Published: 30/5 2014
TeliaSonera is taking the next step in building the new digital Sweden by strengthening the fiber infrastructure in Norrland. The subsidiary Skanova will now lay down more than a hundred miles of fiber cable from Luleå to Örebro. The increased capacity is important for the development of the regional business community and the ambition to become a node for data traffic in Europe.
The fiber cable that is now being laid down can handle enormous amounts of data traffic and is a so-called transport cable that connects the region's fiber and mobile networks with the rest of Sweden and the world. The cable, named Skanova Backbone North, complements the already existing transport cable along the Norrland coast. Work has already begun and should be completed by the end of 2016.
- The investment we are now making in Norrland is worth more than SEK 370 million. The 125-mile-long fiber cable through Norrland's inland will be part of the backbone of Sweden's new digital infrastructure. It will contribute to increasing the region's attractiveness to global Internet companies looking for places to establish data centers in Europe. In addition, we are creating the conditions for the continued expansion of fiber and mobile networks in Norrland, says Malin Frenning, CEO of TeliaSonera Sweden.
To build local fiber networks, a connection to the outside world is required. The new transport cable creates opportunities to connect local fiber networks along the route Luleå to Örebro. The mobile network also benefits. The traffic between cell masts is transported to an increasing extent in fiber networks. A reinforced fiber infrastructure therefore improves the conditions for Telia's continued expansion of the mobile networks in Norrland's interior, particularly 4G which is developed to handle increasingly data-demanding internet services in the mobile phone.
The expansion of TeliaSonera's fiber network in Sweden is responsible for Skanova, which owns and operates open fiber networks throughout Sweden. The expansion is based on the demand for fiber connection from households and businesses in the municipality, and Telia Öppen Fiber is responsible for this, among other things, in collaboration with actors such as municipalities, village associations and economic associations. Open fiber networks mean that all operators in Sweden can connect and each customer can choose between several different service providers' offers for broadband telephony, digital TV and broadband.
