Communication Services - from telephone to Turbo 3G

The vast majority of our over 150 million subscriptions are global subscribers and the result of a rapid international Telenor expansion over the past ten years. Telenor has more than 150 years of experience within telecommunications services. This ranges from the earliest telegraph and basic (fixed line) telephone to advanced satellite broadcasting and mobile broadband networks. During this time, Telenor has gone from being a national Norwegian state-owned company, to privatisation and global expansion.

New products and services
New technology provides for a wide range of diversified services and products. New services are the result of people’s needs in their daily lives. Telenor has technological expertise and a local presence in 13 locations in Asia, Europe and the Nordic countries. All countries offer new services and products, tailored to local requirements and needs. The local approach ensures great diversification, which leads to adapted versions of services in yet other locations. Knowledge sharing and focus on innovation are important factors in the way Telenor does business.

By the year 2000, the mobile telephone service had become a prominent business area for Telenor and a basis for the international growth strategy. This strong position was the result of more than 30 years of evolution. Cooperation between the Nordic countries to create a common standard resulted in the Nordic Mobile Telephone (NMT) in 1969. This became the start of prolonged international collaboration to set the future standards for mobile networks.

Growth strategy
Telenor has long been a pioneer within mobile communication services. Today, Telenor is in the forefront of efforts to develop the mobile technologies of the future. By 2008, UMTS – known as 3G (Third generation) mobile system will already have been in operation for several years. In the near future, Telenor can provide customers with the many possibilities provided by the 4G (Fourth Generation) – the next generation mobile services and Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology.

The First Generation (1G): NMT (Nordic Mobile Telephony)
NMT was first introduced in 1981 and was considered one of the world’s most advanced mobile systems. At that time, mobile subscribers in eastern Norway could start making direct calls to more than 60 countries around the world.

The Second Generation (2G): GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications)
GSM is the result of cooperation between several European countries and the system was taken into use by USA and by several countries in Asia. GSM was officially opened for service in 1993. Upgraded services such as WAP (Wireless Application Protocol), allowed for access to the Internet and Emails.  
 
The Third Generation (3G): UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System)
With UMTS, Telenor launched its 3G network. UMTS is a broadband network that gives access to services such as the Internet and directly transmitted TV broadcasts. The network provided upgraded access to Internet services offered through mobile terminals. Live video and sound were some of the new features provided through the 3G solution.

The Fourth Generation (4G): Telenor, Norway (2007) and Telenor Sweden (2008) are the first two countries to be granted licenses in the 2.6 GHz band for 4G. The licenses grant Telenor substantial opportunities to provide 4G services and high-quality mobile broadband.

In 1999, the main routes in the network were upgraded with fibre optic channel equipment (WDM), which increased the capacity. The network was prepared for broadband IP traffic transmissions. Its range of use included IP-telephony and ADSL, which gave access to online gaming, web-TV, download of large files and having several PCs online simultaneously.

Fibre optic cables and broadband
The fixed telephone network is the source of Internet products such as ADSL and other broadband services. Broadband services were first offered in Norway, and later in Denmark and Sweden. In 2005, Telenor strengthened its position in the Nordic region by acquiring the broadband suppliers Cybercity in Denmark and Bredbandsbolaget in Sweden.

A bright future for mobile broadband
Both UMTS and Turbo 3G are comparatively new products in the market. These services make it easy, fast and inexpensive for customers to surf the Internet by using a mobile phone or a PC – while away from home or at the office. In countries with poor infrastructure, this means that millions of people will be able to connect to the Internet.  Telenor offers 3G-services worldwide. 4G services are on the way and are currently being tested. In 2008, Telenor Sweden was awarded the license for 2x20 MHz – which gives the company considerable possibilities to offer 4G-services and mobile broadband of high quality.

Everyone wanted a phone during the prosperous 60s, 70s and 80s. Norwegian Telecom had a hard time meeting the demand fast enough. Automatic exchanges gradually replaced the old manual exchanges. This long process started in the 1920s and was first completed in 1985.

The digital era
By 1997, Norway had one of the most advanced telecommunications networks in Europe. In 1986, there had been a real breakthrough in the use of fibre optics in the network. The new cables could transmit large amounts of data and paved the way for Internet products, such as ISDN and ADSL in Norway.

At present, the Telenor satellites broadcast around 200 TV channels throughout the Nordic Region, Central and Eastern Europe. Satellite broadcasting has shaped events over the last two decades and looks set to continue to have a secure position in the Nordic countries, Central Europe and the Middle East.

The satellite era
When Norwegian Telecom first started satellite broadcasting, the company had 36 years of experience in terrestrial broadcasting. Services offered over satellites were telephony and data transmission services as well as broadcasting of TV.