Reykjavík, 24 April 2026
Farice, which owns and operates the submarine cables FARICE-1, DANICE and ÍRIS,
has begun preparations for a new subsea cable that will be laid between southern Iceland and
Scotland. The project is part of the company’s continued development of its telecommunications
infrastructure and will significantly strengthen Iceland’s international connectivity.
The new cable will be named AUÐUR, referencing the settler Auður the Deep-Minded (Auður
djúpúðga Ketilsdóttir), who sailed from Scotland to Iceland, as described in the Icelandic Sagas.
A service delivery point is planned in either Glasgow or Edinburgh. From there, diverse routes are
available to major European telecom hubs, including London, Dublin, Amsterdam and the other
Nordic countries. This expansion will significantly extend Farice’s network, increasing both flexibility
and delivery security and reduce data latency between Iceland and key network hubs in Europe.
A marine survey for the cable route is scheduled for summer 2027. If plans proceed as expected, the
cable is anticipated to be operational by 2030.
The cable is expected to be built with high capacity to meet the rapidly growing demand for
international connectivity between Iceland and Europe, particularly driven by data centre
development. It is projected to include 16–24 fiber pairs.
Thorvardur Sveinsson, CEO of Farice:
“The time has come to further strengthen Iceland’s telecommunications infrastructure by building a
new high-capacity cable. Through the new cable we will create a new low latency route between
Iceland and Europe ‘s key network hubs as well and further strengthen the digital bridge within the
Nordics. Icelandic data centres can be seamlessly integrated into network topologies, bridging the
US and Nordic markets. The Nordic region is rapidly emerging as a major data centre hub, making
interconnectivity with the Nordics ever more important.“
