Riks TV DTT subscriber numbers grow
Norwegian DTT platform RiksTV has passed the 250,000-subscriber mark reports
Broadband TV. Just over one year since its launch the subscriber base is half
way to its 5 year target of 500,000.
Sales are strongest in the northern counties of Norway where analogue TV is
scheduled to stop in the autumn.
Source: Broadband TV News
Item added: 17th September 2008
HD/DTT services for the Olympics
Public service broadcaster NRK plans to provide coverage of
the forthcoming Olympic Games in High-Definition.
The HD services will be on NRK1 and NRK2, which are
available on DTT multiplex 1, coded in the MPEG-4, AVC.
HD services will begin on the 8th August, in time for the opening ceremony.
Main source: Digitag attributed to Broadband TV News
Item added: 21st July 2008
NTV appeals regulatory decision
The DTT platform operator NTV is appealing the regulatory
decision calling for it to make more capacity available on its DTT multiplexes
to rival operators.
NTV, which holds a license to operate 5 DTT multiplexes,
had planned to make half a multiplex available to rival DTT operators. However,
the Post and Telecommunications Authority has decided that more capacity should
be made available.
NTV is now calling on the Post and Telecommunications Authority to review its
decision.
Source: Digitag
Item added: 8th July 2008
NTV forced to re-think tendering of half
multiplex
The Norwegian Posts and Telecommunications Authority has asked the company
operating the Norwegian DTT platform, NTV, to reconsider its plan to put the
use of half a multiplex out to tender.
NTV holds licences to operate 5 multiplexes and had planned to allocate two
multiplexes to the public service broadcasters and two and a half multiplexes
to the commercial operator Riks TV, following analogue switch-off.
The remaining half multiplex, planned for offer, is thought by the regulators
to be insufficient to fulfil NTV’s obligation to ensure adequate competition on
the DTT platform.
Source: Broadband TV News
Item added: 23rd March 2008
Analogue switch off begins in March
Rogaland, which was the first region to start DTT services, will also be the
first to switch of analogue services when it does so on the 4th
March 2008 at 11.30.
By this time 98% of the 30,000 television households in the
region will be able to access DTT transmissions.
NTV a company jointly owned by NRK, TV2 and Telenor Broadcast Holdings is
coordinating the switch over process. Public channels NRK1, NRK2 and NRK3/NRK
Super will be transmitted free-to-air, as will TV2 local television and an open
access channel.
Fifteen Pay-TV subscription channels will also be available from RiksTV using a
Smartcard.
Source: Broadband
TV News
Item added: 22nd January 2008
Norges Televisjon (NTV) has announced plans to licence a
second Pay-TV operator on the country’s DTV network
NTV was granted a 15-year DTT licence by the Norwegian
Parliament in June 2006 mandating it with implementing and maintaining the new
network.
Three multiplexes will be in operation across Norway when implementation is
completed in 2010.
NTV already provides capacity for Pay TV operator RiksTV and
another half multiplex will be made available for an additional Pay-TV operator
after the analogue switch off is completed in 2010.
NTV has issued an expression of interest for the capacity in
which all interested parties have until the 14 March 2008 to register there own
interest in operating this new service.
At present both RiksTV and the country’s free-to-view
channels are available in 13 regions and this will be extended to the whole
country after ASO.
One third of the country view TV terrestrially whilst the
remainder are connected by cable and to satellite TV services.
Main source: Broadband
TV News
Item added: 27th December 2007
Switched on Norway
Norway launched its Digital Terrestrial Television service on the 1st September 2007 in the ‘petroleum capital’ Stavanger in the county of Rogland. Oslo followed a few days later and by mid November 70% of the 2.14 million primary households had access to the service.
A full report on the launch of DTT in Norway can be found in the December 2007 issue of the DVB-SCENE downloadable by clicking on the following link.
December Issue of the DVB-Scene
Item added: 27th November 2007
DTT coverage to reach 85%
Digital terrestrial coverage in Norway will be available to 85% of the country when the latest wave of transmitters goes live in early November.
Transmitters serving Sør-Trøndelag, in the centre of the country, went ‘on air’ on November 1st, followed by Sogn og Fjordane on the 5th, and the areas of Hedmark and Oppland on November 8th.
The remaining 15% of the population will have to wait another 12 months before DTT is made available to them.
The DTT platform provides a mixture of free-to-air and pay-DTT services.
RiksTV, the pay-DTT service provider reportedly has 20,000 subscribers since its launch in September
Analogue switch off will commence in March 2008.
Source: Broadband TV News and Digitag
Item added: 7th November 2007
Norway’s roll-out plan
The RiksTV platform went live in Rogaland on September 1 and the service will now be extended to other areas.
Oestfold, Oslo, Akershus, Buskerud, Vestfold, Telemark, Hordaland, Moere and Romsdal, Sogn and Fjordane, Hedmark, Oppland and Soer-Troendelag will be added to the network by end of the year.
Aust-Agder, Vest-Agder, Nord-Troendelag, Nordland, Troms and Finnmark will follow in 2008.
Analogue signals will be progressively shut down six months after the establishment of the digital service, with the final region to cease analogue transmissions being Finnmark in November 2009.
Source: Broadband TV News
Item added: 14th September 2007
DTT services officially launched
Norway started its DTT service on the 1st September 2007 in Rogaland, located in the south-western part of the country. Oslo follows on the 6th September.
Viewers will be able to watch free to air services as well as Pay TV (from Riks TV).
The full Riks TV rollout can be viewed by clicking on
Riks TV website
The new DTT service will use MPEG-4 AVC compression.
Analogue switch-off is planned to be completed in 2009.
Source: Digitag
Item added: 3rd September 2007
DTT to start on September 1st
Norway’s first official DTT broadcast service will begin on September 1st in Rogland and then expand throughout the country. Digital switchover is planned for March 4th 2008.
Platform operator RiksTV has included TV2, TVNorge and its new female skewed Fem, TV3, TV2 Zebra, Discovery Channel, Disney Channel, The Voice TV, SportN, TV2 Filmkanalen, TV2 Nyhetskanalen, Viasat4, TVNorge2, National Geographic Channel, Animal Planet and BBC World in its so-called Rikpakken.
More information can be found on a newly launched website digitaltvinorge.no.
Source: Broadband TV News
Item added: 21st August 2007
Norway’s DTT line-up confirmed by RiksTV
Riks-TV has announced the make up of its pay-TV package to be launched in September. A free package of four TV channels and thirteen radio channels will also be available.
The pay TV package will consist of 12 to 16 channels including all the key Norwegian commercial channels as well as local TV.
The switch over of services from analogue to digital should be completed by the end of 2009
Source: broadbandtvnews
Item added: 21st June 2007
DTT Network build continues
Telenor is progressing its DTT network rollout with a continuing series of equipment purchases.
From the start the DTT system will use MPEG-4 AVC compression technology to maximise its efficient use of available channel capacity and maximise the number of programmes available within its multiplexes. Trials of both SDTV and HDTV digital television will start in January 2007 and the commercial rollout of SDTV services will begin in September 2007.
Source: Yahoo
Item added: 4th October 2006
Norkring to build DTT network
Broadcast network operator Norkring will build and operate the DTT transmission network in Norway for the next 15 years.
Network roll-out is expected to begin in 2007 with completion expected by the end of 2009. Coverage is expected to be 95 percent of households in addition to those households in satellite shadow areas.
Norkring's parent company, Telenor, has a one-third ownership of Norges Televisjon (NTV) which holds the only DTT license available in Norway. The other partners in NTV include the broadcasters NRK and TV2.
Source: Digitag
Original Source: Norkring press release
Item added: 18th July 2006
Government awards DTT license
The government has announced that it has awarded NTV with its DTT licence. It is likely that DTT services will begin in the summer of 2007.
NTV, an organisation set up by NRK, TV2 and Telenor, had been the only contender for the available DTT licence. As per the proposal made by NTV, one multiplex will offer free-to-air DTT services while two additional multiplexes will offer pay DTT services.
It is expected that Norway will launch its DTT services using the MPEG-4 video compression standard.
Source : Digitag
Quoted source: Telenor
Item added: 7th June 2006
Norway - NTV sole applicant for DTT licence
Norges televisjon (NTV) has applied to the Ministry of Transport and Communications and the Ministry of Culture and Church Affairs for a licence to develop and operate a DTT platform in Norway.
In its applications, NTV guarantees the development of three multiplexes covering 95% of households. Of these, one multiplex will also provide coverage to households located in satellite shadow areas. Multiplex contain between ten and seven television programme services.
NTV proposes a development plan that will involve controlled DTT roll-out in eleven regions. Roll-out will likely in Autumn 2006 for the first region. Analogue switch-off in the last region will be possible by the end of 2008.
The DTT platform will use the MPEG-4 video compression standard so as to allow for the eventual transition to HDTV.
NTV will aim to offer its audience Norwegian language services and the most popular international services. Local television services will also be available. Both pay and free-to-air services will be offered to viewers.
Norsk rikskringkasting AS, TV 2 Gruppen AS and Telenor Broadcast Holding AS each own one third of NTV. NTV and its owners have the ability and will to commit themselves to a long-term investment in the digital terrestrial network in Norway.
Source: Digitag
Item added: 4th October 2005
Digital TV Partnership
NRK, TV 2 Gruppen AS and Telenor Broadcast have entered into a partnership agreement to consider applying for a digital terrestrial TV network licence in Norway. If the partners agree to apply the application will be submitted by Norges television (NTV), with each of the three partners holding equal ownership shares.
Source: Norges Televisjon AS
Item added: 30th August 2005
September 30th Deadline for DTT applications
Applicants for Digital Terrestrial television service licences in Norway have until the 30th September to submit their applications.
The successful applicant is expected to get a single concession for two separate licences by the end of 2005; a frequency usage licence, allowing transmission in the 470-790 MHz band for 15 years and a broadcast facilities licence which allows the holder to become the multiplex administrator, deciding the content of the transmissions. DTT services are expected to be ready for launch in late 2006.
The Norwegian parliament altered the criteria for switchover in February 2004 and laid down that the first digital multiplex must cover at least 95% of the population as well as the population found in the satellite shadow areas. The second multiplex must also cover 95% of the population excepting satellite shadow areas. Roll-out of the third multiplex is frequency limited and will have to wait until space is made available by the analogue service switch-off.
At present three DTT pilots in Bergen, Oslo and Trondheim cover 25% of the population.
Source: Digitag August 2005 Newsletter
Item added: 23 August 2005
Previous
Telenor wants DTT
Telenor Broadcast has reported an interest to the Ministry of Transport and Communications in building and operating a digital terrestrial TV network in Norway. The Telenor subsidiary Norkring currently owns and operates the national analogue terrestrial TV and radio network and wants to deliver the same services digitally. Canal Digital, also owned by Telenor, delivers TV services to close to 2.9 million households in the Nordic region via satellite, cable, and broadband as well as a digital terrestrial network in Finland. Canal Digital has experience from the introduction of digital TV in the entire Nordic region.
Telenor already have some DTT operational experience gained from running a DVB-T test system, covering 25% of the population, since June 2000.
Main source: advanced-television.com with additional information from the Telenor website.
Added: 5th May 2005
Previous
Three-year licence extension for Norway DTT
The Norwegian Ministry of Transport and Communications and the Ministry of Culture and Church Affairs is to offer a three-year extension to the country’s DTT operating licence. The ministry invited applications to run Norway’s DTT services in June 2002. The sole applicant NTV, a joint venture between public broadcaster NRK and the commercial channel TV2, has yet to be awarded the licence. NTV had asked for the licence period to be extended because of the amount of time it will have to get DTT services up and running. However, the ministry has now effectively re-opened the tender, leaving open the possibility that a second player might emerge.
Source: Broadband TV News, March 10th 2005
Background
DVB-T deployment in Norway has been slow despite test transmissions being available to 25-30% of the population around Trondheim, Bergen and Oslo since June 2000.
According to the NTV website it is thought that the development of the digital terrestrial network will begin in the autumn of 2004. Soft launch of the commercial operation will be in the fall of 2006 and analogue shut off region by region will be finalised by the end of 2007. The transmitter plan produced in 2001 provides three multiplexes.
More information is also available on the Telenor/Norkring website.
