Arctic Way

Overview

Arctic Way is a domestic submarine cable system operating entirely within Norway. Spanning 2,568 km, it connects mainland Norwegian cities with Longyearbyen in the Svalbard archipelago and Olonkinbyen on Jan Mayen, serving a high-latitude intra-Norwegian corridor that extends well into the Arctic.

Route and Landings

In mainland Norway, Arctic Way lands at two closely situated cities in Nordland county: Bodø and Fauske. Both are located in northern Norway and serve as the cable's southern anchors.

In Svalbard, the cable lands at Longyearbyen, the principal settlement of the archipelago and the administrative center of the Norwegian territory of Svalbard.

The cable also reaches Olonkinbyen, the Norwegian settlement on the remote island of Jan Mayen, extending connectivity to one of the most isolated inhabited locations in the Arctic Ocean.

Ownership and Operators

Arctic Way is owned solely by Space Norway, a Norwegian state-owned company that develops and operates space and satellite infrastructure on behalf of the Norwegian government. Space Norway's involvement reflects a broader national interest in securing telecommunications links to Norway's Arctic territories.

Status and Timeline

Arctic Way is planned for service with a ready-for-service date of 2028.

Regional Context

The Norwegian submarine cable landscape includes several systems operating along domestic and international corridors. The Svalbard Undersea Cable System, in service since 2004 and measuring 2,714 km, currently provides the established link to Svalbard. Arctic Way, at 2,568 km and planned for 2028, will join this corridor as an additional connection to the archipelago. Shorter domestic systems such as Polar Circle Cable (1,004 km, 2007), N0r5ke Viking (810 km, 2022), N0r5ke Viking 2 (900 km, planned 2028), and Eviny Digital (210 km, 2020) serve other segments of the Norwegian coast. The long-distance Havfrue/AEC-2 (7,650 km, 2020) operates in a different international context. Arctic Way is distinctive among these peers for its combination of mainland-to-Svalbard routing and the additional branch to Jan Mayen.

Strategic Role

By connecting Bodø and Fauske on the Norwegian mainland with both Longyearbyen in Svalbard and the remote settlement of Olonkinbyen on Jan Mayen, Arctic Way will extend fiber-based connectivity to Norwegian territories that are geographically isolated and situated in challenging Arctic conditions. The dual mainland landing points in Nordland provide a degree of geographic redundancy at the Norwegian end of the system.