Norwegians are still talkative, but not as eager as the Finns
The numbers in a new, major comparison of Nordic ecom statistics show that Norwegian subscribers are for the most part “average users” in the Nordic countries. However, we do have some distinctive characteristics, according to statistics NPT is now presenting.
Only the Finns talk more on mobile phones than Norwegians. And while the Danes are “silent” they send on the other hand more SMS messages than anyone else in the Nordic countries. In Norway, SMS is still growing, although it has levelled off. For many years the Swedes were very modest users of SMS. Today, however, the country has the most robust growth in the Nordic countries precisely for SMS. “You have to wonder why it is so that we have been texting way more than the Swedes for all these years, while today the situation is the opposite,” says Willy Jensen, Director General of Norwegian Post and Telecommunications Authority. “I used to like to say that Swedes were more straightforward, preferring to speak directly rather than write messages, but I guess that’s not true,” he says.
Norwegian subscribers both talk and write a lot on their mobile phones, but the Finns talk the most. Together with the Swedes they are also the most eager at transferring mobile data. On average, a Swedish mobile subscriber transferred approximately 2.5 gigabytes in 2009, while the Finns transferred about 2.2 gigabytes. Norway is the little brother here with 1.2 gigabytes per user, the same as Denmark.
“Then again Finland and Sweden have the most mobile broadband subscriptions,” says Jensen. In Finland, around 17 per cent of the population has mobile broadband, while the number for Sweden is 14 per cent. In Norway and Denmark approximately ten per cent of the population has mobile broadband.
Sweden ranks first in fibre in the Nordic countries. About 23 per cent of fixed broadband subscriptions are delivered via fibre. A typical user has more than 10 Mbit/s. Norway is second best in fibre, but the gap to the Swedes is wide: In Norway 12 per cent received broadband via fibre.
Close cooperation between the countries Uniform and comparable statistics are one of the results of the cooperation between the ecom authorities in the Nordic countries. Cooperation is closer and more formalised than before, and includes Iceland, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway.
“Such cooperation is important, regardless of affiliation to the EU. Many international issues are fronted collectively, and we also derive great benefit from bringing the individual country’s experiences up early for discussion at the highest level,” says Jensen. “Among other things, discussion on broadband is very relevant right now, since there are big differences in how each country carries out its development policies and the aspirations that underlie them.
“Many of the major companies that offer mobile and broadband are active in many countries, and for this reason a common regulatory framework is an important topic,” says Jensen.
The numbers in a new, major comparison of Nordic ecom statistics show that Norwegian subscribers are for the most part “average users” in the Nordic countries. However, we do have some distinctive characteristics, according to statistics NPT is now presenting.