Iceland is among the top countries in the world in terms of Internet deployment and use. 99.68% of Icelanders used the internet in 2021.
As of April 2026, Iceland is listed 6th in the world for fixed access download speeds according to Speedtest.net at 343 Mbit/s. 97.5% of households are connected to full-fibre (FTTH) networks in 2025, with at least 1 Gbit/s speeds available to all fibre users and 10 Gbit/s available to most. Iceland has 208.8 Tbit/s of international submarine bandwidth capacity through four cables.
Míla operates the largest national trunk network, copper and PON (FTTH) fibre access network. Ljósleiðarinn, originally a fully municipal owned network, operates a competing national trunk and PTP ethernet fibre network, as well as a XGS-PON network. Smaller local ISPs operate locally. Síminn, Sýn and Nova are the Iargest ISPs in Iceland.
ISNIC is the Icelandic domain registry for its country-code top level domain, .is. It is a member of the RIPE NCC, Europe's regional Internet registry. ISNIC also operate Iceland's only open-policy internet exchange point, the Reykjavík Internet Exchange (RIX). CERT-IS manages Iceland's national cyber-security.
Access technology Full-fibre is the most common connection medium (FTTH/FTTB, through both PTP and GPON). A minority of rural connections are provided by legacy Digital Subscriber Lines (DSL), including VDSL and ADSL. Satellite internet and fixed wireless solutions are used in the most remote of locations.
At the end of 2025, as per the Electronic Communications Office of Iceland: 95.7% of broadband is provided using optical fibre (FTTH). 3.8% of broadband is provided by DSL (FTTC). 0.4% of access is provided by satellite internet 0.1% of access is provided by fixed wireless
In terms of advertised download speeds: 1.1% of connections are over 2500 Mbit/s 53.9% of connections are between 1000 and 2500 Mbit/s. 40.4% of connections are between 500 and 1000 Mbit/s. Less than 5% of connections are below 1000 Mbit/s.
Over 97.5% of homes in Iceland have full fibre access. Míla offers a XGS-PON/GPON network with a minimum flat rate delivered at 1 Gbit/s, and additional access tiers of 2.5, 5 and 10 Gbit/s. Ljósleiðarinn's network is based on a PTP ethernet network, with a minimum flat rate delivered at 1 Gbit/s and also offers up to 10 Gbit/s service by PTP and XGS-PON. Ljósleiðarinn's full fibre network extended to 100% of the Reykjavík capital area by 2016 and smaller towns such as Reykjanesbær, Akranes, Þorlákshöfn, Hella, Selfoss and Hvolsvöllur by 2017. Míla operates full-fibre access networks in most urban areas of Iceland but does not have as complete coverage of the Reykjavík area.
There are other smaller fibre networks run by local municipalities and companies, a major one being Tengir in the north east of Iceland providing a fibre network to Akureyri and surrounding regions offering up to >1 Gbit/s speeds.
Rural Access The government has engaged in a programme called Ísland Ljóstengt running from 2016 to 2022 which funded FTTH deployment to 5,500 rural locations. In 2022, around 1,800 locations remained that only had ADSL service (lower than 10 Mbit/s speed), accounting for 1.3% of connections at the time. Many rural towns in Iceland dependent on VDSL and were out of the scope of previous funding as it only applied to farms and extra-urban locations.
The Government of Iceland stated in 2024 that their goal is for 100% of homes and businesses to have access to full fibre internet by the year 2026, by issuing grants to telecom operators to upgrade to full fibre connections in rural towns where it is currently uneconomical to do so.
As of 2022 there are also 64,000 active data-only 4G/5G subscriptions, mainly used for second homes and Mi-Fi devices, as well as serving as an alternative to fixed-line services. Starlink began offering Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite internet access in Iceland in February 2023, although a local gateway has not been established.
Internet Service Providers Internet service in Iceland is divided between the international providers, national ISP and access network providers.
International Providers The only international providers are Farice ehf. and Tusass A/S (as per the subsea connections listed in the section below).
National ISPs National ISPs contract the international bandwidth and manage services for the customer. +Top 4 National ISPsNameFixed-InternetManaged IPTVLandline (VoIP)Market Share (2024)SíminnYesYesYes44.4%SýnYesYesYes24.8%NOVAYesNoNo18.4%HringduYesNoYes10.1% Others ISPs constitute 2.4% of the market (Hrigiðan, Snerpa, Origo etc.).
Access Operators The following operators offer access networks. Míla operates a national fibre and copper access network (incumbent). The others operate full fibre networks. Ljósleiðarinn is the second largest network, covering most towns in the southwest of the country. Other networks cover regional areas and municipal networks.
Míla Ljósleiðarinn Tengir Snerpa Others (municipal networks etc.)
As of 2024, Neyðarlínan, the state-owned emergency communications operator, is the current universal service provider. Until 2024, the universal service provider was former incumbent Míla (formerly Síminn).
International/Submarine connectivity Iceland is currently connected with four submarine communications cables to Europe and North America:Submarine Cable Map: Connected to Iceland, TeleGeography, 18 September 2013. Retrieved 22 September 2013. Iceland has access to a total capacity of 208.8 Tbit/s capacity as of 2023. According to Farice ehf., as of 2023, a total of 3 Tbit/s of capacity is currently being utilised for international bandwidth in Iceland. +Submarine Cables connected to IcelandNameYear LaunchedOperatorLanding point, IcelandExternal Landing PointNo. of fibre pairsDistanceOriginal Design Capacity Current Design CapacityStatusIRIS2023Farice ehf.ÞorlákshöfnGalway, Ireland61,770 km108 Tbit/s145 Tbit/sActiveDANICE2009Farice ehf.LandeyjasandurBlaabjerg, Denmark42,304 km5.12 Tbit/s40 Tbit/sActiveGreenland Connect2009Tusass A/SLandeyjasandurQaqortoq, Greenland; Nuuk, Greenland; Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada24,580 km1.92 Tbit/s12.8 Tbit/sActiveFARICE2004Farice ehf.Seyðisfjörður Funningsfjørður, Faroe Islands and Dunnet Bay, Scotland.21,205 km720 Gbit/s11 Tbit/sActive Most of Iceland's growth in international bandwidth is due to data center investment in the country, the domestic internet market is fairly saturated.
The main provider of international capacity to Europe is the state-owned Farice ehf. with Tusass providing direct services to Greenland and North America.
International Latency
As Iceland is geographically situated in the mid-atlantic, it has shorter ping times to locations to Europe than North America. Here are a few examples of nominal ping times from Iceland:
Dublin: 10.5 ms (via IRIS) Glasgow: 13.0 ms Copenhagen: 14.9 ms London: 15 ms (via IRIS) Amsterdam: 17.8 ms Budapest: 26.0 ms New York: 40 ms (via Greenland Connect or IRIS) Halifax: 33.7 ms (via Greenland Connect)
Domestic Backbone
Iceland's domestic internet backbone is composed of many fibre routes, with microwave links serving the most isolated communities. Iceland's backbone is operated by two companies; Míla and Ljósleiðarinn. Other companies also operate their own backbone networks, such as Orkufjarskipti (owned by electricity utilities Landsvirkjun and Landsnet).
The most historically critical part of Iceland's internet infrastructure is a fibre ring that circles the country, roughly following the route of Iceland's ring road (Route 1), passing through most towns and cities. It is still an important part of Iceland's internet backbone, but has been duplicated on most routes by private companies. It was constructed in 1989–1991 by the Icelandic Government and NATO to link radar stations of the Iceland Air Defence System. It consists of 8 fibres, 1 of which are for use by NATO, 5 by Míla and 2 leased to Ljósleiðarinn.
National Educational and Research Network Universities and research institutions are connected by RHnet, Iceland's national education and research network (NERN). It is connected to the wider Nordic educational network, NORDUnet and European educational network, GÉANT. The origins of Iceland's internet stem from this network through Hafrannsóknastofnun and in turn the University of Iceland, first being connected in 1986.
Use Internet access is widespread in Iceland and there has been rapid growth in use since the early 2000s. Data compiled by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) shows Iceland with:"OECD Broadband Portal", Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 13 April 2011 99.68% of Icelanders used in the internet in 2021. 99.5% of businesses using the Internet in 2009-2010 (2nd out of 31) The Global Information Technology Report 2010–2011The Global Information Technology Report 2010–2011, Soumitra Dutta and Irene Mia (eds.), INSEAD and the World Economic Forum, 2011, 435 pp. by the World Economic Forum ranked Iceland: 1st out of 138 in terms of Internet users (93.5% of the population used the Internet in 2009) 1st out of 138 in the use of virtual social networks (a score of 6.8 in 2009–2010, where 1 is not at all and 7 is widely) 1st out of 138 in terms of Internet access in schools (a score of 6.76 in 2009–2010, where 1 is very limited and 7 is extensive) 1st out of 138 in accessibility of digital content (a score of 6.62 in 2009–2010, where 1 is not accessible at all and 7 is widely accessible) 1st out of 137 in the number of secure Internet servers (1,711.3 servers per million population in 2009) 4th out of 138 in the extent of business Internet use (a score of 6.58 in 2009–2010, where 1 is not at all and 7 is extensively) 5th out of 138 in terms of international Internet bandwidth (626.8 Mbit/s per 10,000 population in 2009) 12th out of 138 in terms of laws related to information and communication technology (a score of 5.46 in 2009–2010, where 1 is nonexistent and 7 is well developed) 25th out of 138 in terms of intellectual property protection (a score of 5.09 in 2009–2010, where 1 is very weak and 7 is very strong) 35th out of 107 in the use of unlicensed software (an estimated 49% of software was unlicensed in 2009) 45th out of 138 in terms of freedom of the press (a score of 5.76 in 2009–2010, where 1 is totally restricted and 7 is completely free)
History
Iceland's first connection to the internet was in 1986 through Hafrannsóknastofnun to Amsterdam, eventually expanding to the University of Iceland and eventually becoming ISnet (now Internet á Íslandi hf)., which in turn became ISNIC, the manager of the ".is" domain. The development of Iceland's internet per ISnet, are listed in the table below:"Internet Diffusion: Iceland", Cathy Newman, Kogod School of Business, American University, Washington, D.C. +YearConnection TypeMediumBandwidthEndpointTotal Int. Bandwidth1986 to 1989UUCPSatellite300-1200 bit/sAmsterdam300-1200 bit/s1989-07-21IP over X.25Satellite2400 bit/sDenmark2400 bit/s1990-07-24Leased LineSatellite9.6 kbit/sStockholm9.6 kbit/s1992-05-07Leased LineSatellite56 kbit/sStockholm56 kbit/s1994-05-17Leased LineSatellite128 kbit/sStockholm128 kbit/s1995-03-13Leased LineSatellite256 kbit/sStockholm256 kbit/s1995-09-01Leased LineCANTAT-31 Mbit/sStockholm1 Mbit/s1996-05-09Leased LineCANTAT-32 Mbit/sStockholm2 Mbit/s1997-03-14Leased LineCANTAT-32 Mbit/sU.S.A.5.952 Mbit/s1997-06-23Leased LineCANTAT-34 Mbit/sU.S.A3.968 Mbit/s1998-03-05Leased LineCANTAT-36 Mbit/sU.S.A7.936 Mbit/s1998-11-06Leased LineCANTAT-38 Mbit/sU.S.A.9.92 Mbit/s1998-11-18Leased LineCANTAT-34 Mbit/sStockholm11.904 Mbit/s1999-03-24Leased LineCANTAT-310 Mbit/sU.S.A.13.888 Mbit/s1999-09-10Leased LineCANTAT-345 Mbit/sU.S.A.48.178 Mbit/s