Iceland has a unique and breathtaking landscape, from active volcanoes, towering glaciers, and impressive waterfalls to black sand beaches. With an area of 103,000 square kilometers, roughly the same size as Hungary or Portugal, Iceland has about 376,000 inhabitants. The remote country has an impressive fiber broadband infrastructure and ranks among the top countries in Europe for fiber deployment. And Ljósleiðarinn (Reykjavík Fibre Network) has been there from the start.
Reykjavík Fibre Network has a unique origin story, one that’s deeply rooted in Iceland’s technological evolution. Born out of an experimental project in 1999 to offer internet through the electric grid, today, this pioneering company operates with an open access network model.
The company’s story began when the Internet was still in its infancy. “We started our twofold pilot project in 1999 with our owner Reykjavík Energy, the city’s utility company. One part of it was trialing delivering Internet over electrical grid lines. The second part aimed to create a fiber backbone that went through all the electrical distribution stations. Delivering Internet over electrical grid lines wasn’t mature enough, so the project changed to fiber-to-the-home (FTTH). In 2005, the open-access project started, and in 2007, Reykjavík Fibre Network was established as a separate entity from Reykjavik Energy,” says Jón Ingi Ingimundarson, CTO of Reykjavík Fibre Network.
From scratch: Greenfield
When the company pivoted toward an FTTH model, the ambitious project of laying fiber into every home in the capital area and south Iceland began. But starting with zero fiber broadband customers and no last-mile infrastructure wasn’t easy. The team at Reykjavik Fibre Network was responsible for building this active infrastructure. They had to develop everything from scratch – processes, teams, the active network, and the logistics to dig into every street and home.
Open Access Network as a model
Another significant decision in those early years was adopting an Open Access Network (OAN) business model. The company decided not to compete with internet service providers (ISPs) but to build an infrastructure others could use. This meant multiple retail ISPs could offer services over the same fiber network, allowing customers to choose their internet and TV providers without physically altering the infrastructure. This approach, modeled on successful European examples, including Sweden, was crucial for the project’s long-term viability, though many doubted it at the time.
We didn’t want to step on the toes of our customers – the ISPs – so we created an active Open Access Network where they could all thrive on our platform. We installed the Optical Network Terminals (ONTs) and put a lot of emphasis on software systems to facilitate switching electronically between service providers on top of the network,” Jón explains.
Managing forces of nature
Iceland’s rugged and unpredictable geography posed additional risks. Volcanic eruptions and earthquakes are regular occurrences, and these natural forces threaten the integrity of the network. Reykjavík Fibre Network designed its infrastructure with redundant paths, ensuring traffic could be rerouted if one fiber line was cut to maintain service.
Building a flexible, future-proof OAN together with Genexis
In 2011, Reykjavík Fibre Network began working with Genexis. “It was very important for us then that we could easily switch between vendors. Being a Point-to-Point (PtP) network was our process at that time. We selected Genexis based on the features that Genexis was able to provide,” continues Jón. Genexis devices could connect 100 MB or 1 GB services, which meant the network could grow without costly upgrades. “It gave us flexibility. We could install the equipment today and easily upgrade it when customers demanded faster speeds in the future,” Jón recalls. The company used Genexis’ Hybrid and, a few years ago, switched to FiberTwist.
Benefitting from Genexis design
Another critical factor for Reykjavík Fibre Network is the small size of the Genexis devices. This gives the installation team the flexibility of installing them in the home cabinets, which have all the distribution paths into the home. Multiple LAN ports are another essential feature of both the Hybrid and the FiberTwist from the start and are used for different services from providers.
“IPTV services are still very popular in Iceland. Many of our customers buy Internet from one provider and then buy IPTV service from somebody else, so it was vital for us that Genexis had ONTs with multiple LAN ports. In the future, the FiberTwist do-it-yourself (DIY) twist mechanism could be an important benefit when rolling out fiber for people moving into homes at different times. We also appreciate the Genexis design, where you can have the Fiber Termination Unit (FTU) and then change the kind of ONT you actually install and add more features,” describes Jón.
As the company looks to the future, they are testing XGS-PON, and Genexis is facilitating the transition from PtP to XGS-PON. However, Jon is clear about one thing: flexibility remains key. “We don’t want to be locked into one vendor or technology. We need to be able to mix and match equipment to stay agile. Even though we were in the early phase, Genexis provided great support and ensured this interoperability would work between Genexis’ ONTs and the other vendors’ OLTs,” continues Jón. Genexis ONTs are also embedded with TrueTalk, the award-winning autosensing software that automatically detects the OLT vendor and line card. Upgrading to XGS-PON also has the advantage of reusing FTUs, resulting in minimum waste, fast upgrades, and no drilling in consumers’ homes.
Recognizing two decades of OAN
As Jon and his team prepare to celebrate the 20th anniversary of OAN in Iceland, they can look back on a project that not only succeeded but thrived against the odds. It is also the 25th anniversary of Reykjavik Fibre Network fiber backbone network. Last year, the company expanded its reach across Iceland by acquiring Vodafone Iceland’s backhaul network, and it extended its operations to serve all of Iceland. Jón sums it up, “Back then, many people said this project would go bankrupt in no time. But here we are, 20 years later, making sure that Iceland continues its leadership in telecom services through active competition with the former incumbent.”
Challenge
- To build a fiber network from the ground up with no existing infrastructure
- Face risks with Iceland’s volatile landscape
- Implement an active OAN for retail ISPs in 2005
- vendor lock-in ONT-OLT interface and the need for full flexibility
Solution
- Created a resilient, redundant network and focused on fiber-to-the-home
- Partnered with Genexis for flexible ONTs, allowing easy, future-proof upgrades with no vendor lock-in
Result
- Genexis FiberTwist
- Expanded coverage throughout Iceland
- Celebrating 20 years of OAN
About Ljósleiðarinn (Reykjavík Fibre Network)
Ljósleiðarinn is a telecommunications company owned by Reykjavík Energy (RE; Orkuveitan) and founded as Gagnaveita Reykjavíkur in 2007. Reykjavík Fibre Network provides Icelandic homes and businesses with access to high-quality services on an open access network.
In 2022-2023, the service portfolio grew to include backhaul, carrier, and transit services for other telecommunication companies all over Iceland.
