Norway Telephone Company Inc history

In 1876 Alexander Graham Bell was the first person to patent the telephone.

1878: The first telephone network is completed in Norway.

By 1880, the country already had its first telephone company, The International Bell Company, which began operating a telephone network in Oslo.

In 1881, Söderberg started a telephone association in Kristiania in competition with the dominant Bell company.

After the first export order for Kristiania, Bergen was the next Norwegian city to begin using Lars Magus Ericsson's products in 1882.

LM Ericsson, table telephone, 1892

International service began in the country in 1893, linking Christiania and Stockholm.

In 1901, however, the state-owned Norwegian Telegraph Administration (NTA) made its first move to establish control over the sector, taking over the telephone exchange serving Christiania.

In 1906 one of the first radio waves connections between island was established in the Lofoten area in Northern Norway.

To strengthen its position in the country, Ericsson in 1928 purchased a share in a company named Elektrisk Bureau in Oslo, in which Carl Söderberg was one of the founders.

Elektrisk Bureau, table telephone, 1932

Elektrisk Bureau, table telephone, 1953

1966: NTA introduces the first manual mobile telephone system.

In 1967, Norway introduced one of the world's first mobile telephone systems, an analog-based, manually operated system.

1969: NTA launches its first data transmissions and changes its name to Norwegian Telecommunications Administration (Televerket).

1974: The last privately operated telephone company in Norway is acquired.

1981: The first automated mobile telephone system is launched.

In 1989, Ericsson took over the telecom operations of Elektrisk Bureau and established its own Norwegian company.

1992: The company expands into satellite broadcasting and transmission with the purchase of Thor satellite.

1993: The company launches a GSM mobile network in Norway; the company joins a consortium developing Pannon GSM in Hungary (later acquires full control).

1994: Televerket is converted to a public corporation.

The company also acquired a 13 percent stake in Northwest GSM, which launched cellular phone services in St Petersburg in 1995.

ETL then formed a joint venture with Montenegro's PTT to launch ProMonte, the country's first and largest mobile phone service, which became operational in 1996.

The company joined consortiums acquiring licenses and building GSM-based networks in Germany, Ireland, Greece, and Austria in 1997 alone.

In 1998, the company began negotiating with Swedish counterpart Telia for a merger of the two companies.

In 1999, the two sides tried again, and this time came so far as to announce an actual merger agreement.

Telenor began restructuring its holdings in 2001, selling off its minority stakes in Germany and Ireland, as well as its position in Northwest GSM. Telenor also sold off a number of noncore holdings, such as its Telenor Media directories busi-

The merger between Telia and Finland's Sonera in 2002, however, put an end to those hopes as well.

By 2004, Telenor's stake in VimpelCom had increased to 29 percent.