Norway’s National Communications Authority (Nasjonal kommunikasjonsmyndighet, Nkom) has reported that 96.6% of the country’s residential households and 95.9% of businesses now have access to a fixed broadband service offering downlink speeds of 100Mbps or more.

In publishing the findings of its most recent broadband coverage survey, the watchdog noted that rural areas have experienced the greatest improvement – 82.2% of homes now have access to 100Mbps-plus speeds, up from 71.5% in 2022. By comparison, 99.4% of homes in densely-populated areas now enjoy a minimum 100Mbps service at the aforementioned downlink speed, up from 98.0% in 2022. Nkom also confirmed that gigabit broadband is now available to 95.1% of Norwegian homes, compared to 92.5% in 2022, with 98.6% of premises in urban areas and 77.0% of rural homes having such access, up from 96.9% and 70.4%, respectively, in 2022.

Despite these coverage improvements, Nkom notes that around 85,000 premises are still unable to access a fixed broadband service offering 100Mbps download speeds. According to the regulator, around 12,000 of these are in ‘commercially attractive’ areas where government support is unlikely to be needed. A further 24,000 premises are expected to gain coverage via support being offered under a 5G discount scheme, while 15,000 homes will be covered by schemes in 2024 which have already been allocated government funding. To reach the final 34,000 premises, Nkom has suggested that state will need to invest between NOK580 million and NOK860 million (USD53 million-USD78 million) in 2025.