Good practice

Greenland Connect — La Fibra Submarina que Conecta el Ártico

Greenland · Nuuk · See the Greenland profile

Una red de cables de fibra óptica submarina que conecta Groenlandia con Islandia y Canadá redujo la latencia de internet en Nuuk en unos 500 ms de la noche a la mañana en 2009, y se amplió en 2017 a cuatro localidades más de la costa oeste, sustituyendo costosos enlaces satelitales por banda ancha para la mayoría de la población groenlandesa.

~90 EUR million

Coste del proyecto

~500 ms

Reducción de latencia en Nuuk (2009)

1.92 to 12.8 Tbps

Actualización de capacidad activada

Greenland Connect — La Fibra Submarina que Conecta el Ártico

Details

Maturity: Established
Promoter: TELE Greenland A/S (Tusass)
Period: 2009–present (extended 2017)
Keywords: telecommunications, submarine cable, rural connectivity, digital infrastructure

Context

Hasta 2009, Groenlandia dependía por completo de costosos enlaces satelitales de alta latencia; Tele Greenland A/S (ahora Tusass) tendió el sistema de cable submarino de fibra óptica Greenland Connect, financiado en parte con un préstamo de 20 millones de euros del Banco Nórdico de Inversiones, con un coste total de proyecto de unos 90 millones de euros.

Results

El cable entró en servicio el 23 de marzo de 2009, reduciendo la latencia en Nuuk en unos 500 ms; la capacidad activada se ha actualizado desde entonces de 1,92 Tbps a 12,8 Tbps, y una ampliación en 2017 (Greenland Connect North) llevó banda ancha de fibra a otras cuatro ciudades de la costa oeste.

Conclusions

Muchos asentamientos más pequeños de la costa este y del norte (por ejemplo, Tasiilaq, Ittoqqortoormiit, Qaanaaq) siguen dependiendo de la conectividad satelital, una brecha que Tusass ha comenzado a abordar mediante una asociación de satélites en órbita baja (LEO) suscrita en 2025.

Implementation

Implementation detail (cost, timeline, staffing, conditions for success) is not yet available for this practice.

Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

C-NAPSE web research — accessed 2026-07-15
TELE Greenland A/S (Tusass) — accessed 2026-07-15
Greenland Connect — Wikipedia — accessed 2026-07-15
Greenland calling! — Nordic Investment Bank — accessed 2026-07-15
Greenland Connect — Submarine Networks — accessed 2026-07-15

Attachments

Source image

Quality score: 96/100

How is this calculated?

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported

Top 1% in this catalogue (573 scored practices)

Scores cluster high, so position within the catalogue is often more telling than the number alone.

Evaluation

Evaluated by C-NAPSE

Score profile — the dimensions behind the score — how it's computed

Innovation level4/5

Laying a 4,500 km subsea fibre system to serve a roadless Arctic nation, later extended 680 km further north, was a genuine engineering first for Greenland even if fibre cables themselves are mature technology elsewhere.

Sustainability (ongoing)1/1

The system has operated continuously since 2009, been upgraded multiple times, and remains Greenland's core digital backbone 15+ years on under its original operator.

Evaluation evidence1/1

Concrete, source-verified technical outcomes are documented: an ~500ms latency cut in Nuuk and a capacity upgrade from 1.92 Tbps to 12.8 Tbps, reported consistently by the financier, the operator and independent industry press.

Demonstrated reach1/1

The network now serves Greenland's most populous west-coast towns (Nuuk, Qaqortoq, Maniitsoq, Sisimiut, Aasiaat), covering the large majority of the country's roughly 56,000 residents.

Documented learning1/1

Tele Greenland's 2016 decision to extend the cable network north in response to demand, and Tusass's 2025 satellite partnership to cover the remaining east-coast gap, show iterative learning from the original build's limits.

Cite this

Evidoria. Greenland Connect — La Fibra Submarina que Conecta el Ártico. Persistent ID: 16c16765-82d5-4b8f-bd43-efe53a9934ca.

Export as decision brief (PDF)

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