Telecommunications in Iceland

Telecommunications in Iceland is a diversified market.

History

The first under-sea telegram cable connection to the British Isles reached Seyðisfjörður in Iceland in 1906. Around the same time telephone communication was opened between Reykjavik and Hafnarfjörður. By 1911 a telephone line connected Reykjavik in the west of Iceland to Seyðisfjörður in the east via Akureyri in the north. A line to the Vestmannaeyjar was constructed a few years later, and by 1929 a line along the south of the island connected Reykjavik to Seyðisfjörður via Vik in the south of the island. A teleprinter service was introduced to the island in 1930.[1]

As of 1933 there were 55 telephones for every 1000 inhabitants on the island. The first short-wave radio station was established in Iceland in 1935-36, linking the country up to international radio-telephone services. By January 1936 there were 106 radio-licence holders for every 1000 Icelandic inhabitants.[2]

Submarine connectivity

Current internet and telephone services rely on submarine communications cables for external traffic, with a total capacity of 60.2Tbit/s

Current
  • FARICE-1, 2 fiber pairs, with lit 11 Tbit/s to the United Kingdom and the Faroe Islands laid in 2003
  • DANICE, 4 fiber pairs, with lit 36.4 Tbit/s to Denmark, laid in 2009.
  • Greenland Connect, 2 fiber pairs, with lit 12.8 Tbit/s to Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada and Greenland, laid in 2009.
  • IRIS, 6 fiber pairs, with 108 Tbit/s initial capacity to Galway, Ireland, laid in 2022 and opened in March 2023.

Former
  • CANTAT-3, 3 fiber pairs, with capacity of 7.5 Gbit/s to Denmark, Germany, Faroe Islands and Canada (1994-2009)
  • SCOTICE, coaxial cable, to Faroe Islands onto Scotland, 32 telephone circuits (1961-1987)
  • ICECAN, coaxial cable, to Greenland onto Canada, 24 telephone circuits (1961-1987)
  • Great Northern Telegraph Co., Seyðisfjörður to Faroe Islands onto Shetland Islands to UK (1906-1962)

Under Construction


Services

Internet
Main article: Internet in Iceland

Data centres

Internet service providers

The largest Internet service providers in Iceland:

  1. Síminn (Síminn hf)
  2. Vodafone Iceland (Sýn hf)
  3. Nova (Nova hf)
  4. Hringiðan (Hringiðan ehf / Vortex Inc)
  5. Hringdu (Hringdu ehf)

Internet hosting service

Iceland has numerous internet hosting services:

Internet exchange point

Iceland has an internet exchange point called the Reykjavik Internet Exchange (RIX).

Mail
Main article: Íslandspóstur

Print
See also: List of newspapers in Iceland

Daily newspapers


Weekly and bi-weekly Newspapers

English Language Newspapers

Public broadcasters:

RÚV

Commercial broadcasters

Landline

As of 2018 there are 75,716 landlines in use in Iceland of which 73,361 are PSTN. ISDN 2B and 30B subscriptions make up 1,971 and 384 respectively. The number of landlines in Iceland has been slowly decreasing since their peak in 2001 at 196,528. Meanwhile, the number of VoIP subscriptions have been rising, from 58,311 in 2016 to 76,122 in 2018. 2018 was the first year that VoIP subscriptions surpassed PSTN subscriptions.[3] Síminn, the operator of the POTS network has indicated that a complete shut down of the POTS network is ongoing and is due to be completed in 2022. Existing landline customers will be transitioned over to VoIP services.[4]

Mobile
See also: List of mobile operators in Iceland

As of 2010 there are 341,077 active GSM (2G) and UMTS (3G) subscriptions in use in Iceland. In 2010, all NMT (1G) networks were shut down. Nova was first to offer 4G[5] followed by Síminn. 5G services were launched in 2020 by Nova, followed by Síminn.[6] 2G services are due to be shut down in 2024 and 3G in 2025.[7]

Telephone numbers
Main article: Telephone numbers in Iceland

There are no area codes in Iceland, and all telephone numbers have seven digits. The international dialling code is +354. Due to the Icelandic naming system, people are listed by their first name in the telephone directory, and not by their last name (which is usually patronym, or, rarely, a matronym).

Television
Main article: Television in Iceland

Television in Iceland began in September 1966.

References
  1. Iceland. Naval Intelligence Division. July 1942. pp. 398–399. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  2. The Northern Countries In World Economy Denmark Finland Iceland Norway Sweden. Delegations For The Promotion Of Economic Co-operation Between The Northern Countries. 1937. p. 150. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  3. "PFS Tölfræðaskýrsla 2018" (PDF). 1 June 2019.
  4. "Landlínukerfið fyrir síma að úreldast". www.mbl.is. Retrieved 2019-06-09.
  5. "Nova launches first 4G network in Iceland". telegeography.com. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
  6. "5G-væðingin hafin að fullu – Kortunum fjölgaði úr 119 í tólf þúsund á sex mánuðum". Kjarninn (in Icelandic). 2021-12-19. Retrieved 2022-02-23.
  7. "Icelandic 2G network to shut down by end of 2024, 3G by end of 2025". www.telecompaper.com.
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