The Norwegian government has allocated 60 million NOK to constructing a fibre optic cable link from Ny-Ålesund to Longyearbyen. Together with the cable already in place in Longyearbyen, this will create a reliable high-capacity link to the mainland.

The 260 kilometre long cable will run along the sea floor. It will provide 6000 times higher transmission capacity than the radio based solution in use today. Future increases in capacity will also be possible at far lower costs.

When the cable is ready, it will be possible to transmit large sets of research data from the stations in Ny-Ålesund, directly to main offices and research partners around the world. Ensuring the future viability of research in the town, and laying the foundation for the building of a new station by the Norwegian Mapping Authority.

Work on the project has begun, and the cable could be operational within three years time.

External articles:

NRK (In Norwegian)

Svalbardposten (In Norwegian)

BarentsObserver