Síminn hf. (Iceland Telecom), previously named ''Landssíminn'' and ''Póstur og Sími,'' is an
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
ic
telecommunication
Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...
s company. It offers communication services for both private and corporate clients, including mobile (2G/3G/4G/5G), landline (VoIP/POTS), Internet (ADSL/VDSL/FTTH) and IPTV services. Síminn also operates multiple TV channels and streaming services. Síminn is listed on the Icelandic stock exchange.
Síminn operates a
5G/
4G/
3G/
2G mobile network reaching over 99% of Iceland's population. In 2018, Síminn was the largest wireless carrier in Iceland with a market share of 34,5%. Síminn has a partnership with
Ericsson
(lit. "Telephone Stock Company of LM Ericsson"), commonly known as Ericsson, is a Swedish multinational networking and telecommunications company headquartered in Stockholm. The company sells infrastructure, software, and services in informat ...
in infrastructure deployment in its mobile network.
History
Síminn is the
privatised
Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...
sector of Iceland's previously
state owned
State ownership, also called government ownership and public ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, or enterprise by the state or a public body representing a community, as opposed to an individual or private party. Public ownersh ...
incumbent
postal and telecom operator, ''Póstur og Sími'' and later, ''Landssíminn.'' The Iceland State Telephone Service was founded the same year as telephone technology arrived in Iceland, in 1906. In 1935, the telephone and postal services were consolidated. In 1998, they were again separated, and the company ''Landssíminn'', (Iceland Telecom Ltd) was split from
Íslandspóstur (Icelandic Postal Service).
1906 Telegraph Cable
In 1906, a
submarine telegraph cable
A submarine communications cable is a cable laid on the sea bed between land-based stations to carry telecommunication signals across stretches of ocean and sea. The first submarine communications cables laid beginning in the 1850s carried tel ...
was laid by the
Great Northern Telegraph Co. from
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
through the
Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.
They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...
to Iceland, where it came ashore on the east coast at
Seyðisfjörður
Seyðisfjörður () is a town in the Eastern Region of Iceland at the innermost point of the fjord of the same name. The town is located in the municipality of Múlaþing.
A road over Fjarðarheiði mountain pass (elevation ) connects Seyðisfjö ...
. In conjunction a telegraph and telephone line, was laid from the landing point to the capital city
Reykjavík
Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a po ...
.
Telephony
The people of
Reykjavík
Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a po ...
were quick to adopt the telephone. In 1912, the total number of telephone users in the town was 300. In 1932, the first
automatic telephone exchanges in Iceland were opened. The laying of telephone lines in rural areas was completed around 1960. In 1986, all telephones in the country were connected to automatic telephone exchanges. The laying of
fibre optic cables around the country began in 1985. The first digital telephone exchanges were opened in 1984, and this technology extended to all telephone exchanges 11 years later. In 2022, Síminn has begun the shutdown of the
PSTN
The public switched telephone network (PSTN) provides infrastructure and services for public telecommunication. The PSTN is the aggregate of the world's circuit-switched telephone networks that are operated by national, regional, or local teleph ...
/
POTS service, transferring customers to
VoIP
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), also called IP telephony, is a method and group of technologies for the delivery of voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet. The terms Internet t ...
services, intending to be completed by the end of 2022.
Direct international dialling
Short-wave telephone communications with other countries were opened in 1935. The submarine cables, SCOTICE and ICECAN, between Scotland and Iceland and Canada and Iceland were opened in 1962. The cable allowed international subsea telephone calls and telex services to be established in Iceland. In 1980, the Skyggnir
satellite ground station
A ground station, Earth station, or Earth terminal is a terrestrial radio station designed for extraplanetary telecommunication with spacecraft (constituting part of the ground segment of the spacecraft system), or reception of radio waves fro ...
came online, and telephone calls to other countries then went via satellite and
international direct dialling (IDD) to other countries became possible for the first time. In 1994, a new submarine cable,
CANTAT-3
CANTAT-3 was the third Canadian transatlantic telecommunications cable, in regular operation from 1994 to 2010, carrying 3 x 2.5 Gbit/s between Canada and Europe. It branches to both Iceland and the Faroe Islands. It is out of normal service for ...
, was opened.
Mobile Telephony
The
1G NMT system went into operation in 1986 (closed in 2010), and the
2G GSM
The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a standard developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to describe the protocols for second-generation ( 2G) digital cellular networks used by mobile devices such ...
system launching in 1994.
3G was launched in 2007,
4G in 2013 and mid-band
5G in 2021
Internet Services
In 1998, ADSL broadband was put into operation by Landssíminn. In early 2004, Iceland Telecom deployed its IPTV service to selected areas with ADSL service. The IPTV service includes Live TV and Video on Demand a move to answer customers' requests for bundled television, broadband and telephony services, which would signal Iceland Telecom's entry into the world of "triple-play" (integrated telephone, television and broadband offerings), distributing digital television content via the ADSL system. In 2009, Síminn launched its 'Ljósnet' service built on
VDSL
Very high-speed digital subscriber line (VDSL) and very high-speed digital subscriber line 2 (VDSL2) are digital subscriber line (DSL) technologies providing data transmission faster than the earlier standards of asymmetric digital subscriber line ...
and
FTTH
Fiber to the ''x'' (FTTX; also spelled "fibre") or fiber in the loop is a generic term for any broadband network architecture using optical fiber to provide all or part of the local loop used for last mile telecommunications. As fiber op ...
(
GPON
G.984,
commonly known as GPON (gigabit-capable passive optical network), is a standard for passive optical networks (PON) published by the ITU-T. It is commonly used to implement the outermost link to the customer (last kilometre or last mile) o ...
)
fibre
Fiber or fibre (from la, fibra, links=no) is a natural or artificial substance that is significantly longer than it is wide. Fibers are often used in the manufacture of other materials. The strongest engineering materials often incorporate ...
technology. Initially offering 50Mb services, later upgraded to 100Mb for VDSL and 1000Mb for FTTH/GPON services. FTTH services reached 105,000 households in 2021.
Privatization and sale of Míla
In July 2005, the Icelandic government privatized Landssími Íslands and sold its 98.8% share to Skipti ehf. In December 2005, three companies, Landssími Íslands, Íslenska sjónvarpsfélagið (The Icelandic Television Company) and the parent company, Skipti ehf., merged and the name was subsequently changed to Síminn hf. In March 2007 the following proposals of Siminn's board were approved: A new parent company called Skipti hf. was introduced and Síminn was split into three companies: Síminn hf. the main operating company; Fasteignafélagið Jörfi ehf, a real estate company, and Míla ehf which owns and operates the national trunk and access networks in Iceland. The new structural change took effect from 31 October 2006.
In 2021, Míla ehf., Síminn's infrastructure arm was sold to
Ardian, raising 46 billion
ISK, raising questions about national security infrastructure being sold to foreign investors.
Competition
The state owned Póstur og sími had a monopoly on most telecommunications services until 1998. That year a new law came into effect and the market opened for competition. The first competitor was TAL, offering mobile services on reduced prices. Others followed, the biggest one being
Íslandssími. The
ISP
An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise private ...
market the competition saw many new providers entering the market, such as Halló!, Margmiðlun, Skíma, Skrín, Snerpa, Íslandía,
365 Media,
HIVE
A hive may refer to a beehive, an enclosed structure in which some honey bee species live and raise their young.
Hive or hives may also refer to:
Arts
* ''Hive'' (game), an abstract-strategy board game published in 2001
* "Hive" (song), a 201 ...
,
NOVA
A nova (plural novae or novas) is a transient astronomical event that causes the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently "new" star (hence the name "nova", which is Latin for "new") that slowly fades over weeks or months. Causes of the dramati ...
, Hringdu and Miðheimar. In 2003 TAL, Íslandssími and Halló! merged under the name
Og Vodafone. Og Vodafone has since then bought a few Icelandic
Internet Service Provider
An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise private ...
s including TAL and
365. On the 6th of October 2006, Og Vodafone changed its name to
Vodafone Iceland
Vodafone Iceland is an Icelandic telecommunications company owned by Sýn. Although the company carries the Vodafone brand and trademark, Vodafone Group owns no interest in the company, but rather franchises the brand and associated advertising ...
.
See also
*
Telecommunications in Iceland Telecommunications in Iceland is a diversified market.
Submarine connectivity
Current internet and telephone services rely on submarine communications cables for external traffic, with a total capacity of 60.2Tbit/s
Current
* FARICE-1, 2 fib ...
*
Internet in Iceland
The use of the Internet in Iceland places Iceland among the top countries in the world in terms of Internet deployment and use. The use of internet in Iceland is widespread. Iceland has been at the forefront of adopting new internet access techno ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Siminn
1906 establishments in Iceland
Companies based in Reykjavík
Telecommunications companies established in 1906
Icelandic brands
Internet service providers of Iceland
Mass media companies of Iceland
Mass media in Reykjavík
Privatised companies in Iceland
Telecommunications companies of Iceland