Norwegian Telenor's official number information service blocks Opera

October 9, 2008 · by Haavard

In 1995, Opera Software was formed as a company after branching out from Norwegian phone monopolist Telenor. In 2008, Telenor apparently blocks Opera from accessing its map search.

If you visit the map search at 1881.no, you simply get the following message:

Map search can unfortunately not be shown in your browser
We recommend that you use Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox when visiting 1881.no

That sites in other countries block Opera is not a surprise, but I am definitely surprised when Norwegian sites do it. Especially when we are talking about an official map service for a large and renown Norwegian company like Telenor. Not only did Opera start out at Telenor, but Opera is not exactly unknown in Norway either.

What makes this thing even more bizarre is that Opera seems to work just fine, but they've gone out of their way to block it. It's using sophisticated techniques to make sure Opera stays out, but if you view the source, you can edit "__supportedBrowsers" to include Opera:

    var __supportedBrowsers = [
        {
            identity : "Firefox",
            version : ">=1.5"
        },
        {
            identity : "Explorer",
            version : ">=6"
        },
        {
            identity : "Opera",
        }
    ];

We have tried to contact them, but nothing has happened so far.

Maybe it's time for me to stop using Telenor services. They've gotten a lot of money from me through the years, but if my money is spent on browser discrimination I don't want to support that.

Readers' comments 10

Left under the original article, as archived.

LawrenceThursday, October 9, 2008 10:58:10 AM
Wow, that's pretty dirty.
AuxThursday, October 9, 2008 1:28:28 PM
No comments...
Unregistered userThursday, October 9, 2008 4:57:16 PM
Blah writes: What is even more funny is that Opera originates from Telenor, IIRC ;(
_Grey_Thursday, October 9, 2008 5:30:20 PM
@Blah: I guess ironic would be appropriate in this case, too.
Hein ToreThursday, October 9, 2008 8:38:13 PM
This reminds me of the time I rang Telenor's support line because my dad's broadband line (surprisingly) wasn't working:

Me: "... yes, I've rebooted the router, double-checked all the wiring and cables, and triple-checked that there definitely is no Internet connection by using no less than 3 different computers."

Them: "Oh, alright then... would you care sending us an e-mail explaining the problem in detail?"

HAH!
DanielFriday, October 10, 2008 9:30:35 PM
I remember sending a report on this site. Good to know that it came through...
Alexey FeldgendlerSaturday, October 11, 2008 8:45:08 PM
Works for me currently.
Daniel DavisWednesday, October 15, 2008 7:00:27 AM
After reading this post I visited the site and sent them a polite email (I'm sure I wasn't the only one). Less than a week later, not only have they replied but they've fixed the problem:
Hi, Thank you for your mail of october 9th regarding support of the Opera browser in our Maps section. It is now possible to use the map section when using the Opera browser. Have a nice day Vi snakkes!

After being told that I should "upgrade" to IE or Firefox by so many other sites, it's refreshing to see such a positive response. Thank you Telenor!
Charles SchlossFriday, November 7, 2008 1:12:49 AM
Live Maps on the site is working here (USA)
Øyvind ØstlundFriday, November 7, 2008 12:24:06 PM
It works here as well now. They must have changed the code. Maybe it helped with some publicity

- ØØ -