The Ministry of Transport and Communications and the Ministry of Culture and Church Affairs have today received one application for the licence to operate and build a digital terrestrial television network in Norway. The applicant is Norges televisjon as (NTV). The company is owned by NRK (state owned public service broadcaster), TV2 (privately owned, commercial public service broadcaster) and Telenor Broadcast Holding AS (transmission and distribution of TV-content, subsidiary of Norway’s largest telecommunication company).

This invitation to tender was made public on 30 June this year. The original invitation to tender for the licence was made public in 2002. The only applicant was NTV – then a joint venture between NRK and TV2. In the subsequent process to determine the final conditions of the licence, NTV in February this year applied for an extension of the licence period from twelve to fifteen years. Consequently, on 7 March this year, other interested parties were invited to notify their interest to tender for the licence under the altered licence conditions. Telenor Broadcast Holding notified the Ministry of Transport and Communications of their interest by the set deadline of 2 May. The Ministry of Transport and Communications and the Ministry of Culture and Church Affairs thus decided that the licence tender must be issued anew.

The Ministry of Transport and Communications and the Ministry of Culture and Church Affairs will now review the application to ensure that it fulfils the obligations in the invitation to tender. The application will also be sent to the Norwegian competition authorities for considerations on competition matters.