In the CORA pilot “Broadband across border Sweden-Norway”, project partners examined options for connecting rural areas in Norway with broadband (fibre) from Sweden. The pilot provided an opportunity to test and develop cross-border synergies. Partners from Sweden (Värmland County Administrative Board and Torsby Municipality) and Norway (Innlandet County and Grue Municipality) began the process of sorting out both the differences in models for broadband expansion between Sweden and Norway, and the legal issues of extending the broadband from Sweden to Norway, e.g. checking the regulations of the Swedish Post and Telecom Authority and the Norwegian Communications Authority. As no legal obstacles were found, the test case could start.
On the Swedish side, the fibre stretches from Sundelin’s grocery store in Röjdåfors, a small village in Torsby municipality (where fibre already existed), up to the border crossing point. The fibre was laid through the lake Röjden (Røgden in Norwegian).
On the Norwegian side, the fibre was taken from the border cabinet and extended (1.2 km, also through the lake Røgden) to a fibre cabinet at the crossing direction Svullrya. Finnskogtoppen Hotel (on the Norwegian side) installed 1.5 km fibre and already connected to this cabinet. The visitors of the Finnskogtoppen Hotel can now enjoy 900 Mbps speed (upgraded from 3 Mbps before).
Yet some issues still have to be clarified. For now, the customers on the Norwegian side cannot buy services from Sweden. Telia Sweden offered service to Finnskogtoppen Hotel exclusively in this project, as a test case. Telia Sweden and Telia Norway now are in a dialog on how to offer services to customers on both sides. Four other companies and two households in the area are also planning to connect to the new fibre from Sweden. This is an interesting case, and we hope this will be possible soon!
Given the great tradition of collaboration between Värmland and Innlandet, it was natural for the municipality of Torsby to offer its fibre to the companies and residents located in the Norwegian border municipality of Grue. Both countries can obtain redundancy in the networks and share services that are offered over the broadband network. In the first stage, Norwegian customers will buy services from Sweden. Yet when the broadband network on the Norwegian side is extended, it can also be offered to customers in Sweden.
