Telenor Maritim Radio is a subsidiary

Subsidiary

A subsidiary company, subsidiary, or daughter company is a company that is completely or partly owned and wholly controlled by another company that owns more than half of the subsidiary's stock. The subsidiary can be a company, corporation, or limited liability company. In some cases it is a...

 of Telenor

Telenor

Telenor Group is the incumbent telecommunications company in Norway, with headquarters located at Fornebu, close to Oslo. Today, Telenor Group is mostly an international wireless carrier with operations in Scandinavia, Eastern Europe and Asia, working predominantly under the Telenor brand...

 that is responsible for the infrastructure for maritime radio communication

Global Maritime Distress Safety System

The Global Maritime Distress and Safety System is an internationally agreed-upon set of safety procedures, types of equipment, and communication protocols used to increase safety and make it easier to rescue distressed ships, boats and aircraft....

 in Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

, and also includes five manned coast radio station

Coast radio station

A coast radio station is an on-shore maritime radio station which monitors radio distress frequencies and relays ship-to-ship and ship-to-land communications.-See also:* Marconi Station* Utility station...

s whose primary purpose is to monitor the maritime radio traffic (over e.g. VHF

Marine VHF radio

Marine VHF radio is installed on all large ships and most seagoing small craft. It is used for a wide variety of purposes, including summoning rescue services and communicating with harbours, locks, bridges and marinas, and operates in the VHF frequency range, between 156 to 174 MHz...

 and MF bands) and to assist marine vessels in distress

Distress

Distress may refer to:*Distress , occurring when an individual cannot adapt to stress*Suffering*Distress signal, an internationally recognized means for obtaining help...

.

Operation

The company has three main departments

• The Terrestrial Coast Radio operates five coast radio stations in Tjøme
  Tjøme
  Tjøme is a municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Tjøme. The parish of Tjømø was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 .-Name:...
  
  , Rogaland
  Rogaland
  is a county in Western Norway, bordering Hordaland, Telemark, Aust-Agder and Vest-Agder. It is the center of the Norwegian petroleum industry, and as a result of this, Rogaland has the lowest unemployment rate of any county in Norway, 1.1%...
  
  , Florø
  Florø
  is a town and the administrative centre of Flora municipality in the county of Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. It is also a former municipality that existed for just over 100 years. The town was founded on the Florelandet island between the Botnafjorden and Solheimsfjorden by royal decree in 1860. In...
  
  , Bodø
  Bodø
  is a city and a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Salten region.The city of Bodø was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 . Bodin was merged with Bodø on 1 January 1968. Skjerstad was merged with Bodø on 1 January 2005...
  
   and Vardø
  Vardø
  is a town and a municipality in Finnmark county in the extreme northeast part of Norway.Vardø was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 . The law required that all cities should be separated from their rural districts, but because of a low population and very few voters, this was...
  
  . All the coast radio stations are connected digitally to each other. In case of distress the command of a rescue operation will be taken over by the Norwegian Joint Rescue Coordination Centres located at either Sola
  Sola
  Sola is a municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is part of the region of Jæren. The old municipality of Håland was divided into Sola and Madla in 1930....
  
   or Bodø.
• The Radio Licencing Department issues certificate
  Academic certificate
  An academic certificate is a document that certifies that a person has received specific education or has passed a test or series of tests.In many countries, certificate is a qualification attained in secondary education. For instance, students in the Republic of Ireland sit the Junior Certificate...
  
  s for boat
  Boat
  A boat is a watercraft of any size designed to float or plane, to provide passage across water. Usually this water will be inland or in protected coastal areas. However, boats such as the whaleboat were designed to be operated from a ship in an offshore environment. In naval terms, a boat is a...
  
  s and ship
  Ship
  Since the end of the age of sail a ship has been any large buoyant marine vessel. Ships are generally distinguished from boats based on size and cargo or passenger capacity. Ships are used on lakes, seas, and rivers for a variety of activities, such as the transport of people or goods, fishing,...
  
  s based on an agreement with the Norwegian Post and Telecommunications Authority
  Norwegian Post and Telecommunications Authority
  Norwegian Post and Telecommunications Authority is a Norwegian government agency responsible for controlling and regulating the telecommunication and postal sector of Norway...
  
  . The company issues 35.000 certificates and charges fees based on the cost of operation.
• The Radio Inspection issues operating certificates in addition to controlling radio equipment onboard ships.

Digital Communications

Telenor Maritime Radio offers digital radio services via maritime VHF (VHF Data) and HF radio for vessels in Norwegian and international waters. Satellite services using VSAT and Inmarsat

Inmarsat

Inmarsat plc is a British satellite telecommunications company, offering global, mobile services. It provides telephony and data services to users worldwide, via portable or mobile terminals which communicate to ground stations through eleven geostationary telecommunications satellites...

are also offered.