Telecommunications in Iceland

Telecommunications in Iceland is a diversified market.

Services 1
- Internet 1.1
  - Data centres 1.1.1
  - Internet service providers 1.1.2
  - Internet hosting service 1.1.3
  - Internet exchange point 1.1.4
  - Submarine cables 1.1.5
- Mail 1.2
- Print 1.3
- Radio 1.4
- Telephone 1.5
  - Landline 1.5.1
  - Mobile 1.5.2
  - Telephone calling 1.5.3
  - Text messaging 1.5.4
  - Numbering 1.5.5
- Television 1.6
References 2
External links 3

Services

Internet

Data centres

THOR Data Center ehf
DataCell ehf
Verne Global
Basis ehf

Internet service providers

The largest Internet service providers in Iceland:

Iceland Telecom (Síminn hf)
Vodafone Iceland (Fjarskipti ehf)
HIVE (IP-fjarskipti ehf)
Vortex (Hringiðan ehf)

Internet hosting service

Iceland has numerous internet hosting services:

(1984 ehf)
Advania (Advania hf)
(Davíð og Golíat ehf)
(FlokiNET ehf)
Iceland Telecom (Síminn hf)
(Netmiðlar ehf)
(Netvistun ehf)
(Nethönnun ehf)
(Tölvuþjónustan Geymir sf)
Vodafone Iceland (Fjarskipti ehf)
Vortex (Hringiðan ehf)

Internet exchange point

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

Submarine cables

Internet and telephone services rely on submarine communications cables for external traffic:

Mail

Print

Radio

Telephone

Landline

As of 2010 there are 152,895 landlines in use in Iceland of which 132,069 are PSTN. Since the peak number of 196,528 total landlines in 2001 there has been a decrease of 43,633 landlines as of 2009.

Year	Total (PSTN)	Total	Change
2010	132,069	152,895	-17.29%
2009	135,969	184,851	-4.48%
2008	140,858	193,512	3.66%
2007	134,622	186,688	-1.00%
2006	131,693	188,575	-2.72%
2005	134,258	193,852	1.77%
2004	133,504	190,478	-1.08%
2003	135,402	192,552	2.42%
2002	132,353	187,999	-4.34%

Source: Statistics Iceland (statice.is)

Year	Total (PSTN)	Total	Change
2001	139,300	196,528	0.10%
2000	141,330	196,336	6.14%
1999	145,769	184,973	6.51%
1998	148,817	173,673	5.01%
1997	151,700	165,390	5.47%
1996	153,551	156,807	5.49%
1995	148,645	148,645	0.23%
1994	148,300	148,300	0.00%

Mobile

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^[1] followed by Siminn.

Year	NMT 450	GSM/UMTS	Change
2010	–	341,077	3.38%
2009	9,783	329,932	1.63%
2008	12,291	324,631	4.12%
2007	15,854	311,785	2.22%
2006	17,827	305,013	7.20%
2005	19,480	284,521	5.35%
2004	21,300	270,072	5.35%
2003	23,302	256,368	8.94%
2002	25,100	235,338	6.38%

Source: Statistics Iceland (statice.is)

Year	NMT 450	GSM/UMTS	Change
2001	26,900	221,231	17.91%
2000	27,268	187,628	39.10%
1999	27,136	134,886	71.68%
1998	26,056	78,569	92.26%
1997	24,880	40,866	73.20%
1996	22,707	23,595	143.20%
1995	21,181	9,702	357.86%
1994	19,726	2,119	0.00%

Year	NMT 450	GSM/UMTS	Change
1993	17,409	–	0.00%
1992	15,164	–	0.00%
1991	12,889	–	0.00%
1990	10,010	–	0.00%
1989	7,893	–	0.00%
1988	6,519	–	0.00%
1987	5,008	–	0.00%
1986	2,106	–	0.00%

Telephone calling

Year	Thousands of minutes	Change
2010	742,791	4.91%
2009	708,040	3.42%
2008	684,649	32.40%
2007	517,105	14.81%
2006	450,422	9.61%
2005	410,940	2.99%
2004	399,017	12.59%
2003	354,389	3.33%
2002	342,962	19.63%
2001	286,685	16.30%
2000	246,514	24.83%
1999	197,475	39.49%
1998	141,566	0.00%

Source: Statistics Iceland (statice.is)

Text messaging

Year	SMS	Change
2010	171,931	17.27%
2009	146.615	2.37%
2008	143.216	5.72%
2007	135.474	9.89%
2006	123.285	-0.34%
2005	123.711	-19.79%
2004	154.236	8.31%
2003	142.403	14.43%
2002	124.451	37.97%
2001	90.201	46.48%
2000	61.581	0.00%

Year	MMS	Change
2010	1,355	3.12%
2009	1,314	39.64%
2008	941	-34.43%
2007	1,435	92.62%
2006	745	180.08%
2005	266	0.00%

Numbering

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

Television in Iceland began in September 1966.

Television usage in Icelandic homes.
Year	Television set	Two or more TVs	Digital television	Satellite television	Cable television or Broadband television
2010	98%	50%	63%	8%	17%
2009	96%	50%	60%	9%	10%
2008	95%	–	57%	6%	–
2007	97%	–	57%	11%	–
2006	93%	–	47%	7%	8%
2005	98%	–	40%	6%	7%
2004	97%	–	–	–	–
2003	97%	–	19%	–	–
2002	97%	–	–	–	–

Source: Statistics Iceland (statice.is)

Related technology in Icelandic homes.
Year	Flatscreen	Home cinema	VHS player	DVD player	Blu-ray player
2010	54%	31%	64%	82%	2%
2009	48%	30%	67%	82%	–
2008	37%	33%	74%	83%	–
2007	26%	30%	80%	79%	–
2006	–	–	78%	81%	–
2005	–	–	90%	74%	–
2004	–	–	–	–	–
2003	–	–	–	54%	–
2002	–	–	91%	40%	–

References

^ http://www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/2013/04/08/nova-launches-first-4g-network-in-iceland/

External links

Reykjavik Internet Exchange (English)
Reykjavik Internet Exchange (Icelandic)

Telecommunications in Iceland

Internet

Data centres	THOR Data Center DataCell Verne Global

Internet service providers	Síminn (Iceland Telecom) Fjarskipti (Vodafone Iceland) IP-fjarskipti (Tal) Hringiðan (Vortex)

Technology	.is (ISNIC) CANTAT-3 DANICE FARICE-1 Greenland Connect Reykjavik Internet Exchange (RIX)

Mail

Related	Postal codes

Radio

365	Bylgjan FM 957 X 977 LéttBylgjan GullBylgjan Útvarp Latibær

RÚV	Rás 1 Rás 2 Rondo

Others	Kaninn Útvarp Saga

Icelandic	DV Fréttablaðið Fréttatíminn Morgunblaðið

English	Iceland Review The Reykjavík Grapevine

Related	Newspapers

Telephone

Síminn (Iceland Telecom)
Fjarskipti (Vodafone Iceland)
Nova
IP-fjarskipti (Tal)

Related	Numbering

Television

365	Nova TV Stöð 2 Stöð 2 Extra Stöð 2 Bíó Stöð 2 Sport Stöð 2 Sport 2 Stöð 2 Sport 3 Stöð 2 Sport 4 Stöð 2 Sport 5 Stöð 2 Sport 6 Stöð 2 Sport HD

RÚV	RÚV (television channel)

Others	ÍNN SkjárEinn Stöð 1

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Telecommunications in Iceland