Telecommunication Infrastructure
Telephones, Mobile Phones, and Digitalization
The Danish are generally regarded as having a relatively high quality telecommunication infrastructure. With regard to both conventional telephones and mobile telephones, Denmark is in the forefront within the global community. During the 1980's, in cooperation with its Nordic neighbors, Denmark developed the analog Nordic Mobile Telephone (NMT) system that was later exported to a number of countries. In 1992 it was one of the first countries to introduce the digital GSM pan-European cellular telephone system, which provides among the best GSM coverage in Europe. On a per capita basis, Denmark is among the world's largest users of cellular telephones. At year-end 1994 the number of NMT subscribers was 271,593 while the number of subscribers to the GSM system has grown even more rapidly from zero in 1992 to 231,907 by year-end 1994. As a result of such growth within the GSM system, Denmark is considering establishing a new service, the DCS 1800 system in approximately 1998. (USDOC, International Trade Association)
There are varying reports regarding communication infrastructure statistics. According to the Danish Ministry of Research and Information Technology, there are 59 telephone lines for each 100 inhabitants (or 590 per 1000), as shown in table 1, and 19 mobile telephones per 100 inhabitants (190 per 1000). Compare this to Norway and Sweden, which have 23 to 24 mobile telephones per 100 inhabitants (230 to 240 per 1000), respectively, and other Western countries that typically only have 4 to 5 (40 to 50 per 1000) (table 2). The United States has 627 telephone lines and 128.4 mobile phones per 1000 people (World Development Indicators, 1997). The number of mobile telephone subscribers is seen in table 3. As shown in table 4 , Denmark has approximately 1.9 data communication connections per 100 inhabitants. Presently, not even half of the Danish mobile telephones operate under the new digital GSM system, which gives access to data transmission. Because of its explosive growth during the past few years, the GSM system will soon supersede the old NMT system. According to World Development Indicators (1997), Denmark has 613 telephone lines per 1,000 inhabitants, and 157.3 mobile phones per 1,000 inhabitants.
The cellular telephone market in Denmark is truly international, and it resembles that of the U.S. and other western nations. The market is dominated by 3 major players: Motorola (45% market share), Nokia-Mobira, and Ericsson (45% market share together). Other brands such as Phillips, Panasonic, Alcatel, and Siemens are also present, but play a secondary role (10% market share) compared to the top three market holders (USDOC, International Trade Association). Despite this fact, it should be noted that there are no exports of cellular telephones out of the U.S. to Denmark. U.S. owned Motorola supplies the Danish local market via a wholly-owned sales and marketing subsidiary.
More than half of all numbers in operation in Denmark are connected to digital exchanges. From 1987 to 1994, the percentage of digital numbers increased from 11% to 53%, and this growth continues. Since 1992, the number of ISDN (a digital form of the conventional telephone network allowing both normal voice telephony and data transmission) subscribers has more than doubled every year. Such growth also applies to subscribers of ISDN2 (capacity of 128 Kbit/s) and ISDN3 (capacity of 2 Mbit/s). Digitalization of the telephone network is shown in table 5.
PSDN: There is not a large difference among the European countries in terms of the number of data connections.
CSDN: Within the European community, Denmark has the largest amount of lines and Sweden has the second largest amount. There remaining part of the European countries have very few of these kinds of data lines.
Leased Circuits: United Kingdom has the largest amount of lines, closely followed by Denmark and Sweden.
ISDN: This level extension is still very low in most of Europe, including Denmark; however, the number of subscribers is quickly increasing, as shown in table 6.
Even though Denmark presently has over half of its numbers connected to digital exchanges, on a comparative basis, it is a relatively low degree of digitalization. Only 34 of 100 (340 of 1,000) telephone exchanges in Denmark are digital as compared to 85 of 100 (850 of 1,000) for Germany, 80 of 100 (800 of 1,000) for France, and 79 of 100 (790 of 1,000) for the Netherlands. Such comparisons can be seen in table 7. Yet, in recent years the strategy of regional telephone companies, including Tele Danmark, has been to use digitalization for expansion purposes and not necessarily for replacement services. Presently, Tele Danmark believes that there is no qualitative advantage in the complete replacement of the well-functioning analogue lines with that of digital. Here, well functioning is defined in terms of the following:
It should be noted that a statement by the National Telecom Agency of not completed test calls shows a steady drop from 3% in the mid 1980s to 1.1% in 1994.
Even though Denmark has a relatively low degree of digitalization compared to other European countries, the central part of the Danish telecommunication infrastructure is fully digital and installed in fibre-optical cables on all principal distances. The fibre optic trunk network throughout Denmark is shown in map 2. In conjunction with microwave links, this network of fibre optic cables that extend from Copenhagen to Japan via Siberia, and from Copenhagen through the Eastern European states, allows Copenhagen to serve as a hub for international telecommunication. (Copenhagen Capacity: Information Technology)
Television Market
The Danish television market is estimated at approximately 5.2 million, while the number of televisions and VCRs in the homes are estimated at 2.296 million and 1.47 million, respectively. There are about 516,600 cable connections with cable penetration prevalence hovering at 22.5%. Finally, the total number of satellite dishes is approximately 340,000. (Advanced Television Markets, 1997)
According to Advanced Television Markets, Denmark ended 1996 with 250,000 D2 Mac and 50,000 Pal receivers, along with around 40,000 households taking advantage of pirate cards. There are no Pal standard satellite services transmitting in the Danish language. Although this represented little change on the late 1995 total, 1996 was certainly an eventful year for the Danish DTH industry. In particular, there were three major developments worth noting:
In addition to such developments in the television market during 1996, 1997 proves to be a promising year as well. SBS Danish subsidiary, Broadcast Danmark, is to lease a single analogue transponder on Telenor's Thor II satellite, for the April 7 launch of its Danish channel TV Danmark. The channel is set to be available in clear D2 Mac to 70 per cent of Danish homes through both cable and DTH distribution. SBS has gradually established a network of local broadcasters in Denmark and in late 1996 unveiled a #15.5 million investment package in connection with the impending launch. (Satellite Trader, 1997)
