Norway

Introduction

In our annual benchmark report for Norway, we have evaluated 94,427 speed and latency tests, conducted on the smartphones of real-world users of national mobile operators within Common Coverage Areas, between July 1st and December 31st, 2021.

The Norwegian telecoms industry went through great change in the latter half of 2021 as operators were able to get back to some normality after the pandemic affected productivity. 

A major shift continues to be in the form of getting rid of older technologies no longer suited for a society reliant on good, strong internet connections. In November 2021, Telia completed its 3G shutdown with the 900 MHz band and 2100 MHz band being the last to be switched off.

5G also has largely dominated the headlines in the Nordic region and in Norway; however, ice continues to go at its own pace. The operator was still being awarded rights to 5G access in September 2021 and by November had switched on its first commercial offering starting in Oslo. 

The Norwegian government raised at least $445 million from its 5G auctions, dominated primarily by Telenor, Telia, and broadband/tv provider Altibox. Telia Norway plans to complete 5G coverage nationwide by 2023, with at least 2 million of its users claimed to be able to access the new technology in November 2021. 

In Tutela’s annual Global State of Mobile Experience report, Norway placed eighth out of the top 30 countries analyzed. At an operator level, Telenor Norway was in third place out of the top 30 operators while ice Norway statistically tied with 3 Denmark and au Japan for 16th place.

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