- The project will triple backbone capacity across the Nordic region at an estimated cost of €40 million.
- Upgrades include both land routes and new subsea cables, strengthening resilience and redundancy.
What happened: GlobalConnect is upgrading its Nordic backbone to triple capacity and add new subsea cables
GlobalConnect, a digital infrastructure providers in the Nordic countries, has initiated a major upgrade of its backbone network with the goal of tripling capacity over around 1,250 km of fibre by the end of 2027.
The initiative — representing one of the most significant internet infrastructure upgrades in Nordic history — will see new high‑capacity fibre cables added to existing routes connecting major cities such as Stockholm, Gävle, Gothenburg, Oslo and Helsinki. Over the next two years, the enhanced network will support future data traffic growth driven by increased demand from data centres, cloud services and AI workloads across the region.
In addition to strengthening terrestrial links, GlobalConnect has also announced multiple subsea cable projects that will connect Sweden with Finland, Åland, Estonia and Gotland — adding critical digital highways under the Baltic Sea and enhancing the network’s resilience and redundancy against outages.
The upgrade project kicked off in late 2025 and is part of a broader strategic initiative — known internally as the “Bifrost” programme — designed to modernise and futureproof Nordic fibre infrastructure over the coming decade.
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Why it’s important
The capacity upgrade comes at a time when demand for robust, high‑speed connectivity in Northern Europe is accelerating. Trends such as cloud adoption, data centre growth and emerging AI workloads are placing unprecedented strain on existing fibre infrastructure — much of which is now more than 20 years old.
By tripling backbone capacity, GlobalConnect aims to provide businesses, data centres and public institutions with secure, reliable and future‑ready digital services. The inclusion of new subsea routes also strengthens regional network redundancy, reducing the risk of disruptions caused by outages or cable damage.
High‑capacity fibre networks are increasingly critical to national and regional competitiveness, supporting everything from remote work and digital healthcare to advanced technologies like 5G and edge computing. With this upgrade, the Nordics are positioning themselves to sustain long‑term digital growth and resilience — a strategy in an era where connectivity is central to economic success.
