Cable TV
Cable TV (and Internet) can be accessed via cable if the system has been laid in your road or apartment complex. This system provides all your local cable TV channels and your broadband internet (should you wish). The limitations are that:
- You have to use whichever cable company provides the service in your area or apartment complex.
- You have to have a cable box (decoder) by your TV to get more than the basic 15 channels.
- The basic installation only allows for one outlet point in the house. To have cable on other TVs requires extra cable boxes and extra wiring around the house, or a wireless system (which are distance limited).
- It has a mix of Norwegian and English speaking channels.
- You have to sign up for a minimum of 12 months or pay an extra premium.
Local Norwegian cable TV packages have quite a few English-speaking programmes with Norwegian or Danish subtitles, such as Travel Channel, CNN, National Geographic etc.
They also show a fair amount of English and American shows on the national TV channels from NRK (pronounced en-err-kor!)
The different cable providers offer different packages of channels, but they are all pretty much the same.
Almost all of the cable TV in houses in Stavanger is provided by GET. They offer ordinary decoders, decoders which give you a pause option and decoders with pause and High Definition (HD) TV. They also provide broadband internet if you have a TV account with them. The ordinary decoder comes free with the basic package ("Startpakke") but you have to sign up for a year. If there is cable to your house, you will receive some channels for free without even needing a decoder.
Some apartment complexes have cable provided by Rønning or CanalDigital. Usually, you will have the basic package free which doesn't need a decoder. You can upgrade to a better package of channels and get a decoder, but we have no control over the length of time it takes to implement an upgrade.
Billing is monthly and is payable over the internet.