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UK, Sweden, and Denmark Broadband Marketplace
Three very different European broadband markets make for three different markets.
By: Gordon Feller & Mary McNamara
Created:
October 22, 2002
Readers who use this information for investment purposes do so at their own risk!
Opinions expressed are just that and not based on insider information or information
otherwise obtained illegally. Report:
THE UNITED KINGDOM
The
most promising opportunities for foreign new media firms working in the United Kingdom are
in re-purposing existing content and applications, or creating new content, for digital TV
and digital wireless services, including, Multimedia Messaging Services (MMS) delivered
over General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) and 3G wireless.
In
common with North America, the UK has seen a significant downturn in the economy generally
during 2001 and more particularly in the IT and telecoms sectors. There have been a number
of high-profile casualties in the new media sector, including Deepend, a UK new media
agency with an office in Toronto. The industry is therefore going through a period of
consolidation and seeking partnerships in order to survive. The time of speculative new
media developments has ended and new projects must now have a very evident, and quick,
return on investment (RoI) to be considered.
Traditionally
the UK has been very strong in games development and that continues, although the sector
has had its own problems, with consolidation and even some closures. The Sony Playstation
remains the strongest platform for consoles and the mobile arena is beginning to see some
growth with games like “Who wants to be a Millionaire?” being ported to the
standard GSM platform. It is expected that the UK mobile networks will launch commercial
MMS (Multimedia Messaging Services) in the first half of next year, as handset
compatibility issues are resolved and this should boost new media development, including
games. Already with simple text messaging (SMS), over 1 billion messages are sent every
month in the UK, many of them by a youth audience quick to pick up on new innovations.
Digital
TV has experienced fairly rapid growth in the UK with estimates of the percentage of
digital TV homes varying from 33% (Continental Research) to 38% (e-Mori Technology
Tracker, October 2001). This represents around 7m homes, the bulk being BSkyB direct to
home satellite, which has lead the way with interactive programming. The other digital
platforms are cable (NTL and Telewest) and digital terrestrial (ITV Digital), with many
rumours existing about the long-term future for ITV Digital which has attracted just over
1m subscribers. One factor holding back interactive services has been poor user
interfaces, which research indicates users rate more difficult to use than PCs. In
November 2001, Telewest and NTL announced that they would be launching an interactive TV
standard for digital cable TV which should help to encourage the development of advanced
content. Both operators currently use the Liberate set-top box software.
One
recent report suggests that Western European revenues from interactive entertainment on
digital TV will reach $US12.5bn (,8.77bn) by 2005, claims a study by communications
consultancy Schema (http://www.Schema.co.uk). By that time, digital TV revenues will
account for one-third of the total interactive entertainment market. The revenues for
interactive entertainment on digital TV are predicted to grow until 2005 at an average
annual rate of 81%. The main driver will be pay-per-view (PPV) films, sporting and music
events, which will contribute 46% of the interactive market by 2005. The report says that
the UK will account for more than a third of Western European interactive entertainment in
revenues in 2005 'Digital TV is extremely well placed to take advantage of this new
technology because the business model is already in place,' said Koall Pascale, a
consultant at Schema.
'Whereas
mobile operators still don't have a proper idea of how revenue should be split between the
operators and content providers, TV companies are already used to doing this.'
After
these PPV events, gambling is expected to be the most profitable interactive service on
digital TV, earning $US3.8bn (,2.67bn) in 2005. Betting services in the UK and France are
already proving successful, due to the privacy and convenience of betting via the TV. More
than half of the European consumers who already watch pay TV would be prepared to pay for
PPV events and video on demand, reported the study.
One
area where the UK has lagged behind many of its European neighbours and is well behind The
USA, has been in broadband roll-out, limiting the opportunities for deploying rich
broadband content. An OECD Study published in October 2001 showed the UK in twenty-second
position, with less than 1% penetration rates of ADSL (British Telecom) and cable modems
(NTL and Telewest). However, cable modem services pricing is now reasonably competitive
compared to other countries, but there is little sign so far of an emerging strong growth
in demand.
The
Prime Minister announced in December 2001, 50m pounds sterline of new funding for the
provision of an online education scheme in British schools.The funding will be made
available to schools for the 2002-2003 academic year, to be spent on the implementation of
Internet-enabled teaching materials in the classroom. Public and private broadcasters,
including the BBC, will be providing material for every curriculum subject, and software
developers will also be supporting the scheme. Schools will receive the money in the form
of e-Learning credits, which they will be able to redeem against products listed in a
Curriculum Online portal. A further ,2 million has also been set aside for the development
of this portal (see http://www.dfes.gov.uk/index.htm).
Selected Statistical Data
(Source: New Media Age - http://www.newmediazero.com)
1. UK homes with Internet
Access (Continental Research November 2001)
Oct 01 - 38%
Jul 01 - 35%
Apr 01 - 33%
Jan 01 - 31%
2. Internet access from
home, work, school, internet cafes, mobile phones and iTV. (Jupiter
MMXI Online Market Landscape
Report, July 2001)
60.8% of the UK population
or 33,123,373 individuals
3. What is the usage by
gender?
51% Women, 49% Male
(Continental Research November 2001)
45% Women, 55% Male (Which?Online Annual Internet Survey 2001)
43% Women, 57% Men (e-Mori Technology Tracker September 2001)
4. What is the usage by age?
(Continental Research November 2001)
15 - 24: 15%
25 - 35: 19%
35 - 44: 18%
45 - 54: 16%
55 - 64: 12%
65+: 20%
5. How many have shopped
online?
8m or 47% of internet users
(Which? Online Annual Internet Survey 2001)
7.8m or 47% of Internet users (BMRB April 2001)
6. What is the average
online spend?
,693.90 ~ $1600 (Continental
Research November 2001)
7. How much is the online
advertising market in the UK worth?
,49.4m ~ $110m (Q4 2000 IAB
PWC Online Advertising report)
8. Which are the UK’s
top Internet Properties? (Nielsen/ NetRatings October, 2001)
1. MSN
2. Yahoo!
3. AOL Time Warner
4. Microsoft
5. Wanadoo
6. British Telecom
7. Lycos Network
8. Ask Jeeves
9. Google
10. Amazon
9. Which are the top domains
in the UK? (Jupiter MMXi September 2001)
1. msn.co.uk
2. msn.com
3. yahoo.com
4. microsoft.com
5. passport.com
6. freeserve.com
7. MSN Messenger Service
8. yahoo.co.uk
9. bbc.co.uk
10. AOL Proprietary
10. Which are the top ISPs
in the UK? (Jupiter MMXI Online Market Landscape Report, July 2001)
Freeserve 16.9% of the
access population.
AOL 12.3% of the online population.
BTInternet 8.9%
NTL 6.3%
Virgin Net 2.9%
11. What are the top UK
e-commerce domains? (NetValue October 2001)
1. amazon.co.uk
2. amazon.com
3. tesco.com
4. argos.co.uk
5. whsmith.co.uk
6. lastminute.com
7. jungle.com
8. comet.co.uk
9. columbiahouse.com
10. streetsonline.co.uk
12. What is the Internet
connection speed on home computers?
(Jupiter MMXI Online Market
Landscape Report, July 2001)
56K Modem 61.7%
ISDN 3.9%
DSL or cable 3.4%
Don't Know 14.7%
SWEDEN
Sweden
is the world’s number one IT Economy, according to the latest annual ranking by
International Data Corporation, February 2001. The large number of Swedish multinational
corporations, active regionally and globally are very significant, potential customers for
multimedia services and solutions.
The
Swedes have led the IT Economy league table since 1999. The ranking places national
economies on the basis of a number of factors ranging from communications infrastructure,
takeup of IT by traditional business and levels of expertise among the work force, to
Internet, mobile phone and PC use. Penetration of mobile phones, PC´s and Internet
reached saturation level in late 1999.
A
total of 93% of the 15-29 year old Swedish population make regular use of the Internet,
according to major research survey company SIFO, which published in January 2001 an
extensive nationwide survey it conducted. In the 30-49 age group, 85% have access to the
Internet.
Fixed infrastructure
Broadband
Internet is standard in industry and business. It is also increasingly available to
apartment residents and business travelers. Even remote Swedish counties will all be
linked to the national Broadband Network by late 2002. Wireless Broadband has been
deployed in Stockholm, and is on track in other urban areas.
Traditional
multinational class strengths in engineering, consumer durables and banking have been
quickly adapted to New Technology in marketing, customer service and intelligent
applications for traditional products. Sweden has the world´s highest proportion of
MNC´s in relation to population, so some corporate customers in the Old Economy, such as
Electrolux, Volvo and ABB are big. Swedish banks SEB and SHB, as well as Fenno-Swedish
bank Nordea, are all in the top five online banking operations, ranked by IBM /
Interbrand. Only Citibank is rated higher.
Four
UMTS 3G licences were awarded twelve months ago, in a hotly contested comparative review
process. There will be a total of, at least, five 3G service providers - due to a buy-in
deal by one unsuccessful bidder - on stream by mid-2002. Mobile Internet services are
crucial to the viability of 3G operations.
Note:
English is the second language of Sweden, especially in business and technology. Sweden
lives on exports and the business community is long accustomed to international contacts
and skills alliances.
Implications for Multimedia
Demand
for application development, content providers and, above all, technology partners is
likely to boom.
Saturation
Internet coverage and a highly IT-literate population constitutes a very useful test
market for new multimedia products and services.
Level
of IT maturity of the Swedish economy has given rise to a highly skilled domestic
multimedia sector -- competition for foeign firms, but also purchasers of niche competence
service and potential partners..
Saturation
Internet coverage and adoption of New Media by Old Economy has led to 43% of Swedish
Internet customers using the web to access digital services today*. This figure will grow
considerably in the near future.
Snapshot of the Industry and Sub-Sectors
Ericsson:
Starting
with the big names, telecom and IT giant Ericsson is increasingly committed to multimedia
investment and multimedia applications development, as a strategic component of its global
leadership in mobile systems, and its, increasingly weak, mobile phone sales. Convinced
that entertainment and games will drive development of the mobile Internet Ericsson
Microsoft Mobile Solutions and Ericsson Business Development have focussed on developing a
service network platform for the mobile Internet. The fact that the average age of
computer game players in the U.S. has now risen to 28, a factor which lends weight to
Ericsson Microsoft´s strategic decision.
Ericsson
defines the key 3G customer segment as the 16-25 age group.
Part
of Ericsson´s strategy is refine the integration of radio and MP3 players, probably in
alliance with music industry players. Ericsson is already partnered with MTV in Asian
markets, and, globally, with Sony in mobile handsets.
Gambling
The
gambling market in Sweden is estimated to be worth approximately 220 million CAD annually,
according to the Swedish National Gaming Authority / Lotteriinspektionen. The major
domestic player is SvenskaSpel. For historical reasons, this is a government controlled
monopoly. But, due to the spread of the Internet, the general consensus is that this
situation cannot last. Accepting this trend, and seeking survival and growth, Svenska Spel
is upgrading services domestically, and aiming to penetrate overseas markets, via the
Internet, using multimedia technology in product areas, customer services and marketing.
It sees growth in the areas of mini-games, mobile Internet gambling and also digital TV,
where it is preparing for its own broadcasting channel in Sweden.
Casino
platform developer Boss Media AB, of Stockholm, has recently won a worldwide contract from
major virtual casino operator Global Interactive. Of the 35 global licences sold by Boss
Media , all but one have been purchased by virtual operators, an indication of the
uncertainty, and legal hurdles, facing physical casinos in the face of a burgeoning
worldwide market for online interactive gambling. The online casino platform market is
estimated to be worth c. 4 billion CAD annually.
Multimedia Infrastructure
NetInsight
AB, based in Stockholm, will create a joint venture with Carrier1 to create a media
communicatsions network across Europe. The DTM (dynamic synchronous transfer mode) network
will provide capacity of up to 270 mbits/second for video transfer between corporate media
customers.
Focus on Multimedia Players
Terraplay
Systems AB is a joint venture of Ericsson Business Ventures and Swedish VenCap IT
Provider. Working with Ericsson Research, Terraplay Systems will develop a global standard
platform, and development tool, for interactive Internet games. Alliances with game
developers are being sought. Overall, the woldwide online games market is expected to grow
from today´s eight million to 73 million in North America and Western Europe alone, by
2003.
Dice
AB (formerly Digital Illusions) racing game RallyMaster was named Racing Game of 2000 by
games magazine, IGN.com. The game will be marketed in Europe by Electronic Arts. Digital
Illusions, which is listed on Stockholm´s New Market /Nya Marknaden bourse, has sales in
Europe, North America and Japan. Following the recent signing of a 12 million CAD
agreement with Microsoft, Dice will develop at least three games for Microsoft Xbox over a
four year period.
UDS,
Unique Development Studies AB, is one of the largest and most profitable games developers
in Sweden. It has been active in overseas markets for several years and recently won the
contract to develop a computer game based on cartoon character Asterix, from Infogrames of
France. UDS recently acquired British rival King of the Jungle.
Interloop,
a subsidiary of Vision Park AB, has developed Project IGI, a bestseller in North America
and Asia. Vision Park, which recently issued a profits warning, is itself currently in
talks to acquire IMG - see below.
Massive
Entertainment AB, of Malmö, southern Sweden, created Ground Control, which gained
popularity in numerous markets, partly due to groundbreaking 3D graphics.
Daydream
Software AB, of Umeå, northern Sweden, producer of Traitors Gate and advertising
sponsored 3D game Clusterball. Daydream recently acquired E-Game of Stockholm, a
specialist in freely distributed, advertising financed games. Daydream´s revenue streams
include sales of software gaming applications, game licences and sale of advertising space
on game products. Daydream has also developed the CRM database technology for personal,
customer profile based advertising. CRM technology can also be used in interactive
Digital
TV
Fastbridge
AB is the Europe-wide marketing consulting arm of Message Plus Media and Intiative
Universal.
IMG
- develops multimedia games and related products, and also sells games and music videos
under licence.- currently in talks with a view to being acquired by Vision Park, see
above.
The
Ericsson corporation has invested heavily in WAP and 3G services for online games and
gambling. Among its customers are Ladbrokes, a world leader in the gambling sector, with 5
billion CAD turnover. Ericsson strategy is to help grow the content market by advising
clients, such as games developers and service providers to provide entertainment via fixed
and mobile networks.
Ericsson
identifies key 3G mobile Internet customer as age group 16-25. Ericssson Lab in Lund, in
southern Sweden, states that its market surveys indicate that mobile phone penetration
overall (age group) 15-74 is 74%. Their expectation is that Mobile Internet users will
exceed fixed Internet users, in Sweden, by the end of 2003.
Music
Sweden
has been, for several years, the world´s third largest exporter of recorded music, by
value, after the U.S. and Great Britain. To a certain extent this strength feeds through
into the Multimedia sector.
Some significant players:
Coding
Technologies has won a contract, from Thomson Multimedia, to develop the next
generation of mp3 - mpeg audio layer 3 - to be named mp3pro. Using mp3pro, music files can
be compressed by a further 50%, with a superior sound quality. Coding Technology has
worked with the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits, originator of mp3, since
1999.
E-Events is a growing trend in this
market. Companies ranging from banks to cosmetic houses are using video sequences and
Interactive broadcasting to market their services and products.
Telia,
the leading Swedish telecom provider offers web hotels for storage of E-Event video
streaming files. Swedish online bank Nordea has developed Fond TV as a service to
customers of its investment funds. An increasing number of companies employ live video in
Investor Relations.
Swedish Statistics
*Classification of
Multimedia Product by Medium (Source, Swedish Institute for Working Life)
Internet & Corporate
Intranets - 85%
CD-Rom - 16%
Other - 9%
*Content
Corporate Presentations -
26%
Education & E-Learning - 30%
Entertainment & Games- 15%
Advertising - 10%
Information - 10%
Other - 9%
*Corporate Ownership of
Multimedia Companies (i.e. Parent Companies)
Film & Video - 15%
Publishing - 12%
Advertising - 10%
Computer Software - 10%
Other - 53%
*Geographic Distribution
Greater Stockholm - 47%
Gothenburg (Western Sweden) - 9%
Malmö/Lund (Southern Sweden) - 8%
Rest of the Country - 36%
Finding Companies in this
Report:
Ericsson http://www.ericsson.com
Telia http://www.telia.se
Nordea http://www.nb.se
Vision Park http://www.visionpark.com
SvenskaSpel http://www.svenskaspel.se
BossMedia http://www.bossmedia.se
Netinsight http://www.netinsight.se
Terraplay Systems http://www.terraplay.com
Dice http://www.dice.se
UDS http://www.uds.se
Massive Entertainment http://www.massive.se
Daydream Software http://www.daydream.se
DENMARK
Denmark,
as a member of the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO),
is a relatively small country with a population of 5.5 million. In terms of IT technology,
however, Denmark represents a sophisticated and dynamic market. The Danish IT and telecoms
business sector is comprised of approximately 10,000 companies. Denmark is a net importer
of Information Technology. EITO (The European Information Technology Observatory)
estimates the Danish informatics and telecoms market at approximately $10 billion.
Approximately
70% of all Danish households are equipped with minimum one PC. 55% of all Danish
households have Internet access (compared with EU average of 30%).
While
2001 has been a disappointing year for many Danish Multimedia companies, many
foreign-based software firms find doing business in Denmark to be quite straight-forward.
There is a very limited scope for “red tape”. The good business and social
chemistry between Danes and non-Europeans is always a strong plus. Due in large part to
Denmark’s trading history, English is the “second language” of most Danes.
Due to Denmark's geographic location (situated between Scandinavia and Continental
Europe), the country’s become a critical linkage point. The large international
airport is now a key hub. The new bridge to Sweden and Denmark's transport and
telecommunications infrastructure are important factors that help to make Denmark one of
Europe's best locations for product distribution.
To
a large extent, North American digital content is compatible with Danish interests.
Localisation is an issue, but not a major one.
Access technologies for
multimedia i.e. broadband infrastructure (ADSL, Cable Modem, Fixed Wireless), number of
CD/DVD drives, digital TV are either available in Denmark already or growing fast. The new
Danish Government has publicly announced that it intends to subsidize broadband and
personal computer roll-out in Denmark. This will dramatically increase the number of
households with high access speeds and will demand for high-quality content. A large
infusion of “earmarked” funding is being used to bring IT and multimedia into
the educational/school sector. According to one recent Pan-European study from
PriceWaterhous Coopers, Denmark is the country best suited to establish a new
“e-commerce industrial base” (on the basis of cost, human resources and
infrastructure comparisons). New generations of multimedia developers are being actviely
trained in Denmark. The most popular program offered within Denmark’s IT University
is the Multimedia-Digital Media Design Stream. (A whopping 50% of the overall student body
attends this course).
Broadband Access
From
56K modem access, the market is now claring evolving into broadband and particularly ADSL
access. There are approximately 120,000 ADSL subscribers currently in Denmark.
Approximately
2.5 million CD players in Denmark, with 600.000 DVD players. More than 70% of all Danes
own a cell phone. Denmark has 40 personal computers for every 100 persons, which is almost
double the average of Western Europe!
Danish Multimedia Industry: The Current Mood
2001
was not a good year for the Danish Multimedia Industry as was the case for the multimedia
industries of most countries. “The September 11 effect” has had a detrimental
impact on Danish GNP (albeit it a minimal effect compared to many other countries).
Subsequently, advertising and consumer spending is down in Denmark compared to early 2001
forecasts and this has generated harder times for many Danish Multimedia operations.
This
is particularly the case since the structure of industry in Denmark consists of very few
large companies and many small-to-medium size enterprises.
Who’s Who
Examples
of some of the more prominent digital content companies (several of which exhibited at Milia 2002)
1.
Interactive Television Entertainment A/S
Nattergalevej 6
DK-2400 Copenhagen NV
Denmark
Phone: +45 70 21 02 00
Fax: +45 70 21 02 01
Web site: http://www.ite.dk
Contact: Mr. Niels Jørgen Skov, Sales Director (e-mail: njs@ite.dk)
Well known for the interactive TVGame Troll AHugo@, now games on many different platforms
including PlayStation and Nintendo.
2. Lego Media International
(United Kingdom)
33, Bath Road
Slough
Berkshire SL1 3UF
UK
Phone: +44 17 53 49 50 33
Fax: +44 17 53 49 52 25
Web site: http://www.legomedia.com
Contact: Ms. Jo Featherstone, Sales manager: Sub Lincensing & Special Markets
Mr. David Johnson, OEM & NBD Manager Europe
Game Software Division of the Danish Lego company. Lego Media International is based in
London and produces a wide range of children’s games for various platforms. (Star
Wars and Harry Potter)
3. Egmont Online A/S
Halmtorvet 29
DK-1700 Copenhagen V
Denmark
Phone: +45 33 26 67 00
Web site: http://www.egmont.com
Contact: Mr. Kenneth Plummer, Managing Director (e-mail:plummerk@ens.egmont.com)
Large international media group. Distributor of entertainment products including game
software and interactive tv.
4. Ivanoff Interactive A/S
Mosedalvej 15
DK-2500 Valby
Denmark
Phone: +45 70 22 33 23
Fax: +45 36 17 01 28
Web site: http://www.invanoff.dk
Contact: Mr. Søren Jensen, CEO (e-mail: soren@ivanoff.dk)
Ms. Kirsten Andersen, International Sales Manager (e-mail: kirsten@ivanoff.dk)
Mr. Ole Ivanoff, Creative Director (e-mail: ole@ivanoff.dk)
Well established Danish supplier and developer of “edutainment” software for
children.
5. Savannah A/S
Ragnsborggade 8B
DK-2200 Copenhagen N
Denmark
Phone: +45 35 24 78 00
Fax: +45 35 39 78 33
Web site: http://www.savannah.dk
Contact: Mr. Michael Buch, Commercial Director (e-mail: michael@savannah.dk)
Ms. Katja Arslev, Sales/Marketing (e-mail: katja@savannah.dk)
Mr. Per Rosendal, Creative Director (e-mail: per@savannah.dk)
Mr. John Christensen, Localisation Manager (e-mail: john@savannah.dk)
Interactive media products for children
6. K.E.Media
Sintrupvej 12
8220 Brabrand
Tel.: 89 44 22 33
e-mail på: mail@kemedia.com
Web site: http://www.kemedia.com
Contact: Mr. Kaj Mathiassen
Game distributor.
7. EMP
Frederiksborgvej 86, 2
DK-2400 Copenhagen NV
Denmark
Phone: +45 35 85 03 11
Fax: +45 35 85 03 22
Web site: http://www.emp.dk
Contact: Mr. Jens Erlandsen, President (e-mail: info@emp.dk)
Successful game products for children.
8. Studie 1-2 A/S
Teglvænget 29
DK-7400 Herning
Denmark
Phone: +45 97 12 86 66
Fax: +45 97 12 98 66
Web site: http://www.studio1-2.dk//pixeline.dk
Contact: Mr. Søren Helt (e-mail: helt@studio1-2.dk)
9. A.Film A/S
Tagensvej 85 F
2200 Copenhagen N
Ph: 35 82 70 60
Fax: 35 82 70 61
Website http://www.afilm.dk
Mr. Henrik Edeltoft (Email: mail@afilm.dk)
Large animated film studio/production operation.
Internet-focused dot.coms
Denmark (as other countries)
has had its share of dot.com demises, however examples of three Danish dot.com services,
which are still ‘going strong’ include the following:
1. Netdoktor A/S
Bredgade 41
DK- 1260 Copenhagen K
Phone: +45 33 17 92 50
Fax: +45 33 17 92 59
http://www.netdoktor.com
Contact: Mr. Mikael Vissing, Managing Director (e-mail: mv@netdoktor.dk)
Europe’s largest and fastest growing Internet Health Portal with offices in 6
European countries.
2. Haburi
Bredgade 65
DK-1260 Copenhagen K.
Phone: +45 70 20 41 22
Fax: +45 70 20 41 23
www.haburi.com
E-mail: reception@haburi.com
sekretariat@haburi.com
Contact: Michael Vad (E-mail: vad@haburi.com)
Virtual factory outlet offering designer clothes and accessories at discount prices.
Den Blå Avis
Marselisborg Havnevej 26
8000 Aarhus
Phone: +45 87 31 31 31
http://www.dba.dk:
Contact: Mr. Peter Mørkenborg, IT Manager (e-mail: dark@dba.dk)
An online market place where individual users can buy, sell or swap personal belongings
etc.
Broadband Internet Application Developers
Examples of these firms
include:
1. Feldborg Multimedie
Roskildevej 162
DK-2500 Valby
Phone: +45 38 79 68 00
Fax: +45 38 79 68 01
Web site: http://www.feldborg.dk
Contact: Mr. Leo Feldborg, Managing Director (e-mail: leo@feldborg.dk)
Educational multimedia, information kiosks, corporate presentations etc.
2. MondoSoft A/S
Vestergade 18E
DK-1456 Copenhagen K
Denmark
Phone: +45 70 20 20 09
Fax: +45 70 20 25 09
E-mail: info@mondosoft.com
Web site: http://www.mondosoft.com
Contact: Mr. Jens Haugaard
Search engine technology company.
3.Synkron A/S
Klostertorvet 3 B
DK-8000 Århus C
Phone: +45 87 32 10 20
Fax: +45 87 32 10 21
E-mail: info@synkron.com
Web site: http://www.synkron.dk
Contact: Mr. Thomas Marshall, Manager
Web content management system.
4. Vizion Factory A/S
Masnedøgade 20
DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø
Denmark
Phone: +45 77 33 99 33
Fax + 45 77 33 99 66
E-mail: info@vizionfactory.com
http://www.vizionfactory.dk
Contact: Mr. Søren Truelsen, CEO (e-mail: soren.truelsen@vizionfactory.com)
Ms. Louise Bøttner, Sales (e-mail: louise.bottner@vizionfactory.com)
Mr. Henrik Øgaard, Sales and Marketing Director (e-mail: henrik.ogaard@vizionfactory.com)
Denmark’s largest supplier of E-learning systems/content.
These
are some of Denmark’s prominent players in the content, interactive TV, e-commerce,
dot.com and Internet application spaces. If you have a specific product you are interested
in promoting, please contact the author for further details concerning other specific
partners.
The Educational Sector
The
Danish Government is placing a very high priority on the development and supply of digital
educational media. Approximately $65 million have been allocated to the Danish Ministry of
Education to invest in new IT and digital media for the Danish primary/secondary schooling
system.
Information
on the structure of the Danish educational system and the deployment of IT and digital
media in the educational sector is available at the following links (information is in
English):
http://www.uvm.dk/eng/publications/
http://www.uvm.dk/eng/publications/10InformationCom/1.htm
http://www.uvm.dk/eng/publications/9Informationtec/eng_it.htm
The
“Sector Net” is an electronic “backbone” network connecting primary
schools, secondary schools, universities and other teaching institutions for the purpose
of exchanging information and retrieving data from central databases. Within two years,
all of Denmark’s 2,000 primary and secondary schools will be on the network.
Broadband access for Danish schools is also a main priority. The SektorNet network is also
designed for sharing and exchanging educational multimedia. (More info on SektorNet at http://www.sektornet.dk/en/)
Other
interesting educational projects involving digital media are under the auspices of two
organizations: Denmark’s Pedagogical University and
The Learning Lab Denmark.
Some
of Denmark’s suppliers/distributors of educational and edutainment software for the
school sector are:
1.
Orfeus
Olof Palmes Allé 38
DK-8200 Aarhus N
Denmark
Phone: +45 89 37 66 99
Fax: +45 89 37 66 98
Email: orfeus@uni-c.dk
http://www.orfeus.dk
Contact: Mr. Martin Hovbakke Sørensen, Manager (e-mail:martin.hovbakke.sorensen@uni-c.dk)
Orfeus is a part of the AUNI-C@ organisation - a key institution/agency under the Danish
Ministry of Education. Orfeus distributes edutainment and educational software for the
Danish school sector and publishes annually a catalogue of accessible software.
2. UNI-C
Vermundsgade 5
DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø
Denmark
Phone: +45 35 87 88 89
Fax: +45 35 87 88 90
Email: info@uni-c.dk
http://www.uni-c.dk
Supplies IT-based educational material through Orfeus and directly, provides Web-based
educational systems, educational administrative systems for Danish schools etc.
Digital TV, Interactive TV
and Technology Convergence:
Denmark and the other Nordic
countries are characterized by a very high Internet-penetration and a low penetration of
digital TV (compared to for instance the UK and France). The two largest players with
respect to Interactive TV in Denmark (content) are:
1. Denmark Radio (Danish version of CBC)
TV-byen
DK- 2860 Søborg,
Denmark
Phone : +45 35 20 83 66
Contact: Peter Looms (Email: poo@dr.dk)
2. VISIONIK interactive Tv
Islands Brygge 57, DK-2300 Copenhagen S
T: +45 36 93 60 00 F: +45 36 96 00 01
Direct: +45 36 93 60 02 Mob: +45 40 78 37 40 E: jlembke@visionik.dk
http://www.visionik.com
Contact: Mr. Joergen Lembke, Chairman
Visionik is
Denmark’s largest supplier/solutions provider of Interactive TV. It has produced an
acclaimed Interactive Digital TV program for teenagers which won the Nombre D’Or
award at IBC 2001.
The
Program “ROFL”, a coproduction between, the Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR)
and its digital TV contractor Visionik A/S, received the award for the best program for
10-14 year Olds.
DR
has now launched its 2nd generation Interactive Digital TV-program, a successful effort
called “Boogie” for 12-15 Olds.
An
important feature of the new program is mobile telephony integration allowing viewers to
send SMS cellular messages directly to the TV program.
Today
approximately 15% of all Danish households have a digital TV, a combination of cable
(primarily offered by two local operators TDC-Tele Denmark and Stofa) and Digital
Satellite TV. The number of Digital satellite subscribers and related set-top boxes are
growing substantially. Their growth is faster than cable, a fact primarily due to the
channel restrictions of cable. The dominant set top box/content suppliers are Via Sat
(Sweden) and Canal Digital (Norway). Digital Terrestrial TV (DTV) is currently being
debated as a political question in Denmark. It is still uncertain whether the Danish
Government will establish or support a national DTV project. (Key questions being debated
include these two: will the current 16 channel restriction be a problem? is there
sufficient financial private sector content backing? )
Examples
of Danish organisations interested in the future of the country’s Digital TV market
are: Nordisk Film & TV A/S (video and cross media production company), Grey Direct
& Interactive Denmark (advertising agency/media bureau), Tele Denmark Cable TV, MTG,
TV3, TV2, Canal Digital (Broadcasters), Tele Denmark (content aggregator), Visionik
(Systems integrator).
Readers who use this information for investment purposes do so at their own risk!
Opinions expressed are just that and not based on insider information or information
otherwise obtained illegally.
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