STOCKHOLM -- With the five-year agreement between Telia and Viasat, customers subscribing to Telia’s digital television service will be offered Viasat’s programming, which includes movie, sports, entertainment and documentary channels, starting June 1, 2008. All 17 new channels, including TV3, TV6, TV8 and ZTV, will be added to Telia’s already comprehensive selection of channels. The agreement will also increase the number of on-demand services for Telia’s digital TV customers in Sweden.

Telia’s focus on digital television through broadband has turned out to be a real hit and the 300,000th customer mark was appropriately passed at the beginning of this year. On-demand services have been especially popular. Television watching based on programme listings is being challenged more and more by services that allow people to watch what they want, when they want. In a survey recently conducted by Telia in Sweden, 12 percent of the Swedish people said they are already using video-on-demand and almost 50 percent are positive towards trying it. The agreement with Viasat will not only allow the creation of new and attractive channel packages, it will also open up new opportunities for customers to watch programs whenever it suits them. Next in line are on-demand services from selected parts of programming from TV3, TV6, TV8, ZTV and TV 1000.

“We are constantly working on improving our range of digital TV programs and our offerings for customers,” says Erik Hallberg, Head of Broadband Services at TeliaSonera Sweden. “The agreement with Viasat will boost our service further and represents yet another step towards our goal to have the best selection of TV channels, channel packages and on-demand services in Sweden.”

Telia