24, a national day-round radio channel, www.kanal24.no.
• TV3 Viasat is a national private broadcaster owned by Modern Times Group, a Scandinavian media company. TV3 began operations in 1988, and transmits programmes via satellite and cable, but not on conventional TV broadcast channels. Its main studios in London originate programmes for its three national channels, for Denmark, Norway and Sweden, www.tv3.no.
• TVNorge is an advertising-financed, satellite, cable and local TV broadcaster owned by an American company, Scandinavian Broadcasting Systems (SBS), and by TV2. It started in 1988, and its programme profile is “young, modern and entertaining”. TVNorge was the first TV channel to regularly broadcast an all-Norwegian soap opera drama series.
• P4 is the country’s first national private radio channel, with studios in several cities. It started in 1993 and now transmits a mix of music and news, 24 hours a day.

The programmes broadcast by these five companies are listed in daily newspapers across the country, usually along with locally available satellite and cable TV and radio programmes.

Cable TV (Kabel-TV)

Almost all cities and towns across the country have one or more cable TV services, and satellite TV broadcasts can be received in all but the northernmost parts of the country. If you live in a house with a view of the southern horizon, you may choose between mounting an outside dish antenna for satellite TV or putting in a cable for cable TV. But if your house has no view of the southern horizon or if you live in a block of flats where individual outside antennas are not permitted, cable TV is the only way you may receive channels in addition to those broadcast locally. Houses and flats in smaller blocks usually will connect to a local network of cables strung on poles or run underground like telephone cables, whilst larger blocks of flats may be fitted with satellite TV receivers and their own cable distribution networks. Cable TV companies offer various installation and subscription services for both ordinary broadcast channels and pay-TV channels, for which decoders usually are fitted. The two major cable TV companies are Canal Digital, a Telenor subsidiary, www.canaldigital.no and UPC, part of United Pan-European Communications, www.upc.no. You can find local operators listed under kabel-TV or antenner in the Yellow Pages.

Callback telephone services (Call-back)

Callback services offer low rates for international calls by routing them through telephone exchanges in other countries, principally the USA, presently the country with the world’s lowest rates for international calls. Procedures vary, but all involve dialling a callback service access number at a telephone exchange abroad using a personal identity number, hanging up, and then waiting a few seconds for the exchange to call back and provide a dialling tone to place a call. Depending on how the callback feature is implemented, the initial ordering call may be charged at the Norwegian telecommunication company’s international rate. Otherwise, call costs are at the rates offered by the callback company.

Innumerable companies round the world offer callback; you can find them by searching online using “callback” as a searchword. Two Norwegian companies offering callback are CallNPay, www.callnpay.no and Telefonkort, www.telefonkort.net.

DAB

DAB, the abbreviation for Digital Audio Broadcasting, is a means of sending CD-like sound to relatively simple receivers that also may be configured to receive data services. Worldwide, more than 300 million people now can receive some 600 different DAB services. In Norway, 34 transmitters now provide DAB to about half the population, and plans call for coverage of 95% of the population within a few years. For further information on DAB, contact the World Forum for Digital Audio Broadcasting in London, www.worlddab.org.

DRM

DRM, the abbreviation for Digital Radio Mondiale, is an evolving European technology for a non-proprietary, digital radio AM broadcasting in the long-wave, medium-wave and short-wave bands at frequencies below 30 MHz. DRM development was triggered in 1998 in Paris at a meeting of broadcasters and manufacturers, and now there is a DRM Consortium with 80 members from 25 countries round the world. For further information on DRM, contact the Consortium office in Geneva, www.drm.org; for the latest news of DRM in Norway, contact NORKRING, www.norkring.no.

DTT

DTT, the abbreviation for Digital Terrestrial Television, is an evolving technology for a non-proprietary, digital transmission of video, sound and data by television transmitters on Earth (as opposed to broadcasting via satellite). DTT permits more programmes to be broadcast without increasing the number of radio channels used and also supports other services, such as interactive television. The international DVB (Digital Video Broadcasting) standard is used; for further details, visit the DVB website at www.dvb.org. The Geneva-based Digital Terrestrial Television Action Group, DigiTAG, now has 65 members in 20 countries and offers extensive background information on the technology at www.digitag.org.

The first regular DTT transmission began in 1998 in the UK. Test DTT transmission began in 2000 in Norway, and current plans call for extensive coverage in 2006. For further details, contact NORKRING, www.norkring.no.

Enquiries (Nummeropplysning)

Until 2002, there were two enquiry numbers operated by Telenor and its predecessors, 180 for Norwegian numbers and 181 for international numbers. In step with the deregulation of telecommunications, enquiries were deregulated in 2002 and now several companies offer enquiry services using varying charges using four-digit numbers in the range 1850-1899. Telenor enquiries now are 1881 for Norwegian numbers, 1860 for Norwegian numbers in the Sámi language and 1882 for international numbers. Three other companies offer enquiries for Norwegian numbers: Scandinavia Online at 1850, Nummeropplysninger at 1880 and EasyConnect at 1890.

Ex-directory number (Hemmelig nummer)

Slightly less than 2% of all telephone numbers are ex-directory. Consequently they do not appear in any directory, are not available at enquiries, are not made available in lists for telephone and postal sales and are not forwarded for screen display at a called number. Any subscriber may order an ex-directory number against a surcharge. If you have analogue telephone lines, you may elect any one of them as an ex-directory number. But if you have an ISDN line, all must be either listed or ex-directory. An ex-directory subscriber may also elect not to receive telephone directories. For further information, contact Telenor online at www.privat.telenor.no or call Tel: 05000.

Freephone (Grønt nummer)

Calls dialled to numbers starting with 800 are free for the caller. Some organisations can be dialled free from abroad using an international freephone number (internasjonalt grønt nummer) in each of the 35 countries where the service is offered or a universal freephone number (universelt grønt nummer) that is the same in all countries. Other numbers starting with 8 involve charges to the caller:

• 810 general services, usually charged at the local call rate (lokaltakst)
• 815 Internet servers
• 820 premium rate numbers for useful services
• 829 premium rate numbers for entertainment services.

High Definition Television (HDTV)

The Euro 1080 Satellite TV broadcasting channel provides HDTV cinema-quality programmes suitable for large screens and receivable at locations with a clear view of the southern horizon toward the Astra satellites at 19.2°E. For further details, visit the Euro 1080 website www.euro1080.tv/station.htm and the Astra website at www.ses-astra.com.

Internet (Internett)

Norway has more than a million Internet hosts, equivalent to almost one host for every four people, a number that ranks the country fourth in the world (behind first-place USA, with more than half as many hosts as people). Accordingly, Internet access is commonplace and the market for it is competitive. Some 64 companies offer broadband wired and wireless access, and nine companies offer dial-up access via analogue or digital telephone lines as well as wired and wireless broadband access. The only difficulty in finding an Internet access provider may be in distinguishing between the services of the 73 companies. For an updated overview and comparison of the various offerings and prices, visit the Norwegian Post and Telecommunications Authority consumer service website at www.telepriser.no.

Internet telephony (Internett-telefoni)

Internet telephony, called Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), permits calls to be made between multimedia-equipped computers connected to the Internet or between computers and telephones. The principal advantage of VoIP is its low price compared to conventional telephony. A disadvantage is that the Internet does not carry voice signals, but rather packets of digitised and compressed speech, so the quality of connection is not as good as that of a telephone circuit. Telenor offers Internet telephony for businesses, for details Tel: 05000. Otherwise, there are many providers of the hardware and software used to set up connections, including Net2Phone, www.net2phone.com and Skype, www.skype.com.

ISDN lines (ISDN linjer)

Across Europe, ISDN, the abbreviation for Integrated Services Digital Network, has been available since the mid-1990s, in Norway since 1994. An ISDN telephone has several advantages over a traditional analogue telephone. Even though it uses a two-wire connection as does an analogue telephone, an individual subscriber connection can carry two circuits that can carry simultaneous calls; if you are speaking on the telephone, you can also send or receive a fax or email message. With an ISDN line, a computer connection to the Internet needs no modem, because the connection is “all-digital”. Communication is also far faster, at least twice the speed of the fastest modem. If you wish, you may have as many as 10 separate telephone numbers, instead of just one, as with an analogue telephone. Unless you specifically request that it be cancelled, your ISDN telephone displays both the numbers you call and the numbers from which incoming calls are made. ISDN telephones and installations currently are more expensive than for analogue, but prices are falling. ISDN calls are charged by the second, as are analogue calls. The typical ISDN installation consists of a network termination box. Called ‘NTI’, the box provides at least two and as many as eight digital lines and, if ordered, up to two analogue lines. So if you have a traditional analogue telephone and a telefax, you can connect them to the analogue ports of an NTI box or adapter, yet have one or more digital lines available for your computer(s). ISDN telephones and equipment are sold in telecommunications and electronics shops as well as in departments of larger consumer white goods and brown goods supermarkets.

Mobile phone networks (Mobiltelefoni)

Almost all mobile telephone networks now are digital, principally to the international GSM standards. Two mobile phone networks, NetCom and Telenor, provide coverage across the country, and Teletopia has a network providing coverage in the greater Oslo area. In turn, 16 service suppliers, who have customer systems but no infrastructure of their own, resell services on the NetCom and Telenor networks in competition with the network owners. The 19 companies compete principally through subsidising promotional sales in shops of mobile phones (Chapter 14).

NICAM

NICAM, the abbreviation for Near Instantaneous Companded Audio Multiplex, is a format for sending digital sound over television. It was developed by the BBC and first implemented in the UK in 1991. Since 1998, all television stations in Norway transmit NICAM-enabled sound.

NORKRING

NORKRING is the country’s principal owner and operator of television and radio broadcasting stations, in all some 47 main sites and 2,700 local sites, together having more than 6,500 transmitters. All the services of the major broadcasting companies are transmitted by NORKRING transmitters, and the company provides infrastructure for the Telenor and NetCom mobile phone networks. The head office is near Oslo, and there are regional offices in Bergen, Hamar, Kvitsøy, Lødingen and Trondheim. For further information on broadcasting, in Norwegian and in English, contact the head office, Telenor Broadcast, 1331 Fornebu, Tel: 67892000, Fax: 67893614, www.norkring.no. For information on all services, contact the customer support centre, Tryvannsveien 63, 0791 Oslo, Tel: 22773000, Fax: 22773090, tryvakt@telenor.com.

The Norwegian Post and Telecommunications Authority (Post- og teletilsynet)

The Norwegian Post and Telecommunications Authority oversees postal and telecommunications services. All equipment to be connected to fixed telecommunications lines must be approved either by the Authority or by an equivalent authority in an EEA country, to ensure that it conforms to international standards and thereby will work correctly when connected. The Authority also publishes extensive consumer and business sector information, in Norwegian and in English. For further information, contact the head office of the Authority, Revierstredet 2, PO Box 447 Sentrum, 0104 Oslo, Tel: 22824600, Fax: 22824640, www.npt.no.

Pagers (Personsøkere)

Pagers, which are small radio receivers, pre-date mobile phones and long were popular with people who wished to stay in touch while on the move. But with time, more versatile digital mobile phones obsolesced pagers, and the last pager services were closed down in 2003.

Phone cards (Telekort)

Phone cards resemble plastic credit cards and are used to place calls at phones with international standard telephone keypads that have asterisk (*) and hash mark (#) keys. Two types are available in Norway, prepaid smart cards and prepaid international cards.

Prepaid smart cards (TeleKort) contain a microchip, are used in any Norwegian card pay phone, and are sold with 23, 56 or 100 message units by Narvesen newsagents, Mix kiosks, Telehus equipment shops and kiosks near card phones. Almost all of the country’s pay phones now are card phones; phone boxes using coins are in the minority.

Prepaid international phone cards are simple, throw-away cards that may be used in any of the 35 countries supporting the service. This is a simple card of a type first used in 1974-1976 in Italy and now common round the world. A card has a specified amount of prepaid call time, which you activate by scraping off a latex film to reveal a Personal Identity Number (PIN), just as you scrape the latex film off the play area of a lottery scratch card. Calls are placed by dialling a freephone number and then keying in the PIN to get the dialling tone to place the call. Most cards are valid only to specified countries, usually listed on their reverse sides or in attachments to them. The cards are sold by kiosks, newsagents and other shops; the most popular Norwegian card is Telenor Plus, and the more popular foreign cards include GlobalOne, MCI, OnlineTelecom and Unitel.

The faces of phone cards feature various artwork and photographs, and collecting them has become a worldwide hobby, with websites, clubs and auctions.