Iceland is among the top countries in the world in terms ofInternet deployment and use. 99.68% of Icelanders used the internet in 2021.^[1]

As of May 2025, Iceland is listed 6th in the world for fixed access download speeds according toSpeedtest.net at 297.5 Mbit/s.^[2] Today, 97.5% of households are connected tofull-fibre (FTTH) networks,^[3] with at least 1 Gbit/s speeds available to all and 10 Gbit/s available to most.^[4] Iceland has 208.8 Tbit/s of internationalsubmarine bandwidth capacity through four cables.

Míla operates the largest national trunk network, copper andPON (FTTH) fibre access network. Ljósleiðarinn, originally a fully municipal owned network, operates a competing national trunk andPTPethernet fibre network. Smaller local ISPs operate locally.Síminn,Sýn andNova are the IargestISPs in Iceland.

ISNIC is the Icelandic domain registry for its country-code top level domain,.is. It is a member of theRIPE NCC, Europe's regional Internet registry. ISNIC also operate Iceland's only open-policyinternet exchange point, theReykjavík Internet Exchange (RIX). CERT-IS manages Iceland's nationalcyber-security.

Full-fibre is the most common connection medium (FTTH/FTTB, through bothPTP andGPON). Some rural towns are still reliant onVDSL connections. A minority of rural connections are by provided byADSL andfixed wireless in the most remote of locations.^[5]

At the end of 2024, as per the Electronic Communications Office of Iceland:^[6]

• 93.1% of broadband is provided using optical fibre (FTTH).
• 6.3% of broadband is provided byVDSL (FTTC).
• 0.5% of broadband is provided byADSL.
• 0.1% of access is provided byfixed wireless.

In terms of advertised download speeds:

• 0.6% of connections are over 2500 Mbit/s
• 50.4% of connections are between 1000 and 2500 Mbit/s.
• 28% of connections are between 500 and 1000 Mbit/s.
• 15.3% of connections are between 100 and 500 Mbit/s.
• 5.7% of connections are between 10 and 100 Mbit/s.
• Less than 0.1% of connections are below 10 Mbit/s.

Over 97.5% of homes in Iceland have full fibre access.^[3]Míla offers aXG-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 aPTPethernet network, with a minimum flat rate delivered at 1 Gbit/s and an additional charge for 10 Gbit/s service.^[7] Ljósleiðarinn's full fibre network extends to 100% of theReykjavík capital area as of 2016.^[8] Míla operates full-fibre access networks in most urban areas of Iceland but does not have as complete coverage of the Reykjavík area. Ljósleiðarinn also has 100% fibre coverage in smaller towns such asReykjanesbær,^[4]Akranes,Þorlákshöfn,Hella,Selfoss andHvolsvöllur.^[9]

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 toAkureyri and surrounding regions offering up to >1 Gbit/s speeds.

The government has engaged in a programme called Ísland Ljóstengt running from 2016 to 2022 which fundedFTTH deployment to 5,500 rural locations. As of 2022, around 1,800 locations remain that only haveADSL service (lower than 10 Mbit/s speed), accounting for 1.3% of connections.^[10] 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.^[11]

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.^[12]

As of 2022 there are also 64,000 activedata-only4G/5G subscriptions, mainly used forsecond homes andMi-Fi devices, as well as serving as an alternative to fixed-line DSL/fibre services.^[13]Starlink began offeringLow Earth Orbit (LEO)satellite internet access in Iceland in February 2023, although a local gateway has not been established.^[14]

Internet service in Iceland is divided between the international providers,national ISP andaccess network providers.

The only international providers areFarice ehf. andTusass A/S (as per thesubsea connections listed in the section below).

National ISPs contract the international bandwidth and manage services for the customer.

Others ISPs constitute 2.4% of the market (Hrigiðan, Snerpa, Origo etc.).

The following operators offeraccess 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 (formerlySíminn).^[15]

Iceland is currently connected with foursubmarine communications cables to Europe and North America:^[16][17] 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.^[18]

Most of Iceland's growth in international bandwidth is due todata center investment in the country, the domestic internet market is fairly saturated.

The main provider of international capacity to Europe is the state-ownedFarice ehf. withTusass providing direct services to Greenland and North America.

As Iceland is geographically situated in themid-atlantic, it has shorter ping times to locations to Europe than North America. Here are a few examples of nominal ping times from Iceland:^[20]

• 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 (viaGreenland Connect or IRIS)
• Halifax: 33.7 ms (via Greenland Connect)

Iceland's domesticinternet backbone is composed of many fibre routes, withmicrowave 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 utilitiesLandsvirkjun andLandsnet).

The most historically critical part of Iceland's internet infrastructure is a fibre ring that circles the country, roughly following the route of Iceland'sring 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 andNATO to link radar stations of theIceland Air Defence System. It consists of 8 fibres, 1 of which are for use byNATO, 5 byMíla and 2 leased to Ljósleiðarinn.

Universities and research institutions are connected byRHnet, Iceland'snational 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 theUniversity of Iceland, first being connected in 1986.^[21]

Internet access is widespread in Iceland and there has been rapid growth in use since the early 2000s. Data compiled by theOrganisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) shows Iceland with:^[22]

• 99.68% of Icelanders used in the internet in 2021.^[1]
• 99.5% of businesses using the Internet in 2009-2010 (2nd out of 31)

The Global Information Technology Report 2010–2011^[23] by theWorld 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)

Iceland's first connection to the internet was in 1986 through Hafrannsóknastofnun toAmsterdam, eventually expanding to theUniversity of Iceland and eventually becoming ISnet (now Internet á Íslandi hf)., which in turn becameISNIC, the manager of the ".is" domain. The development of Iceland's internet per ISnet, are listed in the table below:^[21][24]

• In 1986 Iceland obtained aUUCP connection between the Marine Research Institute in Iceland toEUnet (European Unix Network) headquarters inAmsterdam by satellite. The connection providede-mail andUsenet services. Bandwidth was between 300 and 1200 bits per second (bit/s).
• In 1989 a connection to the Internet was established usingIP overX.25 withNORDUnet inDenmark at 2400 bit/s.
• In 1990 a leased line connection toNORDUnet inStockholm operating at 9600 bit/s was established. This link was upgraded to operate at 56,000 bit/s in 1992, 128,000 bit/s in 1994, 256,000 bit/s and then 1,000,000 bit/s in 1995, and 1,984,000 in 1996.
• In 1991 theNATO fibre ring was completed, serving as an important part of Iceland's domestic telecom/internet backbone.
• The submarine cableCANTAT-3, began operation in 1994. It was Iceland's firstpacket-switched submarine connection and had a capacity of 2 x 2.5 Gbit/s toDenmark,Germany, theFaroe Islands andCanada, representing a large increase in international capacity at the time. It was notoriously unreliable, with an average of one cable cut per year. The cable became obsolete and out of operational use from Iceland in 2010 with the introduction ofDANICE.
• In 1994 the first commercial Internet services, Midheimar ehf, opened with SLIP/PPP access giving people access to the web for the first time from their homes.
• In March 1997 ISnet (a collective term for the Icelandic segments of NORDUnet and EUnet) established a direct connection toTeleglobe inMontreal,Canada at 9600 bit/s. to supplement the European connection. This line was moved toNew York City and upgraded to 48,178,001 bit/s in September 1999.
• 1999 marked the first yearADSL services were available in Iceland.
• Broadband internet access gained rapid popularity in Iceland due to the early use ofIPTV technologies in the early 2000s.Cable andSatellite TV services are next to nonexistent and therefore the provision of TV through DSL or fibre was in high demand.
• In January 2004 thesubmarine communications fibre cable systemFARICE-1 was put into commercial operation with a design capacity of 720 Gbit/s and lit capacity of 20 Gbit/s.^[25]
• 2004 FTTH trials began with Ljósleiðarinn building a fibre optic network, operating through a subsidiary called Gagnveita Reykjavíkur (GR) with a 100 Mbit/s connection.
• In 2007,Seltjarnarnes became the world's first town where every citizen had access tofibre optics.^[26]
• In 2008, xDSL use peaked in Iceland with 98% of connections.
• In September 2009 the submarine communications fibre cableDANICE was put into commercial operation with an original design capacity of 5120 Gbit/s. Additionally,Greenland Connect was laid at the same time.^[25]
• From 2009, VDSL services became active fromMíla in Reykjavík and larger towns offering 50-100 Mbit/s services.
• In October 2016, Ljósleiðarinn upgraded its network from 100 Mbit to 1 Gbit/s symmetric connections to all customers.
• In 2018, full fibre connections surpassed xDSL use for the first time.^[27]
• 2018 marked the year that 100% of homes in theReykjavík area hadFTTH access.^[4]
• In 2022,Síminn completed the sale of its wholesale access and backbone network,Míla, toArdian.
• In 2022, Ljósleiðarinn took overVodafone Iceland's national backbone including their one pair on the NATO fibre ring.^[28] Additionally, the government leased one of the NATO ring pairs by competitive tender to Ljósleiðarinn.^[29]
• In February 2023,SpaceX'sStarlink became available in Iceland.^[30]
• In March 2023, the IRISsubmarine cable system was ready for service, more than doubling Iceland's international bandwidth capacity with a new route to Ireland.
• In October 2023, both major access network operators,Míla and Ljósleiðarinn, began to offer 2.5, 5 and 10 Gbit/s residential fibre connections.^[7]
• In 2023, the lastDOCSIScable network in Iceland inReykjanesbær was shut down and replaced by full fibre connections.
• In 2024,Míla announced a full copper phase-out including the closure of DSL connections on a rolling basis by 2028.^[31][5]
• In 2024, Neyðarlínan (state-owned emergency communications operator) took over from Míla as the universal service provider.^[15]

Censorship is prohibited by theIcelandic Constitution and there is a strong tradition of protecting freedom of expression that extends to the use of the Internet.^[32] This is mirrored by Iceland being rated the most free of the 70 countries inFreedom House'sFreedom On the Net 2022 Reportat all.^[33]However, questions about how best to protect children, fight terrorism, prevent libel, and protect the rights ofcopyright holders are ongoing in Iceland as they are in much of the world.

The five Nordic countries—Denmark,Finland,Norway,Sweden, and Iceland—are central players in the European battle between file sharers, rights holders, andInternet service providers (ISPs). While each country determines its own destiny, the presence of theEuropean Union (EU) is felt in all legal controversies and court cases. Iceland, while not a member of the EU, is part of theEuropean Economic Area (EEA) and has agreed to enact legislation similar to that passed in the EU in areas such as consumer protection and business law.^[34]

Internet service providers in Iceland use filters to block Web sites distributing child pornography. Iceland's ISPs in cooperation with Barnaheill—Save the Children Iceland participate in the International Association of Internet Hotlines (INHOPE) project. Suspicious links are reported by organizations and the general public and passed on to relevant authorities for verification.

In 2012 and 2013 Ögmundur Jónasson, Minister of Interior, proposed two bills to the Icelandic parliament that would limit Icelander's access to the Internet. The first proposed limitations on gambling^[35] and the second on pornography.^[36][37] Neither bill was passed by the Icelandic parliament and a new government has since been formed following theparliamentary election held on 27 April 2013.^[38]

On 10 June 2009 the two major ISPs in Iceland, Vodafone Iceland and Iceland Telecom at the behest of SAFT (Save the Children Iceland) and other interest groups instated anull route on the websiteringulreid.org, making it inaccessible to most commercial Internet users in Iceland.^[39][40] Other members of theReykjavik Internet Exchange did not institute the null route, but both Vodafone and Síminn blocked it at their Icelandic routers.

Theringulreid.org domain subsequently expired^[41] and the site was taken down by its operator. But a similar siteslembingur.org sprang up to replace it.

Both Vodafone Iceland^[42] and Síminn^[43] updated their blocks to null route83.99.152.251, the IP addressslembingur.org resolves to.ringulreid.org was a4chan-like image board in theIcelandic language which had been making the news forcyber-bullying,child porn and similar material.^[44] The administrators of the site had rejected these accusations, citing their strict policies of banning users who posted child pornography.^[45]ringulreid.org had been set up after a similar site,handahof.org, had been voluntarily closed down by its operator on request of the Iceland Capital Police following their investigation into the matter.^[46]

The block againstringulreid.org was instated at the behest of theNational Police of Iceland, Iceland Capital Police, the Child Protection Authority of Iceland (part of the Iceland Ministry of Social Affairs), Save the Children Iceland (SAFT) (a private organization) and various other private and government groups, which made public statements encouraging all internet service providers in the country to block access to the site.^[47]

Thus the censorship in Iceland is not explicitly government mandated, but implemented voluntarily by private corporations in response to pressure from government and private institutions. Vodafone conducted a legal review to investigate whether it was within its rights to restrict access to the website, and after finding that they were within their rights instituted the block.

In a statement two days after the initial block Hrannar Pétursson, the press secretary for Vodafone, indicated that it was not on Vodafone's agenda to implement a more general censoring mechanism, but as ringulreid.org was an "exaggerated example of such a case" Vodafone considered the act justifiable.^[48] His colleague Margrét Stefánsdóttir at Síminn echoed those remarks, saying that Síminn would never close a page on its own initiative, but when faced with such serious requests they were compelled to act.^[48]

Sinceslembingur.org is hosted on ashared web hosting service, and the block takes the form of a null route any other sites that happen to share the same IP address are also blocked. As of 30 September 2010 these were the private E-Mail gatewayns1.bighost.lv, thecosmetics manufacturersaulesfabrika.com, the construction companytimbersolution.com, the printing houseveiters.com and the boilerplate siteventus.lv.^[49] As of 8 February 2011,slembingur.org had changed IP addresses and is therefore no longer blocked by Vodafone. The null route is still in place, so collateral damage is the only result from this incident.

• Telecommunications in Iceland
• .is domain
• Reykjavik Internet Exchange (RIX)
• CANTAT-3
• FARICE
• DANICE
• Greenland Connect
• Síminn
• Sýn
• Internet censorship by country

• Internet in Iceland

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