Space Norway AS, which owns and operates a subsea cable system connecting mainland Norway with the archipelago of Svalbard, reported a fiber cut on Friday 7 January 2022. The cut is believed to have occurred between 130 and 230 km from Longyearbyen and in an area where the cable goes steeply into the deep sea. A second cable is still in operation, but the system will have no further redundancy until a repair is completed. A cable-laying ship will be mobilized.
Svalbard is located about midway (74° to 81° north latitude) between the northern coast of Norway and the North Pole. The islands have a population of about 2,900 and the largest settlement is the town of Longyearbyen.
