Iceland is among the top countries in the world in terms of Internet deployment and use. 99.68% of Icelanders used in the internet in 2021.[1]
As of June 2024, Iceland is listed 6th in the world for fixed access download speeds according to Speedtest.net at 242.03 Mbit/s.[2] Today, 93% citizens are connected to full-fibre (FTTH) networks, with at least 1 Gbit/s speeds available to all and 10 Gbit/s available to most.[3] Iceland has 168.2 Tbit/s of submarine bandwidth capacity through 4 cables. 97% of Icelanders used an electronic ID in 2022 to identify themselves online.[4]
Míla (formerly part of Síminn, former incumbent) operates the largest national trunk network, copper and GPON (FTTH) fibre access network. Ljósleiðarinn, originally a fully municipal owned network, operates a competing national trunk and bitsteam access PTP fibre network. Smaller local ISPs operate locally. Neyðarlínan (112), is the current government-owned universal service provider. Síminn, Vodafone, NOVA and Hringdu are the Iargest ISPs in Iceland.
ISNIC is the Icelandic domain registry for its country-code top level domain, .is. It is a member of the RIPE NCC, Europe's regional Internet registry. ISNIC also operate Iceland's only open-policy internet exchange point, the Reykjavík Internet Exchange (RIX). CERT-IS manages Iceland's national cyber-security.
Full-fibre is the most common connection medium (FTTH/FTTB, through both PTP and GPON). Some rural towns are still reliant on VDSL connections. A minority of rural connections are by provided by ADSL and fixed wireless in the most remote of locations.
At the end of 2023, for residential connections, as per the Electronic Communications Office of Iceland:[5]
In terms of advertised download speeds:
Over 93% of homes in Iceland have full fibre access. Míla offers a XG-PON/GPON network with a minimum flat rate delivered at 1 Gbit/s, and additional access tiers of 2.5, 5 and 10 Gbit/s. Ljósleiðarinn's network is based on a PTP wholesale interconnect model, with a minimum flat rate delivered at 1 Gbit/s and an additional charge for 10 Gbit/s service.[7] Ljósleiðarinn's full fibre network extends to 100% of the Reykjavík capital area as of 2016.[8] Míla operates full-fibre access networks in most urban areas of Iceland but does not have as complete coverage of the Reykjavík area. Ljósleiðarinn also has 100% fibre coverage in smaller towns such as Reykjanesbær, Akranes, Þorlákshöfn, Hella, Selfoss and Hvolsvöllur.[9]
There are other smaller fibre networks run by local municipalities and companies, a major one being Tengir in the north east of Iceland providing a fibre network to Akureyri and surrounding regions offering up to >1 Gbit/s speeds.
The government has engaged in a programme called Ísland Ljóstengt running from 2016 to 2022 funding FTTH deployment to 5,500 rural locations. As of 2022, around 1,800 locations remain that only have ADSL service (lower than 10 Mbit/s speed),[10] accounting for 1.3% of connections. Many rural towns in Iceland are dependent on VDSL and were out of the scope of previous funding as it only applied to farms and extra-urban locations.[11]
The Government of Iceland stated in 2024 that their goal is for 100% of homes and businesses to have access to full fibre internet by the year 2026, by issuing grants to telecom operators to upgrade to full fibre connections in rural towns where it is currently uneconomical to do so.[12]
As of 2022 there are also 64,000 active data-only 4G/5G subscriptions, mainly used for second homes and Mi-Fi devices, as well as serving as an alternative to fixed-line DSL/fibre services.
Internet service in Iceland is divided between the international providers, national ISP and access network providers.
The only international providers are Farice ehf. and Tusass A/S (as per the subsea connections listed in the section below).
National ISPs contract the internation bandwidth and manage services for the customer.
| Síminn | Yes | Yes | Yes | 45.4% | |
| Vodafone | Yes | Yes | Yes | 24.2% | |
| NOVA | Yes | No | No | 17.9% | |
| Hringdu | Yes | No | Yes | 10.1% |
The following operators offer access networks. Míla operates a national fibre and copper access network (incumbent). The others operate full fibre networks. Ljósleiðarinn is the second largest network, covering most towns in the southwest of the country. Other networks cover regional areas and municipal networks.
As of 2024, Neyðarlínan, the state-owned emergency communications operator, is the current universal service provider. Until 2024, the universal service provider was incumbent Míla (Síminn).[14]
Iceland is currently connected with 5 submarine communications cable system to Europe and North America:[15] [16] Iceland has access total capacity of 168.2 Tbit/s capacity as of 2023. According to Farice ehf., as of 2021, a total of 1.5 Tbit/s of capacity is currently being utilised for international bandwidth in Iceland.[17]
| IRIS | 2023 | Farice ehf. | Þorlákshöfn, Iceland | Galway, Ireland | 6 | 1,770 km | 108 Tbit/s | 108 Tbit/s | Active[18] | |
| DANICE | 2009 | Farice ehf. | Landeyjasandur, Iceland | Blaabjerg, Denmark | 4 | 2,304 km | 5.12 Tbit/s | 36.4 Tbit/s | Active | |
| Greenland Connect | 2009 | Tusass A/S | Landeyjasandur, Iceland | Qaqortoq, Greenland; Nuuk, Greenland; Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada | 2 | 4,580 km | 1.92 Tbit/s | 12.8 Tbit/s | Active | |
| FARICE | 2004 | Farice ehf. | Seyðisfjörður, Iceland | Funningsfjørður, Faroe Islands and Dunnet Bay, Scotland. | 2 | 1,205 km | 720 Gbit/s | 11 Tbit/s | Active | |
| CANTAT-3 | 1994 | Føroya Tele P/f | Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland | Pennant Point, Nova Scotia, Canada (defunct); Tjørnuvík, Faroe Islands; Redcar, North Yorkshire(defunct), UK; Blaabjerg, Denmark; Sylt, Germany; Valdemar Oil Platforms | 3 | 2,500 km (European section) | 7.5 Gbit/s | Out of regular service, used to connect oil platforms. |
Iceland's first fibre submarine cable providing packet switching, CANTAT-3, had an original capacity of 2 x 2.5 Gbit/s to Denmark, Germany, the Faroe Islands and Canada. It was notoriously unreliable, with an average of one cable cut per year. Satellite was the only backup at the time, until FARICE was built in 2003. CANTAT-3 became obsolete in 2010 with the introduction on DANICE and is now out of normal use for internet traffic in Iceland. CANTAT-3 is now operated by Føroya Tele for connecting oil platforms in the North Sea.
The main provider of international capacity to Europe is Farice ehf. with Tusass providing direct services to Greenland and North America.
The submarine cable capacities have been repeatedly upgraded over time as the demands of increased bandwidth use in Iceland, as end equipment technology has improved. Previously DANICE and FARICE operated with 300 Gbit/s links and Greenland Connect with a 20 Gbit/s link but were upgraded in 2014 to their current design capacity using coherent 100G wavelength and flex grid technology.
The IRIS cable system became ready for service on the 1 March 2023, extending from Þorlákshöfn, Iceland to Galway, Ireland. IRIS more than doubles Iceland's current subsea capacity and gives Iceland a latency of 10 ms to Ireland as well as connecting more directly with transatlantic capacity to the U.S.[19]
As Iceland is geographically situated in the mid-atlantic, it has shorter ping times to locations to Europe than North America. Here are a few examples of nominal ping times from Iceland:[20]
Iceland's domestic internet backbone is composed of many fibre routes, with microwave links serving the most isolated communities. Iceland's backbone is operated by two companies; Míla hf and Ljósleiðarinn. Other companies also operate their own backbone networks, such as Orkufjarskipti (owned by electricity utilities Landsvirkjun and Landsnet).
The most historically critical part of Iceland's internet infrastructure is a fibre ring that circles the country, roughly following the route of Iceland's ring road (Route 1), passing through most towns and cities. It is still an important part of Iceland's internet backbone, but has been duplicated on most routes by private companies. It was constructed in 1989-1991 by the Icelandic Government and NATO to link radar stations of the Iceland Air Defence System. It consists of 8 fibres, 1 of which are for use by NATO, 5 by Míla hf and 2 leased to Ljósleiðarinn.
Universities and research institutions are connected by RHnet, Iceland's national education and research network (NERN). It is connected to the wider Nordic educational network, NORDUnet and European educational network, GÉANT. The origins of Iceland's internet stem from this network through Hafrannsóknastofnun and in turn the University of Iceland, first being connected in 1986.
Internet access is widespread in Iceland and there has been rapid growth in use since the early 2000s. Data compiled by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) shows Iceland with:[21]
The Global Information Technology Report 2010–2011[22] by the World Economic Forum ranked Iceland:
Iceland's first connection to the internet was in 1986 through Hafrannsóknastofnun to Amsterdam, eventually expanding to the University of Iceland and eventually becoming ISnet (now Internet á Íslandi hf)., which in turn became ISNIC, the manager of the ".is" domain. The development of Iceland's internet per ISnet, are listed in the table below:[23] [24]
| 1986 to 1989 | UUCP | Satellite | 300-1200 bit/s | Amsterdam | 300-1200 bit/s | |
| 1989-07-21 | IP over X.25 | Satellite | 2400 bit/s | Denmark | 2400 bit/s | |
| 1990-07-24 | Leased Line | Satellite | 9.6 kbit/s | Stockholm | 9.6 kbit/s | |
| 1992-05-07 | Leased Line | Satellite | 56 kbit/s | Stockholm | 56 kbit/s | |
| 1994-05-17 | Leased Line | Satellite | 128 kbit/s | Stockholm | 128 kbit/s | |
| 1995-03-13 | Leased Line | Satellite | 256 kbit/s | Stockholm | 256 kbit/s | |
| 1995-09-01 | Leased Line | CANTAT-3 | 1 Mbit/s | Stockholm | 1 Mbit/s | |
| 1996-05-09 | Leased Line | CANTAT-3 | 2 Mbit/s | Stockholm | 2 Mbit/s | |
| 1997-03-14 | Leased Line | CANTAT-3 | 2 Mbit/s | U.S.A. | 5.952 Mbit/s | |
| 1997-06-23 | Leased Line | CANTAT-3 | 4 Mbit/s | U.S.A | 3.968 Mbit/s | |
| 1998-03-05 | Leased Line | CANTAT-3 | 6 Mbit/s | U.S.A | 7.936 Mbit/s | |
| 1998-11-06 | Leased Line | CANTAT-3 | 8 Mbit/s | U.S.A. | 9.92 Mbit/s | |
| 1998-11-18 | Leased Line | CANTAT-3 | 4 Mbit/s | Stockholm | 11.904 Mbit/s | |
| 1999-03-24 | Leased Line | CANTAT-3 | 10 Mbit/s | U.S.A. | 13.888 Mbit/s | |
| 1999-09-10 | Leased Line | CANTAT-3 | 45 Mbit/s | U.S.A. | 48.178 Mbit/s |
Censorship is prohibited by the Icelandic Constitution and there is a strong tradition of protecting freedom of expression that extends to the use of the Internet.[32] This is mirrored by Iceland being rated the most free of the 70 countries in Freedom House's Freedom On the Net 2022 Reportat all.[33] However, questions about how best to protect children, fight terrorism, prevent libel, and protect the rights of copyright holders are ongoing in Iceland as they are in much of the world.
The five Nordic countries—Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and Iceland—are central players in the European battle between file sharers, rights holders, and Internet service providers (ISPs). While each country determines its own destiny, the presence of the European Union (EU) is felt in all legal controversies and court cases. Iceland, while not a member of the EU, is part of the European Economic Area (EEA) and has agreed to enact legislation similar to that passed in the EU in areas such as consumer protection and business law.[34]
Internet service providers in Iceland use filters to block Web sites distributing child pornography. Iceland's ISPs in cooperation with Barnaheill—Save the Children Iceland participate in the International Association of Internet Hotlines (INHOPE) project. Suspicious links are reported by organizations and the general public and passed on to relevant authorities for verification.
In 2012 and 2013 Ögmundur Jónasson, Minister of Interior, proposed two bills to the Icelandic parliament that would limit Icelander's access to the Internet. The first proposed limitations on gambling[35] and the second on pornography.[36] [37] Neither bill was passed by the Icelandic parliament and a new government has since been formed following the parliamentary election held on 27 April 2013.[38]
On 10 June 2009 the two major ISPs in Iceland, Vodafone Iceland and Iceland Telecom at the behest of SAFT (Save the Children Iceland) and other interest groups instated a null route on the website ringulreid.org, making it inaccessible to most commercial Internet users in Iceland.[39] [40] Other members of the Reykjavik Internet Exchange did not institute the null route, but both Vodafone and Síminn blocked it at their Icelandic routers.
The ringulreid.org domain subsequently expired[41] and the site was taken down by its operator. But a similar site slembingur.org sprang up to replace it.
Both Vodafone Iceland[42] and Síminn[43] updated their blocks to null route 83.99.152.251, the IP address slembingur.org resolves to.ringulreid.org was a 4chan-like image board in the Icelandic language which had been making the news for cyber-bullying, child porn and similar material.[44] The administrators of the site had rejected these accusations, citing their strict policies of banning users who posted child pornography.[45] ringulreid.org had been set up after a similar site, handahof.org, had been voluntarily closed down by its operator on request of the Iceland Capital Police following their investigation into the matter.[46]
The block against ringulreid.org was instated at the behest of the National Police of Iceland, Iceland Capital Police, the Child Protection Authority of Iceland (part of the Iceland Ministry of Social Affairs), Save the Children Iceland (SAFT) (a private organization) and various other private and government groups, which made public statements encouraging all internet service providers in the country to block access to the site.[47]
Thus the censorship in Iceland is not explicitly government mandated, but implemented voluntarily by private corporations in response to pressure from government and private institutions. Vodafone conducted a legal review to investigate whether it was within its rights to restrict access to the website, and after finding that they were within their rights instituted the block.
In a statement two days after the initial block Hrannar Pétursson, the press secretary for Vodafone, indicated that it was not on Vodafone's agenda to implement a more general censoring mechanism, but as ringulreid.org was an "exaggerated example of such a case" Vodafone considered the act justifiable.[48] His colleague Margrét Stefánsdóttir at Síminn echoed those remarks, saying that Síminn would never close a page on its own initiative, but when faced with such serious requests they were compelled to act.[48]
Since slembingur.org is hosted on a shared web hosting service, and the block takes the form of a null route any other sites that happen to share the same IP address are also blocked. As of 30 September 2010 these were the private E-Mail gateway ns1.bighost.lv, the cosmetics manufacturer saulesfabrika.com, the construction company timbersolution.com, the printing house veiters.com and the boilerplate site ventus.lv.[49] As of 8 February 2011, slembingur.org had changed IP addresses and is therefore no longer blocked by Vodafone. The null route is still in place, so collateral damage is the only result from this incident.