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| Company type | Aksjeselskap |
|---|---|
| Industry | Telecommunication |
| Founded | 1997 |
| Defunct | April 13, 2021 (2021-04-13) |
| Fate | Merged withViasat to formAllente |
| Successor | Allente |
| Headquarters | Fornebu,Norway |
Area served | Nordic countries |
| Products | Cable television Satellite television Internet service provider |
| Parent | Telenor |
| Website | www.canaldigital.com |
Canal Digital was aNordicpay TV[1] andinternet service provider inNorway,Sweden,Denmark andFinland that was founded in March 1997 as ajoint venture between theFrench pay TV companyCanal+ and the Norwegiantelecommunications operatorTelenor.[2]
The number of customers in 2017 was 838,000.[3]
From 2003 to 2020, Canal Digital was fully owned byTelenor. In 2004, Telenor Avidi was merged into Canal Digital and changed its name to Canal Digital cable television.[4] In 2020, Canal Digital formed ajoint venture withViasat to form the companyAllente.[5] The merger was completed on April 13, 2021.
Canal Digital started as adirect broadcast satellitetelevision service to Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland, but later expanded intocable television in Norway, Sweden and Denmark,digital terrestrial television in Finland andIPTV in Sweden and Denmark. More than 2.9 million Nordic households and activities were subscribed to their services.
FTTH services have slowly started in selected areas in Norway.
Internet access through thecable network is based on theEuroDOCSIS standard.
Canal Digital's cable system in the newer network areas which included most of Canal Digital's cable networks in Norway was based onhybrid fibre-coaxial technology. Some other network areas arecopper only, but are subjected to upgrading in order to support new TVset-top box's.
Unlike its contemporary DTH rival,Viasat, Canal Digital did not own a TV-network, although during Canal+'s ownership of the company from 1997 to 2003 they had control over the Canal+ channels available in the Nordics at the time, but these were later sold to other companies and were eventually rebranded as C More in 2012.
Canal Digital instead opted to secure several multi-year exclusive deals with different TV broadcasters. As of 2011, Canal Digital had exclusivesatellite rights withC More Entertainment,ProSiebenSat.1 in Denmark,Eurosport,BBC Worldwide andDiscovery 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 later joined Viasat includeSveriges Television (joined Viasat in 2003),TV4 AB (2005–2006),National Geographic Channel,ProSiebenSat.1 in Norway and Sweden,TV 2 (Denmark) andTV 2 (Norway).
Their satellite broadcasts can be received from theThor 5 andThor 6 satellites at 1°W with anyDVB-S Receiver Equipped with aConax Descrambling Module.
Canal Digital was the first major distributor in the region to launchhigh-definition television. The first channel, C More HD, was launched in September 2005, usingMPEG-2 compression. In June 2006, Canal Digital started broadcastingHD-kanalen fromSveriges Television andTV4 AB in Sweden, which did broadcast the2006 FIFA World Cup in HD usingMPEG-4 compression. HD-kanalen becameSVT 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 withDiscovery HD andVoom HD launched and C More HD was rebranded asCanal+ HD. The high-definition package were to be released in the other Nordic countries during 2007. High-definition channels launching in 2007, includeCanal+ Sport HD in February,National Geographic Channel HD in April,TV4 HD (Sweden only) in May, Silver HD in September andHistory HD in December.
2008 broughtKanal 5 HD in January,Eurosport HD in May, Nelonen HD,TVNorge HD in October andBBC HD in December. Channels launched in 2009, include TV 2 Film HD in January andAnimal 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.
DR1 and DR2 are also available with a premium subscription in Norway, Sweden and Finland. AlthoughTV 2 is broadcast on one of Canal Digital's transponders, it is not a DTH channel. Its only available to the Norwegian cable market, and is not a subscription channel.
As of 23 October 2018, Canal Digital Cable TV was fully fused into Telenor, marketed mainly as Telenor T-We while dropping the Canal Digital name with a primary focus on the T-We app for phones, tablets and Apple TV alongside traditional cable television tuners.
This fusing separated Canal Digital Cable TV and Canal Digital Satellite TV customers further to avoid confusion between the two companies for their customers, which after the change had to either contact Telenor T-We or Canal Digital Satellite.
Canal Digital in Sweden expanded into cable television in September 2003, when the cable companies Telenor Vision and Sweden Online were merged into Canal Digital.
Canal Digital sells decryption cards for digital television in Finland. Prior to the close down of the analogue channels, the package consisted ofDisney Channel and fourC More Entertainment TV channels. When theanalogue transmitters were closed down, a new multiplex launched bringing Kino TV,Nickelodeon,Discovery Channel andMTV to the package. Kino TV is exclusive was exclusive to Canal Digital, while the others were also sold by its competitor,PlusTV. The erotic channel Canal 69 is added on 1 October 2007.
The Terrestrial TV Package now consists of:
Canal Digital have expressed interest in sellingencryption cards for thedigital terrestrial television network in Sweden. The Norwegian terrestrial operatorRiksTV is partly owned by Canal Digital's ownerTelenor.
AnIPTV service was launched in Sweden in 2004. It offers most of channels also provided on thesatellite platform as well asinteractive television services andvideo on demand from C More Select, C More On demand, Film-To-Home andSF Anytime.
