Greenland calling!

The planet’s largest island will soon be on a fast track to catching up with the rest of the world in getting unlimited access to the wealth of online opportunities with its first high-speed broadband Internet connection.

A new 4,500-kilometre marine fibre optic cable network, called Greenland Connect, will soon link Greenland to Canada and Iceland. The project is being carried out by the telecommunications company Tele Greenland.

The network is expected to provide international and domestic connectivity to meet Greenland’s growing bandwidth requirements. The cable will be operational starting in 2009.

NIB granted a EUR 20 million loan for the project. Greenland is a selfgoverning province of Denmark and is therefore part of the Bank’s membership area.

“The cable is a prerequisite for enhancing the global competitiveness of Greenland’s trade and industry. Moreover, the cable will ensure Tele Greenland’s growth and the fulfilment of the company’s obligations toward the society of Greenland. Strengthening the competitiveness of NIB’s member countries is a key objective of the Bank’s operations,” says Johnny Åkerholm, NIB’s President and CEO.

The network will enable businesses and consumers to benefit from services such as broadband Internet and video conferencing. Tele Greenland will also be able to enhance its services for voice and data network hubs, call centres and advanced multimedia applications for maritime safety and emergency communications.

The Greenland Connect network will consist of two trunk cables. The first one will span 2,500 kilometres from Nuuk, Greenland’s capital, to Milton in Newfoundland, Canada. The second will link Nuuk and Qaqortoq to Landeyarsandur in Iceland over 2,100 kilometres.

Each of the trunk cables will be equipped for future connections north of Nuuk as well as for a direct connection from Newfoundland to Iceland. Greenland Connect will offer an ultimate capacity of up to 192 x 10 Gbit per second.

The environmental impact of laying the cable on the sea bed is estimated to be limited, and smaller than, for example, the impact of bottom trawling. The route has been carefully planned and surveyed in order to find the most suitable route and avoid potentially fragile areas.

Tele Greenland is the nationwide Greenland telecommunications company owned by the Greenland Home Rule Government. The company provides a wide range of high-tech telecommunications services.