Norway Telecoms Market Report

Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Publication Date: April 2024

Report Pages: 224

Analyst: Henry Lancaster

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Summary
Table Of Contents

Norway’s telecom regulator consults on late-2021 5G auction

In common with other Scandinavian countries, Norway has a sophisticated telecom market with high broadband and mobile penetration rates and a highly developed digital media sector. Although not a member of the European Union, the country’s telecoms sector is synchronised with relevant EC legislation. Telenor is the dominant operator in all sectors, though there is increasing competition from new entrants. Telia Norway increased its market share by acquiring the operations of Tele2, Phonero and Get.

Norway enjoys near comprehensive LTE coverage, while both Telenor and Telia are looking to close their 3G and 2G networks (by 2020 and 2025 respectively), focussing instead on LTE and 5G technologies. The mobile broadband sector was bolstered by the auction of spectrum in the 700MHz and 21MHz band in June 2019. Additional spectrum in the 700MHz is expected to be auctioned for mobile broadband use (5G) in 2021.

The broadband penetration rate is among the highest in Europe, while in recent years subscribers have been migrated to faster broadband solutions over fibre networks, VDSL and upgraded cable infrastructure. The leading ISPs Telenor and NextGenTel have also deployed services based on G.fast technology.

The regulator has called on the government to help fund additional cable infrastructure to reduce the country’s dependence on Telenor’s networks. In late 2019 the government proposed making broadband of at least 20Mb/s a universal service.

This report introduces the key elements of Norway’s telecom market, providing statistics and an overview of the regulatory environment, the fixed network operators and their services, and telecom infrastructure. The report also profiles the mobile voice and data market, providing statistics on the main operators, a review of the key regulatory issues, and a snapshot of the consumer market for services. In addition, the report covers the fixed and fixed-wireless broadband sectors, together with developments in related technologies such as Broadband Powerline.

BuddeComm notes that the outbreak of the Coronavirus in 2020 is having a significant impact on production and supply chains globally. During the coming year the telecoms sector to various degrees is likely to experience a downturn in mobile device production, while it may also be difficult for network operators to manage workflows when maintaining and upgrading existing infrastructure. Overall progress towards 5G may be postponed or slowed down in some countries.

On the consumer side, spending on telecoms services and devices is under pressure from the financial effect of large-scale job losses and the consequent restriction on disposable incomes. However, the crucial nature of telecom services, both for general communication as well as a tool for home-working, will offset such pressures. In many markets the net effect should be a steady though reduced increased in subscriber growth.

Although it is challenging to predict and interpret the long-term impacts of the crisis as it develops, these have been acknowledged in the industry forecasts contained in this report.

The report also covers the responses of the telecom operators as well as government agencies and regulators as they react to the crisis to ensure that citizens can continue to make optimum use of telecom services. This can be reflected in subsidy schemes and the promotion of tele-health and tele-education, among other solutions.

Key developments:

Telenor creates a smart building subsidiary;
Regulator consults on proposed multi-spectrum 5G auction set for September 2021;
Regulator recommends measures to reduce dependence on Telenor's network;
Telenor to phase out PSTN infrastructure and close its GSM and 3G networks by 2025;
Regulator makes available 700MHz and 900MHz spectrum for offshore use;
Telia achieves speeds of 1Gb/s on its LTE infrastructure;
Telenor to migrate all DSL subscribers to fibre by 2023;
Telenor and NextGenTel pursue G.fast technology;
Municipalities access EU-funded public Wi-Fi scheme;
Report update includes the regulator's market data to June 2020, telcos' operating and financial data to Q4 2020, assessment of the global impact of Covid-19 on the telecoms sector, recent market development.

Companies mentioned in this report:

Telenor, Telia Norway, Tele2, BaneTele, NetCom, Mobile Norway, Teletopia, Telio, Lyse Tele (Altibox), Nordisk Mobiltelefon

Key statistics
Regional European Market Comparison

Europe Telecom Maturity Index by tier

Market Leaders
Market Challengers
Market Emergents

TMI versus GDP
Mobile and mobile broadband penetration
Fixed versus mobile broadband penetration

Covid-19 and its impact on the telecom sector

Economic considerations and responses
Subscribers
Infrastructure

Telecommunications market

Market analysis

Regulatory environment

Historic
Regulatory authority
Fixed-line developments

Privatisation
Interconnect
Access
Number Portability (NP)
Carrier PreSelection (CPS)

Mobile market developments

Spectrum regulations and spectrum auctions
Roaming
Mobile Number Portability (MNP)
Mobile termination rates (MTRs)

Mobile market

Market analysis
Mobile statistics

General statistics
Mobile voice
Mobile data
Mobile broadband

Mobile infrastructure

Analogue networks
Digital networks
Other infrastructure developments

Major mobile operators

Telenor Mobil
Telia Norway
Mobile Norway
Teletopia
Ice
Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs)

Mobile content and applications

Location-based services
M-commerce

Fixed-line broadband market

Introduction and statistical overview

Government support
Broadband statistics

Hybrid Fibre Coax (HFC) networks
Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) networks

VDSL

Fibre-to-the-Premises (FttP) networks

Utilities
Telenor
Other developments

Other fixed broadband services

Broadband Powerline (BPL)
Fixed wireless (Wi-Fi and WiMAX)

Fixed network operators

Introduction
Telenor

International operations

Telia Norway
NextGenTel (Telio)
Tele2
BaneTele

Telecommunications infrastructure

Overview of the national telecom network
NGN
International infrastructure

Submarine cable networks
Satellite networks

Cloud services
Smart infrastructure

Smart grids
Smart cities

Appendix – Historic data
Glossary of abbreviations
Related reports

List of Tables

Table 1 – Top Level Country Statistics and Telco Authorities - Norway – 2020 (e)
Table 2 – Change in total telecom revenue and annual growth – 2012 – 2020
Table 3 – Change in telecom revenue by sector (NOK billion) – 2012 – 2020
Table 4 – Change in the proportion of turnover by sector – 2012 – 2020
Table 5 – Decline in the number of fixed voice lines (thousand) – 2011 – 2020
Table 6 – Change in telecom sector investment (NOK billion) – 2012 – 2019
Table 7 – Change in fibre and LTE investment (NOK million) – 2012 – 2019
Table 8 – Decline in revenue from roaming services – 2013 – 2020
Table 9 – Change in mobile revenue – 2009 – 2020
Table 10 – Change in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration rate – 2011 – 2026
Table 11 – Declining share of prepaid mobile subscribers – 2011 – 2020
Table 12 – Change in the number of prepaid and contract subscribers (million) – 2009 – 2020
Table 13 – Change in the number of Telenor Norway’s prepaid and contract subscribers – 2009 – 2020
Table 14 – Market share of mobile subscribers by main provider – 2010 – 2020
Table 15 – Revenue market share by provider – 2010 – 2020
Table 16 – Slowing growth in mobile voice traffic – 2011 – 2020
Table 17 – Change in mobile voice traffic by type (million minutes) – 2013 – 2020
Table 18 – Increase in mobile data traffic by type (PB) – 2013 – 2020
Table 19 – Change in the number of mobile data subscriptions by data bundle (thousand) – 2018 – 2019
Table 20 – Change in the proportion of mobile data subscriptions by data bundle – 2018 – 2020
Table 21 – Decline in the number of SMS sent – 2011 – 2020
Table 22 – Decline in the number of standard mobile broadband subscribers – 2009 – 2020
Table 23 – Growth in the number of active mobile broadband subscribers and penetration – 2011 – 2026
Table 24 – Change in the market share of mobile broadband subscribers by provider – 2013 – 2020
Table 25 – Strong growth in mobile data traffic (PB) – 2013 – 2020
Table 26 – Change in mobile data revenue – 2011 – 2020
Table 27 – Growth in the number of M2M cards in use – 2011 – 2020
Table 28 – M2M revenue by provider – 2013 – 2020
Table 29 – Growth in revenue from M2M services – 2012 – 2020
Table 30 – Change in Telenor Mobil’s mobile subscribers by type (thousand) – 2009 – 2020
Table 31 – Change in Telenor Mobil’s financial data (NOK billion) – 2009 – 2020
Table 32 – Evolution of Telenor Mobil’s ARPU: blended, contract and prepaid (NOK/month)– 2009 – 2020
Table 33 – Development of Telia Norway’s mobile subscriber base – 2009 – 2020
Table 34 – Change in Telia Norway’s mobile ARPU (NOK/month)– 2009 – 2020
Table 35 – Change in Telia Norway’s mobile service revenue (SEK million) – 2012 – 2020
Table 36 – Change in Ice Scandinavia financial data (NOK million) – 2013 – 2020
Table 37 – Change in Ice Norway financial data (NOK million) – 2014 – 2020
Table 38 –Ice Norway mobile subscribers – 2015 – 2020
Table 39 – Change in the number of MVNO subscribers – 2014 – 2020
Table 40 – Steady increase in fixed broadband market revenue – 2011 – 2020
Table 41 – Broadband market revenue by platform (NOK million) – 2011 – 2020
Table 42 – Fixed broadband subscribers by platform (thousand) – 2009 – 2020
Table 43 – Growth in the fixed broadband subscribers and penetration (thousand) – 2011 – 2026
Table 44 – Annual net adds in broadband connections, by type – 2010 – 2020
Table 45 – Change in fixed broadband market share by technology – 2011 – 2020
Table 46 – Broadband market share by provider – 2016 – 2020
Table 47 – Change in fixed broadband penetration by technology – 2009 – 2020
Table 48 – Residential broadband connections by downstream access speed (thousand) – 2015 – 2020
Table 49 – Proportion of residential broadband connections above 100Mb/s – 2014 – 2020
Table 50 – Growth in broadband connections via housing associations (thousand) – 2015 – 2018
Table 51 – Change in the number of cable broadband subscribers – 2009 – 2020
Table 52 – Development of Telia Norway’s cable broadband revenue – 2018 – 2020
Table 53 – Change in the number of Telia Norway’s broadband subscribers – 2009 – 2020
Table 54 – Decline in the number of DSL broadband subscribers – 2009 – 2020
Table 55 – Telenor’s retail broadband subscribers and local loops – 2009 – 2020
Table 56 – Change in the proportion of households with fibre broadband – 2018 – 2020
Table 57 – Fibre broadband market share of subscribers by operator – 2016 – 2020
Table 58 – Growth in fibre broadband subscribers (residential and corporate) – 2013 – 2020
Table 59 – Operators’ share of fixed-line subscriptions (major operators) – 2015 – 2019
Table 60 – Operators’ share of fixed-line subscriptions (minor operators) – 2015 – 2019
Table 61 – Decline in fixed-telephony revenue (PSTN/ISDN) – 2011 – 2020
Table 62 – Development of Telenor’s domestic fixed-line revenue by type (NOK million) – 2011 – 2020
Table 63 – Development of Telenor Group’s financial data (NOK billion) – 2009 – 2020
Table 64 – Decline in Telenor’s voice and broadband subscribers (thousand) – 2009 – 2020
Table 65 – Change in Telia Norway’s revenue (SEK billion) – 2009 – 2020
Table 66 – Change in the number of Telia Norway’s broadband and mobile subscribers (thousand) – 2009 – 2020
Table 67 – NextGenTel Holding financial data (NOK million) – 2012 – 2018
Table 68 – NextGenTel Holding revenue by sector (NOK million) – 2015 – 2018
Table 69 – NextGenTel’s subscribers by sector – 2017 – 2018
Table 70 – Decline in the number of fixed lines in service and teledensity – 2011 – 2026
Table 71 – Decline in the number of VoIP lines in service – 2011 – 2020
Table 72 – Operators’ share of VoIP revenue – 2016 – 2020
Table 73 – Decline in fixed-line voice traffic in minutes (PSTN/ISDN) – 2011 – 2020
Table 74 – International internet bandwidth – 2011 – 2017
Table 75 – Historic – Fixed lines in service and teledensity 2000 – 2010
Table 76 – Historic – Total telecom revenue – 2004 – 2010
Table 77 – Historic – Revenue by sector (NOK billion) – 2003 – 2010
Table 78 – Historic – Broadband market revenue – 2003 – 2010
Table 79 – Historic – Mobile subscribers and penetration rate – 1995; 1997; 1999 – 2010
Table 80 – Historic – Mobile voice traffic – 2004 – 2010
Table 81 –Historic – Mobile revenue – 2002 – 2010
Table 82 – Historic – Prepaid share of mobile subscribers – 1999; 2005 – 2010
Table 83 – Historic – Annual SMS sent – 1999 – 2010
Table 84 – Historic – Change in mobile data revenue – 2006 – 2010
Table 85 – Historic – Growth in the number of M2M cards in use – 2006 – 2010
Table 86 – Historic – Change in the proportion of fixed internet revenue to total revenue – 2005 – 2010
Table 87 – Historic – Decline in the number of fixed voice lines (thousand) – 2008 – 2010
Table 88 – Historic – Decline in fixed-telephony revenue (PSTN/ISDN) – 2008 – 2010
Table 89 – Historic – Telenor domestic fixed-line revenue by type (NOK million) – 2008 – 2010
Table 90 – Historic – Decline in the number of VoIP lines in service – 2008 – 2010
Table 91 – Historic – Broadband market revenue by platform (NOK million) – 2008 – 2010
Table 92 – Historic – Fixed broadband subscribers and penetration – 2009 – 2010
Table 93 – Historic – Active mobile broadband subscribers and penetration – 2008 – 2010
Table 94 – Historic – Decline in fixed-line traffic in minutes (PSTN/ISDN) – 2008 – 2010
Table 95 – Historic - International internet bandwidth – 2005 – 2010
Table 96 – Historic - Broadband market share by provider – 2015 – 2019
Table 97 – Historic - Superfast broadband market share of subscribers by operator – 2011 – 2017
Table 98 – Historic - Residential broadband connections by downstream access speed – 2013 – 2018
Table 99 – Historic - Telia Norway’s cable broadband revenue – 2015 – 2017
Table 100 – Historic - Fibre broadband share by operator – 2016 – 2018

List of Charts

Chart 1 – Europe Telecoms Maturity Index – Market Leaders (top tier)
Chart 2 – Europe Telecoms Maturity Index – Market Challengers (middle tier)
Chart 3 – Europe Telecoms Maturity Index – Market Emergents (bottom tier)
Chart 4 – Overall view - Telecoms Maturity Index vs GDP per Capita
Chart 5 – Europe - mobile subscriber penetration vs mobile broadband penetration
Chart 6 – Scandinavia and Baltics – mobile subscriber penetration vs mobile broadband penetration
Chart 7 – Northern Europe – mobile subscriber penetration vs mobile broadband penetration
Chart 8 – Southern Europe mobile subscriber penetration vs mobile broadband penetration
Chart 9 – Eastern Europe mobile subscriber penetration vs mobile broadband penetration
Chart 10 – Scandinavia and Baltics fixed and mobile broadband penetration
Chart 11 – Northern Europe fixed and mobile broadband penetration
Chart 12 – Southern Europe fixed and mobile broadband penetration
Chart 13 – Eastern Europe fixed and mobile broadband penetration
Chart 14 – Change in total telecom revenue and annual growth – 2012 – 2020
Chart 15 – Change in telecom revenue by sector (NOK billion) – 2012 – 2020
Chart 16 – Change in the proportion of turnover by sector – 2012 – 2020
Chart 17 – Decline in the number of fixed voice lines – 2011 – 2020
Chart 18 – Change in telecom sector investment – 2012 – 2019
Chart 19 – Change in fibre and LTE investment – 2012 – 2019
Chart 20 – Decline in revenue from roaming services – 2013 – 2020
Chart 21 – Change in mobile revenue – 2009 – 2020
Chart 22 – Change in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration rate – 2011 – 2026
Chart 23 – Declining share of prepaid mobile subscribers – 2011 – 2020
Chart 24 – Change in the number of prepaid and contract subscribers –2009 – 2020
Chart 25 – Change in the number of Telenor Norway’s prepaid and contract subscribers – 2009 – 2020
Chart 26 – Slowing growth in mobile voice traffic – 2011 – 2020
Chart 27 – Change in mobile voice traffic by type – 2013 – 2020
Chart 28 – Increase in mobile data traffic by type (PB) – 2013 – 2020
Chart 29 – Decline in the number of SMS sent – 2011 – 2020
Chart 30 – Decline in the number of standard mobile broadband subscribers – 2009 – 2020
Chart 31 – Growth in the number of active mobile broadband subscribers and penetration – 2011 – 2026
Chart 32 – Change in market share of mobile broadband subscribers by provider – 2013 – 2020
Chart 33 – Strong growth in mobile data traffic (PB) – 2013 – 2020
Chart 34 – Change in mobile data revenue – 2011 – 2020
Chart 35 – Growth in the number of M2M cards in use – 2011 – 2020
Chart 36 – M2M revenue by provider – 2013 – 2020
Chart 37 – Growth in revenue from M2M services – 2012 – 2020
Chart 38 – Change in Telenor Mobil’s mobile subscribers by type – 2009 – 2020
Chart 39 – Change in Telenor Mobil’s financial data – 2009 – 2020
Chart 40 – Evolution of Telenor Mobil’s ARPU: blended, contract and prepaid – 2009 – 2020
Chart 41 – Development of Telia Norway’s mobile subscriber base – 2009 – 2020
Chart 42 – Change in Telia Norway’s mobile ARPU – 2009 – 2019
Chart 43 – Change in Telia Norway’s mobile service revenue – 2012 – 2020
Chart 44 – Change in Ice Scandinavia financial data – 2013 – 2020
Chart 45 – Change in Ice Norway financial data – 2014 – 2020
Chart 46 – Change in the number of MVNO subscribers – 2014 – 2020
Chart 47 – Steady increase in fixed broadband market revenue – 2011 – 2020
Chart 48 – Broadband market revenue by platform – 2011 – 2020
Chart 49 – Fixed broadband subscribers by platform – 2009 – 2020
Chart 50 – Growth in the fixed broadband subscribers and penetration – 2011 – 2026
Chart 51 – Annual net adds in broadband connections, by type – 2010 – 2020
Chart 52 – Change in fixed broadband market share by technology – 2011 – 2020
Chart 53 – Change in fixed broadband penetration by technology – 2009 – 2020
Chart 54 – Growth in broadband connections via housing associations – 2015 – 2018
Chart 55 – Change in the number of cable broadband subscribers – 2009 - 2018
Chart 56 – Change in the number of Telia Norway’s broadband subscribers – 2009 – 2020
Chart 57 – Decline in the number of DSL broadband subscribers – 2009 - 2020
Chart 58 – Telenor retail broadband subscribers and local loops – 2009 – 2020
Chart 59 – Fibre broadband market share of subscribers by operator – 2016 – 2020
Chart 60 – Growth in fibre broadband subscribers (residential and corporate) – 2013 – 2020
Chart 61 – Operators’ share of fixed-line subscription (major operators) – 2015 – 2019
Chart 62 – Decline in fixed-telephony revenue (PSTN/ISDN) – 2011 – 2020
Chart 63 – Development of Telenor’s domestic fixed-line revenue by type (NOK million) – 2011 – 2020
Chart 64 – Development of Telenor Group’s financial data (NOK billion) – 2009 – 2020
Chart 65 – Decline in Telenor’s voice and broadband subscribers – 2009 – 2020
Chart 66 – Change in Telia Norway’s revenue – 2009 – 2020
Chart 67 – Change in Telia Norway’s broadband and mobile subscriber numbers – 2009 – 2020
Chart 68 – Decline in the number of fixed lines in service and teledensity – 2011 – 2026
Chart 69 – Decline in the number of VoIP lines in service – 2011 – 2020
Chart 70 – Operators’ share of VoIP revenue – 2016 – 2020
Chart 71 – Decline in fixed-line voice traffic in minutes (PSTN/ISDN) – 2011 – 2020
Chart 72 – International internet bandwidth – 2011 – 2017

List of Exhibits

Exhibit 1 – Generalised Market Characteristics by Market Segment
Exhibit 2 – 3G licence results in Norway – 2000; 2003; 2007
Exhibit 3 – Multi-spectrum auction results – Dec 2013

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Norway Telecoms Market Report

Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Purchase this Report

Norway’s telecom regulator consults on late-2021 5G auction

Key developments:

Companies mentioned in this report:

Key statistics

Regional European Market Comparison

Covid-19 and its impact on the telecom sector

Telecommunications market

Regulatory environment

Mobile market

Fixed-line broadband market

Fixed network operators

Telecommunications infrastructure

Appendix – Historic data

Glossary of abbreviations

Related reports

Purchase this Report

Share this Report

TMT Intelligence

A platform to scale your intelligence tasks

Research Methodology

Hot Topics

News & Views