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Fornebu (pte030/30.03.2005/12:30) - Norwegian telecoms giant Telenor http://www.telenor.no is poised to offer a broadband phone service via the Internet. As Norway's Aftenposten http://www.aftenposten.no reports, Telenor is a major player in the mobile phone market but until now has stuck to its permanent line traditional service at home. The company will continue to have a monopoly on the installation of permanent phone lines in Norway, but now will allow customers to use conventional phones by hooking them up through a broadband line via the Internet.
The new phone service requires users to have a computer and access to broadband, either SDSL or cable-net. An adapter can then be plugged into the broadband modem with a conventional phone then plugged into the adapter. Several companies have already been offering such services in Norway, including Telio, IP24, TeleVoIP, BlueCom and NextGenTel. Therefore, Telenor is considered a late arrival, but analysts are not expecting a revolution. One said he hopes Telenor will be able to offer better quality at a lower price, but doesn't think that Telenor will risk "cannabilizing" its own permanent line service.
The Norwegian telecoms group was a public utility until it went through a partial privatisation in December 2000. However, the Norwegian state remains its largest single owner, with a 53 per cent stake. According to the Aftenposten, Telenor has said that it will start delivering the broadband phone service on April 11.
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