Canal Digital was a Nordic pay TV and internet service provider in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland that was founded in March 1997 as a joint venture between the French pay TV company Canal+ and the Norwegian telecommunications operator Telenor. The number of customers in 2017 was 838,000. From 2003 to 2020, Canal Digital was fully owned by Telenor. In 2004, Telenor Avidi was merged into Canal Digital and changed its name to Canal Digital cable television. In 2020, Canal Digital formed a joint venture with Viasat to form the company Allente. The merger was completed on April 13, 2021. Canal Digital was started as a direct broadcast satellite television service to Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland, but has since expanded into cable television in Norway, Sweden and Denmark, digital terrestrial television in Finland and IPTV in Sweden and Denmark. More than 2.9 million Nordic households and activities are subscribed to their services. FTTH services have slowly started in selected areas in Norway. Internet access through the cable network is based on the EuroDOCSIS standard. Canal Digital's cable system in the newer network areas which includes most of Canal Digital's cable networks in Norway is based on hybrid fibre-coaxial technology. Some other network areas are copper only, but are subjected to upgrading in order to support new TV set-top box's. Unlike its DTH rival, Viasat, Canal Digital does not own a TV-network – they have however secured several multi-year exclusive deals with different TV broadcasters. As of 2011, Canal Digital has exclusive satellite rights with C More Entertainment, ProSiebenSat.1 in Denmark, Eurosport, BBC Worldwide and Discovery Communications. Satellite exclusivity was more common in the past, but many channels that were once exclusive to Canal Digital have eventually signed agreements with Viasat. Broadcasters that were once exclusive to Canal Digital but later joined Viasat include Sveriges Television (joined Viasat in 2003), TV4 AB (2005–2006), National Geographic Channel, ProSiebenSat.1 in Norway and Sweden, TV 2 (Denmark) and TV 2 (Norway). Their satellite broadcasts can be received from the Thor 5 and Thor 6 satellites at 1°W with any DVB-S Receiver Equipped with a Conax Descrambling Module. Satellite television High-definition television Canal Digital was the first major distributor in the region to launch high-definition television. The first channel, C More HD, was launched in September 2005, using MPEG-2 compression. In June 2006, Canal Digital started broadcasting HD-kanalen from Sveriges Television and TV4 AB