Lögberg-Heimskringla - 13.02.2004, Blaðsíða 6

page 6 * Lögberg-Heimskringla * 13 February 2004
FRÉTTIR FRÁ ÍSLANDI • NEWS FROM ICELAND
Farice-sæstrengurinn Farice-Ocean Cable Wire
PHOTO COURTESY OF MBL/GOLLI
KK delivered a song during a live broadcast from London,
England on the occasion of the opening of the Farice-ocean
cable. Sturla Böðvarsson, Minister of Transportation watches.
The FARICE ocean-cable
wire that stretches
between Iceland and Scotland
and goes by the Faroe Islands
was officially taken into use
on February 3, 2004. On that
occasion Sturla Böðvarsson,
Icelandic Minister of
Transportation, said that this
was an important event. “By
doing this we are building a
new bridge between Iceland
and the continent in coopera-
tion with our good neighbours
the Faroe Islands,” said the
Minister of Transportation.
Sturla officially opened
the cable wire at a well-attend-
ed reception at Hotel Nordica
in Reykjavík on the 3rd of
February by connecting a
straight link with the musi-
cian, Kristján Kristjánsson,
KK, who was in London,
England. KK broadcast a song
straight from downtown
London and therewith demon-
strated the validity of the
ocean cable wire.
“It was in July 2002 that I
made the proposal that the
govemment participate in this
project. The phone companies
have been in the lead on this
project and completed it and I
want to thank them for that,”
said Sturla. “Good work has
been done, work that will
guaranty us increased security
because of increased capabili-
ty in the area of telecommuni-
cations for expanded and pro-
longed prosperity for us
Icelanders, which is built on
telecommunications.
Fortunately we have had peo-
ple with foresight in the
telecommunications business
and we reap the fruits today
with a relatively low cost for
this telecommunication serv-
ice.”
The company Farice Ltd.
owns and operates the cable,
but the company consists of
the telephone company
(Síminn), OG Vondefone, the
Icelandic government, Fproya
Tele and others. Farice Ltd.
will sell its services at a
wholesale price to telecommu-
nications companies which
will then look after the retail.
Jón Birgir Jónsson, the chair-
man of the board of Farice
Ltd. said that eleven million
phone calls can go over the
ocean cable wire at the same
time. That is a thousand times
more than Icelanders and
Faroe Islanders have today.
He said that with increased
use phone calls may be
expected to become cheaper.
He gave thanks to all those
who had anything to do with
the laying of the cable for
smooth co-operation, which is
a symbol of new times that
have brought with them new
opportunities for the future.
The company said that the
cable marks a turning point
where the country is for the
first time connected twice
with separate light connec-
tions, one to the east and the
other to the west of the ocean.
This means that there is more
security than before when
telephone and computer users
in all their relations with for-
eign countries had to trust one
connection, CANTAT-3, and
emergency connections with
satellites.
Telecommunications com-
panies can now use both
cables simultaneously, thus if
the connection is lost on one
cable it will hardly interfere at
all with services.
The preparations for the
laying of the FARICE cable
began in 1999. Total invest-
ment for the new ocean cable
is just over four billion krónur
(approximately eighty million
CAD). Work on the ocean
cable began at the end of last
June from Castletown in
Dunnet Bay in Scotland,
where it was connected to
land. Then the cable was laid
from Scotland north of the
Faroe Islands with a connec-
tion to the Funning fjord. The
cable was put on land at
Seyðisfjörður the second day
of September.
The cable is altogether
1,407 km long. The length
from Seyðisfjörður to Dunnet
Bay is about 1,210 km and the
connection to the Faroe
Islands is about 197 km to
Funning fjord. The actual
light-cable, that ends in
Reykjavík, Þórshöfn and
Edinburgh is, on the other
hand, about 3,000 km. long.
The difference is the land
cables in Iceland, Faroe
Islands and in Scotland and
they are and will be rented by
the telecommunications com-
panies in each country.
Information fonn Morgunblaðið, Á. H.
Success for Herring Museum
The Herring Museum in
Siglufjörður, north Iceland, has
been selected to compete for the
European Museum Awards this
year. The award ceremony
takes place in Athens in May.
According to curator Örlygur
Kristfinnsson, this is the first
time that an Icelandic museum
has been nominated for this
award. There are forty muse-
ums altogether competing for
the award. Kristfinnsson com-
ments: “This means that we will
be featured in a special book
published by the European
Museum Forum, which is great
promotion for us.”
New Hiking Web Site
Information on over 500 hiking paths in Iceland will be
launched on the Web on May lst. The Icelandic Travel Bureau,
in association with the National Geodetical Society, are respon-
sible for the new site at www.ganga.is. The web site will feature
all sorts of information on each trail.
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FRÉTTIR FRÁ KANADA • NEWS FROM CANADA
Bóndadagur - Farmer’s Day
The third annual Bóndadagur held at the Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives oífice
in Lundar on January 23, was attended by Consul General Atli Ásmundsson.
Since Lundar is a prominent farming community, the Lundar Chapter INL hosted this event to hon-
our the local farmers in the area. Guests were treated with Icelandic dainties, door prizes and flowers.
PHOTO BY JUDY GLEICH
Back Row: Atli Ásmundsson (Consul General), Brian Thomas (Reeve of RM of Coldwell),
Daniel Danielson, Ken Olafson (President Lundar Ag. Society). Middle Row: Judy Gleich,
Marilyn Eirickson, Gunnvör Ásmundsson, Jim Mason (Ag. Rep - MAFRI). Front Row:
Gudny Firiksson, Virginia Bergthorson, Wanda Erickson Brandson (President, Lundar
Chapter INL), Kristine Danielson.
1*1 BONDADAGeUR m
m ih unn* fiin* m* whkim m n twmr NiiT'rRirm ^ rim \ rin wwim#