Satellite connections in Qaanaaq and Savissivik will provide better and faster internet connections after the EU, Denmark and Greenland signed an agreement on Monday.
It is good news for 50-year-old Olennguaq Kristensen from Savissivik. But he continues with his enthusiasm.
Satellite connections in Qaanaaq and Savissivik will provide better and faster internet connections after the EU, Denmark and Greenland signed an agreement on Monday.
It is good news for 50-year-old Olennguaq Kristensen from Savissivik. But he continues with his enthusiasm.
– It sounds promising that it can be faster. Equipment has been replaced and upgraded in recent years, but it has not improved. Although they have upgraded it, our internet has not gotten any faster. I hope it succeeds this time, he says to Sermitsiaq.
The chairman of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen (Soc.) and the chairman of Naalakkersuisut Jens-Frederik Nielsen (D) have entered into an agreement on improvements. The agreement is for a total of nine million euros, corresponding to around DKK 67 million. Of this, the EU pays five million euros, Denmark two million euros and Greenland two million euros.
– I hope there will finally be a proper solution.
– The conditions here in terms of connections are not as simple as further south along the coast, says Olennguaq Kristensen.
Missing out on what interests him
Olennguaq Kristensen is a prisoner and also serves tourists and film people. He has lived in the village of Savissivik for over 30 years. He is a diligent internet user.
– I follow a lot of what happens outside our area, especially via social media. I also use it in connection with my work, he says.
Still, he misses out on things that interest him, and doesn’t get to read them because of a slow internet connection that has a low quality compared to the rest of West Greenland.
– We miss things that could be interesting. Sometimes we can only read the headlines and cannot get further into the content. It is very frustrating. Sometimes we don’t participate at all in debates that we could have otherwise participated in, says Olennguaq Kristensen.
The speed of the internet connection in Savissivik and Qaanaaq was six megabits per second before the agreement, but has now more than doubled, reaching 15 megabits, Tusass CEO Jonas Hasselriis said on Monday.
The chairman of Naalakkersuisut is pleased that the residences in northernmost Greenland will have better internet connections. He writes the following in Tusass’ press release on Monday:
– I am incredibly happy that, in cooperation with the EU and Denmark, we can increase access to satellite capacity in Greenland. From today the citizens of Qaanaaq and Savissivik can experience faster internet connections, writes Jens-Frederik Nielsen.
