Norway Communications 2022, CIA World Factbook

total subscriptions: 348,808 (2020 est.)

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 6 (2020 est.)

Telephones - mobile cellular

total subscriptions: 5,825,584 (2020 est.)

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 107 (2020 est.)

Telecommunication systems

general assessment: 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 synchronized with relevant EC legislation; 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 fiber networks, VDSL and upgraded cable infrastructure; in late 2019 the government proposed making broadband of at least 20Mb/s a universal service (2021)

domestic: Norway has a domestic satellite system; the prevalence of rural areas encourages the wide use of mobile-cellular systems; fixed-line over 6 per 100 and mobile-cellular nearly 108 per 100 (2020)

international: country code - 47; landing points for the Svalbard Undersea Cable System, Polar Circle Cable, Bodo-Rost Cable, NOR5KE Viking, Celtic Norse, Tempnet Offshore FOC Network, England Cable, Denmark-Norwary6, Havfrue/AEC-2, Skagerrak 4, and the Skagenfiber West & East submarine cables providing links to other Nordic countries, Europe and the US; satellite earth stations - Eutelsat, Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean), and 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic and Indian Ocean regions); note - Norway shares the Inmarsat earth station with the other Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, and Sweden) (2019)

note: the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a significant impact on production and supply chains globally; since 2020, some aspects of the telecom sector have experienced a downturn, particularly in mobile device production; progress toward 5G implementation has resumed, as well as upgrades to infrastructure; consumer spending on telecom services has increased due to the surge in demand for capacity and bandwidth; the crucial nature of telecom services as a tool for work and school from home is still evident, and the spike in this area has seen growth opportunities for development of new tools and increased services

Broadcast media

state-owned public radio-TV broadcaster operates 3 nationwide TV stations, 3 nationwide radio stations, and 16 regional radio stations; roughly a dozen privately owned TV stations broadcast nationally and roughly another 25 local TV stations broadcasting; nearly 75% of households have access to multi-channel cable or satellite TV; 2 privately owned radio stations broadcast nationwide and another 240 stations operate locally; Norway is the first country in the world to phase out FM radio in favor of Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB), a process scheduled for completion in late 2017 (2019)

Internet country code

.no

Internet users

total: 5,218,091 (2020 est.)

percent of population: 97% (2020 est.)

Broadband - fixed subscriptions

total: 2,387,661 (2020 est.)

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 44 (2020 est.)

NOTE: The information regarding Norway on this page is re-published from the 2022 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Norway 2022 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Norway 2022 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.