Canal
Digital is a Scandinavian Pay TV and Internet Service Provider in
Norway and Sweden that was founded in March 1997 as a joint venture
between the French Pay TV company Canal+ and the Norwegian
Telecommunications Operator Telenor. Since 2001, Canal Digital is fully
owned by Telenor.
Canal Digital was started as a Direct Broadcast
Satellite Television service to Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland,
but has since expanded into Cable Television in Norway, Sweden and
Denmark, Digital Terrestrial Television in Finland and IPTV in Sweden
and Denmark. More than 2.9 million Nordic households and activities are
subscribed to their services.
FTTH services have slowly started in selected areas in Norway.
Internet Access through the Cable Network is based on the EuroDOCSIS standard.
Canal
Digital's Cable System in the newer Network areas which includes most
of Canal Digital's Cable Networks in Norway is based on Hybrid
fibre-coaxial Technology. Some other network areas are Copper only, but
are subjected to upgrading in order to support new TV Set-top box's.
Unlike
its DTH rival, Viasat, Canal Digital does not own a TV-Network – they
have however secured several multi-year exclusive deals with different
TV Broadcasters. As of 2011, Canal Digital has exclusive Satellite
rights with C More Entertainment, ProSiebenSat.1 in Denmark, Eurosport,
BBC Worldwide and Discovery Communications. Satellite exclusivity was
more common in the past, but many channels that were once exclusive to
Canal Digital have eventually signed agreements with Viasat.
Broadcasters that were once exclusive to Canal Digital but later joined
Viasat include Sveriges Television (joined Viasat in 2003), TV4 AB
(2005–2006), National Geographic Channel, ProSiebenSat.1 in Norway and
Sweden, TV 2 (Denmark) and TV 2 (Norway).
Their satellite
broadcasts can be received from the Thor 5 and Thor 6 satellites at 1°W
with any DVB-S Receiver Equipped with a Conax Descrambling Module.
High-definition television
Canal
Digital was the first major distributor in the region to launch
high-definition television, HDTV. The first channel, C More HD, was
launched in September 2005 using MPEG-2 compression. In June 2006, Canal
Digital started broadcasting HD-kanalen from Sveriges Television and
TV4 AB in Sweden, which did broadcast the 2006 FIFA World Cup in HD
using MPEG-4 compression. HD-kanalen became SVT HD in October when SVT
expanded their HD broadcasts.
The major launch of HDTV occurred
in Sweden in November 2006 when a special high-definition package with
Discovery HD and Voom HD launched and C More HD was rebranded as Canal+
HD. The high-definition package is to be released in the other Nordic
countries during 2007. High-definition channels launching in 2007
include Canal+ Sport HD in February, National Geographic Channel HD in
April, TV4 HD (Sweden only) in May, Silver HD in September and History
HD in December.
2008 brought Kanal 5 HD in January, Eurosport HD
in May, Nelonen HD, TVNorge HD in October and BBC HD in December.
Channels launched in 2009 include TV 2 Film HD in January and Animal
Planet HD in February.
The HD channels were initially offered for
as a separate package, but starting on 1 April 2008 this package was
dropped in Sweden and the HD channels were included in the "Family"
package.