Summary

This annual publication, Norway-Telecoms, IP Networks, Digital Media and Forecasts, provides a comprehensive overview of the trends and developments in the telecommunications and digital media markets in Norway.
 
Norway's telecom market has shown only marginal growth since 2006. The economic downturn which has affected the global economy since 2008 resulted in market revenue having increased by only about 0.2% in 2009, though some recovery is expected in 2010 as consumer confidence returns and as government stimulus investment helps develop fibre infrastructure and greater consumer adoption of bundled services. Fixed-line revenue is expected to fall by about 10% in 2010, while overall revenue will be buttressed by the broadband and mobile data sectors.
 
In the broadband sector, by early 2010 DSL access represented only 63% of all connections, or about 7% less than a year earlier. The decline is partly due to the migration of DSL subscribers to faster cable broadband networks provided by Get and Telenor, as also to the wider availability of fibre networks. The decline should be slowed during 2010 as operator investment in DSL network upgrades come online, but the overall trend to 2015 will be the migration to fibre networks in the major cities and smaller towns, while LTE rollouts in 2010 and 2011 will provide a viable alternative to DSL in rural areas.
 
Mobile broadband services available on HSPA and LTE networks have shown particularly strong growth, with the number of subscribers increasing by about 130% in 2009 and data use doubling in the year. The sector will show exceptional promise in 2010 and 2011 as the two main mobile network operators expand the reach of LTE technology and as competition influences the introduction of cheaper flat rate data contracts.
 
In the broadcasting sector, analogue switch off was completed in December 2009. The share of DTTV and IPTV, largely based on fibre networks, is expected to continue to increase steadily in coming years at the expense of the satellite platform.
 
Norway-key telecom parameters-2008; 2010
Sector | 2008 | 2010 (e) |
Broadband: |   |   |
Fixed broadband subscribers (million) | 1.58 | 1.72 |
Fixed broadband penetration rate | 34% | 39% |
Mobile broadband subscribers (thousand) | 266 | 600 |
Subscribers to telecoms services: |   |   |
Fixed-line telephony (million) | 1.90 | 1.78 |
SIM cards in service (million) | 5.25 | 5.40 |
SIM penetration (population) | 110% | 115% |
 
Key highlights:
*  Telecom market investment will be focussed on the broadband and mobile sectors in 2010 as operators upgrade networks and compete for subscribers. Overall telecom sector revenue should recover slightly from the negligible growth shown in 2009.
*  The value of the fixed-line sector will continue to fall during the next few years in response to consumer migration to mobile services. Unlike many other European markets, VoIP has shown little growth.
*  In the fibre sector the government has focussed on developing a sympathetic regulatory regime to reduce the cost of deployment and provide access to ducts for competing players. As a result the number of broadband access facilities provided through fibre has increased significantly since 2003, and fibre-based broadband will increasingly dent the share held by DSL and cable networks.
*  TeliaSonera launched the world's first commercial LTE network in Oslo in December 2009 (in conjunction with a similar launch in Stockholm). The company' planned network expansion during 2010 will be complemented by network rollouts from Telenor. The country is at the forefront of these mobile technology developments, and in coming years will set the pace for rural wireless broadband adoption as well as establishing a pattern of migration from fixed-line broadband services.
 
For those needing high level strategic information and objective analysis on the telecommunications sector in Norway, this report is essential reading and gives further information on:
*  Developments in the digital broadcast market, IPTV and VoD;
*  Market liberalisation and regulatory issues;
*  The impact of the global economic crisis;
*  Telecoms operators-privatisation, acquisitions, new licences;
*  Internet and broadband development and growth;
*  VoIP, IPTV, VoD, digital TV and DTTV;
*  Historical and current subscriber statistics;
*  Average Revenue per User (ARPU) statistics and forecasts.
 
Data in this report is the latest available at the time of preparation and may not be for the current year.

Table of Contents

1. Key Statistics
2. Telecommunications Market
2.1 Overview of Norway's telecom market
2.1.1 Significant market changes
3. Regulatory Environment
3.1 History
3.2 Regulatory authority
3.2.1 Norwegian Post and Telecommunications Authority (NPT)
3.3 Telecom sector liberalisation in Norway
3.3.1 Privatisation of Telenor
3.3.2 Interconnect
3.3.3 Access
3.3.4 Number portability (NP)
3.3.5 Carrier PreSelection (CPS)
4. Fixed Network Market
4.1 Overview of operators
4.2 Telenor
4.3 TeliaSonera
4.3.1 Wholesaling
4.4 Tele2
4.5 BaneTele
4.5.1 Wholesaling
5. Telecommunications Infrastructure
5.1 National telecom network
5.2 Leased lines
5.3 IP migration
5.4 International infrastructure
5.4.1 Submarine cable networks
5.4.2 Satellite networks
6. Broadband Market
6.1 Overview
6.1.1 Broadband statistics
6.2 Cable modems
6.3 Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL)
6.3.1 Overview
6.3.2 Telenor
6.3.3 NextGenTel
6.3.4 Other DSL developments: SDSL
6.4 Fibre-to-the-Home (FttH) networks
6.4.1 Overview
6.4.2 Utilities
6.4.3 Telenor
6.5 Broadband Powerline (BPL)
6.6 Wireless broadband
6.6.1 Overview
6.6.2 Wireless broadband 2.3GHz band
6.6.3 Wireless LANs
6.6.4 WiFi
6.6.5 WiMAX
6.6.6 Fixed Wireless Access (FWA)
6.6.7 Mobile broadband
6.6.8 Internet via satellite
7. Digital Media
7.1 Overview of media convergence
7.1.1 Key general trends
7.1.2 Business models
7.1.3 Regulatory issues
7.1.4 VoIP
7.2 Digital TV
7.2.1 Free-to-Air (FTA) TV
7.2.2 Broadband (IPTV)
7.2.3 Cable TV (CATV)
7.2.4 Satellite TV
7.2.5 Digital Terrestrial TV (DTTV)
8. Mobile Communications
8.1 Overview of Norway's mobile market
8.1.1 Mobile statistics
8.1.2 Operator market shares
8.2 Regulatory issues
8.2.1 Spectrum regulations and spectrum auctions
8.2.2 Roaming
8.2.3 Number portability
8.2.4 Mobile termination rates (MTRs)
8.3 Mobile technologies
8.3.1 Analogue
8.3.2 Digital
8.3.3 Third Generation (3G) mobile
8.4 Major mobile operators
8.4.1 Telenor Mobile
8.4.2 NetCom
8.4.3 Mobile Norway
8.4.4 Teletopia
8.4.5 Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs)
8.5 Mobile voice services
8.5.1 Prepaid
8.6 Mobile data services
8.6.1 Overview
8.6.2 Short Message Service (SMS)
8.6.3 Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS)
8.6.4 General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)
8.6.5 High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA)
8.6.6 Enhanced data for GSM evolution (EDGE)
8.6.7 Long-term evolution (LTE)
8.6.8 Mobile TV
8.6.9 TETRA (TErrestrial Trunked RAdio)
8.6.10 Mobile broadband
8.7 Mobile content and applications
8.7.1 Location-based services
8.7.2 M-commerce
9. Forecasts
9.1 Broadband subscribers-2009-2012; 2019
9.1.1 Scenario 1-higher broadband subscriber growth
9.1.2 Scenario 2-lower broadband subscriber growth
9.2 Mobile ARPU-2009-2010; 2015
9.3 UMTS subscribers-2009-2010; 2015
10. Glossary of Abbreviations
Table 1-Country statistics Norway-2009
Table 2-Telecom revenue and investment statistics-H1 2009
Table 3-Telephone network statistics-2009
Table 4-Internet user statistics-September 2009
Table 5-Broadband statistics-June 2009
Table 6-Mobile statistics-2009
Table 7-National telecommunications authority
Table 8-Total telecom turnover by sector-2004-2009
Table 9-Fixed-line traffic in minutes-2004-2009
Table 10-Fixed-line turnover in residential / business sectors-2004-2009
Table 11-Turnover by sector-2003-2009
Table 12-Proportion of turnover by sector-2005-2009
Table 13-Number of telecom providers by sector-2004-2009
Table 14-CPS and resale subscribers-2005-2009
Table 15-Operators' share of fixed-line traffic-2005-2009
Table 16-Cable telephony subscribers-2002-2008
Table 17-Share of turnover by operator-2002-2009
Table 18-Operator share of retail turnover-2007-2008
Table 19-Fixed-telephony revenue-2007-2008
Table 20-Telenor financial data (Norway)-2006-2009
Table 21-Telenor Group financial data-2007-2009
Table 22-Telenor fixed telephony operating statistics (retail)-2005-2009
Table 23-TeliaSonera (Norway) revenue-2006-2009
Table 24-TeliaSonera subscriber statistics-2005-2009
Table 25-Telenor wholesale lines-PSTN, ISDN, DSL, LLU-2004-2007
Table 26-Tele2 (Norway) subscribers by sector-2007-2009
Table 27-Tele2 (Norway) financial data by sector-2007-2009
Table 28-Telenor wholesale lines-PSTN, ISDN, DSL, LLU-2004-2007
Table 29-Fixed lines in service and penetration-1995; 1997; 1999-2010
Table 30-Fixed subscriptions-VoIP, cable-2001-2008
Table 31-Fixed subscriptions-PSTN / ISDN-2000-2008
Table 32-Leased line revenue by capacity-2005-2008
Table 33-Leased lines by capacity-2005-2008
Table 34-Broadband market turnover-2003-2009
Table 35-Internet users and penetration rate-1995-2010
Table 36-Total broadband subscribers and penetration rate-1999-2009
Table 37-Broadband household penetration-2000-2010
Table 38-Broadband penetration by technology-2004-2010
Table 39-Broadband market share by provider-2008-2009
Table 40-Cable subscribers-1999-2009
Table 41-Cable Digital subscribers-2007-2009
Table 42-ADSL subscribers-2000-2009
Table 43-Telenor retail broadband subscribers and local loops-2005-2009
Table 44-NextGenTel broadband subscribers, ARPU and revenue-2006-2009
Table 45-Fibre subscribers-2005-2010
Table 46-WLAN subscribers-2000-2007
Table 47-Operator share of mobile broadband subscribers-2007-2009
Table 48-Mobile broadband subscribers-2005-2010
Table 49-Mobile broadband data traffic and revenue-2007-2009
Table 50-Nordisk Mobiltelefon mobile broadband subscribers-2006-2008
Table 51-VoIP share of traffic by sector-2006-2008
Table 52-VoIP revenue and subscribers-2006-2009
Table 53-VoIP traffic and revenue per subscriber-2006-2009
Table 54-VoIP traffic and market share-2005-2009
Table 55-VoIP traffic and revenue market share by operator-2008
Table 56-VoIP market share of subscribers by provider-2006-2008
Table 57-Telenor VoIP subscribers-2005-2009
Table 58-Telio VoIP subscribers-2006-2007; 2009
Table 59-Broadband telephony, business and residential sectors-2000-2008
Table 60-Proportion of households with VoIP-2003-2009
Table 61-Share of pay TV subscribers by operator-2007-2008
Table 62-Share of pay TV subscribers by platform-June 2009
Table 63-Broadcasting revenue-2007-2009
Table 64-Share of TV reception by type-2007-2009
Table 65-Pay TV subscribers by type-2007-2009
Table 66-Telenor cable TV subscribers (Norway)-2006-2009
Table 67-Canal Digital satellite subscribers-2006-2009
Table 68-Canal Digital Group financial data-2007-2009
Table 69-Telenor satellite home antennae and penetration in Nordic region-1996-2010
Table 70-ViaSat DTH subscriber statistics (Nordics)-2007-2008
Table 71-ViaSat revenue (Nordics)-2006-2007
Table 72-Telenor cable subscribers (Norway)-2007-2009
Table 73-Mobile market turnover by sector-2007-2008
Table 74-Mobile market turnover by sector-H1 2009
Table 75-Mobile revenue-2002-2009
Table 76-Mobile revenue per subscriber and per minute-2001-2009
Table 77-Mobile operators, subscribers and annual change-September 2009
Table 78-Mobile subscribers and penetration rate-1995; 1997; 1999-2010
Table 79-Mobile traffic-2004-2009
Table 80-Subscriber, traffic, SMS and turnover market shares by provider-H1 2009
Table 81-European roaming charges-2007-2011
Table 82-Mobile number portings-2002-2007
Table 83-Average mobile number portings-2005-2009
Table 84-Nordisk Mobiltelefon financial data-2006-2008
Table 85-Nordisk Mobiltelefon subscribers (Norway)-2006-2008
Table 86-Telenor Mobil-subscribers, prepaid, SMS and market share-2000-2009
Table 87-Telenor Mobil financial data-2005-2009
Table 88-Telenor Mobil ARPU: blended, contract and prepaid-2004-2009
Table 89-NetCom subscribers and ARPU: blended, contract and prepaid-2002-2009
Table 90-NetCom revenue-2004-2009
Table 91-Mobile Norway subscribers by sector-2007-2009
Table 92-Mobile Norway financial data by sector-2007-2009
Table 93-Prepaid subscribers as share of total-1999; 2005-2008
Table 94-Telenor Mobile (Norway) contract and prepaid subscribers-2001-2009
Table 95-Mobile data traffic-2008-2009
Table 96-Annual SMS sent-1999-2009
Table 97-MMS messages sent and annual change-2004-2009
Table 98-Operator share of mobile broadband subscribers-2007-2008
Table 99-Mobile broadband subscribers-2005-2010
Table 100-Mobile broadband revenue-2006-2010
Table 101-Mobile broadband traffic-2007-2008
Table 102-Forecast broadband subscribers-higher market growth scenario-2009-2012; 2019
Table 103-Forecast broadband subscribers-lower market growth scenario-2009-2012; 2019
Table 104-Forecast mobile ARPU-2009-2010; 2015
Table 105-Forecast UMTS subscriber growth-2009-2010; 2015
Exhibit 1-Overview of media convergence
Exhibit 2-3G beauty contest license results in Norway-2000; 2003; 2007
Exhibit 3-Premium SMS market overview-2008