Finnish viewers to get terrestrial HDTV

STOCKHOLM, Sweden — Once you’ve let high-definition television (HDTV) into your living room, it’s there to stay. That’s become clear to DNA, mobile operator and Finland’s largest cable TV operator, with a 43 percent market share. Now they’ve decided to make the Finnish households among the first in the world to enjoy HDTV through their existing TV antennas. By signing a new agreement with Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC), DNA will make the HDTV experience available for 60 percent of all Finnish digital terrestrial TV households by 2011.

When it comes to TV-related features worth paying for, excellent quality ranks the absolute highest and is also considered one of the most important features of TV services, according to an international study conducted by Ericsson ConsumerLab on TV and video consumption.

Charlotta Sund, Head of Ericsson Baltic Sea also reflects on statistics done by Finnpanel – the company that officially measures TV viewing in Finland – and says: “Just last year, about 35 000 – or 1.4 percent – of Finnish households ordered HD channels. Considering that 1.4 percent will grow to 60 percent within a two year period says quite a lot about the great growth potential of the HDTV market. That’s why we’ve invested so much in TV-related technology and services.”

Pekka Väisänen, Vice president, Consumer Business, at DNA says: “In a recent survey we found that an impressive majority of the Finnish population, 69 percent, want to watch movies in high definition and in the age group 15-19 the number is even higher; 89 percent. There’s no doubt that HDTV is the future.”

Ericsson will immediately start the roll-out of the terrestrial HDTV network, which means that 60 percent of the Finnish households within the aerial network will have access to HDTV services at the end of 2011. The service will be available already at the year-end of 2010 in the biggest cities and the surrounding areas.

Ericsson is the prime contractor, providing network roll-out and systems integration services as well as maintenance and support services. The technology provided includes products from the Ericsson TV portfolio, including the MPEG-4 AVC HD head-end solution, along with third party products and technology for DVB-T2 HDTV broadcasting.