Telenor brings LTE to the Arctic Circle

Those who are waiting impatiently for 4G services to arrive in their local market might find it galling to discover that an LTE network is now up and running inside the Arctic Circle. Telenor Norway has launched an LTE site in Svalbard, an archipelago located within the Arctic Circle, making it the northernmost next generation network in the world.

The site uses Huawei’s SingleRAN LTE solution and is located in Longyearbyen, Svalbard’s largest settlement, where temperatures drop to as low as 50 degrees below zero in winter.

Svalbard has a long telecommunications history and barring a few months during World War II, Telenor Svalbard has been in operation constantly for over 100 years.

The network has provided communications for shipping and aviation since the days of the Titanic, and now it serves Norway’s International Maritime Organization (IMO), which has responsibility for safety at sea, covering an area from Scotland to the North Pole. The LTE network now helps the inhabitants of Longyearbyen enjoy interactive IPTV and fast mobile broadband.

Mr Harald Norvik, chairman of the board of Telenor Group, said in a statement that “Svalbard has changed radically in recent years, and we have continually improved the communications options for the local populace. The launch of this advanced LTE network marks the next step in our evolution.”