Svalbard gets world's northernmost subsea cable system

The Norwegian government has decided to begin preparations for a subsea cable system called Arctic Way, which will carry data between the mainland, Jan Mayen and Svalbard. The system is 2350 km long. Seabed surveys are due to start in summer of 2025, and the cable is meant to be in operation in 2028. The project is priced at NOK 2.8 billion ( €240 million).

To save time, the government is paying through a special proposition to the Storting (the Norwegian parliament) instead of the revised national budget. The cable starts at Bodø in North Norway and has a branch going to Jan Mayen. That island has no cable connection to the mainland at present, and all its communication goes by satellite.

Minister of Trade and Industry Cecilie Myrseth said in a statement that the surveys have to begin soon if the new link is to be ready by 2028. Minister of Defence Tore O. Sandvik said a cable to Jan Mayen would improve Norway's situational awareness in an area of strategic importance to the country and its allies.

Two cables built in 2004 currently link the mainland with Svalbard. They are planned to be phased out after 2028. Space Norway, a state-owned company, owns and operates them and is also in charge of Arctic Way. Its contract with SubCom, signed for the complete system supply, covers survey, design, manufacturing and installation. Space Norway also started a broadband service for the Arctic in 2024, using two satellites sent into orbit in summer. At the launch ceremony the defence minister said this service matters for the Armed Forces and their communication in the north, and allows command and control in all kinds of operations up to the North Pole.

Jan Mayen and Svalbard lie hundreds of kilometres from the mainland. The cable project comes while concern grows across the region about hybrid attacks and sabotage. In early 2022 one of the two communication cables to Svalbard was cut, and Norwegian police soon concluded that human activity had destroyed it.