telecommunications
Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...
company that began operations on December 1, 2007. Nova owns and operates its own 3G/ 4G/ 5G mobile network and offers
FTTH
Fiber to the ''x'' (FTTX; also spelled "fibre") or fiber in the loop is a generic term for any broadband network architecture using optical fiber to provide all or part of the local loop used for last mile telecommunications. As fiber opt ...
fibre internet services through bit-stream access.
Nova ehf. was established in May 2006. At the end of March 2007, Nova received a 3G operating license and then officially opened on December 1, 2007. On April 4, 2013, Nova launched 4G/
LTE
LTE may refer to:
Science and technology
* LTE (telecommunication) (Long-Term Evolution), a mobile telephony standard
** LTE Advanced, an enhancement
** LTE Advanced Pro, a further enhancement
* Compaq LTE, a line of laptop computers
* Leukotrie ...
service, the first for an Icelandic telephone company. On the 5th of May 2020 (05.05.2020), Nova launched its 5G network, again a first for Iceland. Nova's initial growth is attributed to its offer of free calls and
SMS
Short Message Service, commonly abbreviated as SMS, is a text messaging service component of most telephone, Internet and mobile device systems. It uses standardized communication protocols that let mobile phones exchange short text messages, t ...
between its own subscribers, popular with younger consumers. Nova is the 2nd largest mobile phone company in Iceland with 32.9% market share in 2020 according to Electronic Communications Office of Iceland.
Distribution
Nova operates its own 3G, 4G and 5G mobile and network networks, which covers about 95% of the population. By the end of 2011, users had reached 100,000, reaching 156,000 in 2020.
In 2007,
Vodafone Iceland
Vodafone Iceland was an Icelandic telecommunications brand owned by the Icelandic company Sýn. Previously known as Fjarskipti hf., Vodafone á Íslandi and Og Vodafone ehf. The Vodafone Group franchised the brand and associated advertising st ...
and Nova commenced a network sharing agreement between each other's mobile networks. The agreement meant that Vodafone had access to Nova's then-new 3G mobile network and Nova had access to Vodafone's
GSM
The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a family of standards to describe the protocols for second-generation (2G) digital cellular networks, as used by mobile devices such as mobile phones and Mobile broadband modem, mobile broadba ...
mobile network. In January 2025, Nova discontinued its 2G (GSM) service and plans to shut down its 3G service by the end of 2025.
Advertising campaigns
Nova has made several advertisements that have generated a lot of discussion. In 2020 an advertisement campaign with the slogan "Allir úr" ("Everyone out f your clothes) featured several naked people wearing
smartwatch
A smartwatch is a portable wearable computer that resembles a wristwatch. Most modern smartwatches are operated via a touchscreen, and rely on mobile apps that run on a connected device (such as a smartphone) in order to provide core functions. ...
es doing normal activities like walking, running, swimming and dancing. The message behind the advertisement was to by using a smartwatch you would be able to leave your phone behind, improving your mental health. They also wanted to talk about
body positivity
Body positivity is a social movement that promotes a positive view of all bodies, regardless of size, shape, skin tone, gender, and physical abilities. Proponents focus on the appreciation of the functionality and health of the human body instea ...
, saying "we are of all kinds of shapes and sizes" and that there's nothing to be ashamed of. The advertisement was shared on the social media platform
Reddit
Reddit ( ) is an American Proprietary software, proprietary social news news aggregator, aggregation and Internet forum, forum Social media, social media platform. Registered users (commonly referred to as "redditors") submit content to the ...
where it got 30,000 upvotes and 3,000 comments, it was also shared on the video hosting platform
Vimeo
Vimeo ( ) is an American Online video platform, video hosting, sharing, and services provider founded in 2004 and headquartered in New York City. Vimeo focuses on the delivery of high-definition video across a range of devices and operates on a ...
where it got 730 thousand views.
In 2023 an advertising campaign with the slogan "Elskum öll" ("Love everyone") premiered that showed multiple couples of many different
sexualities
Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied w ...
,
gender identities
Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent and consistent with the i ...
,
ethnicities
An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, rel ...
and
abilities
Abilities are powers an agent has to perform various actions. They include common abilities, like walking, and rare abilities, like performing a double backflip. Abilities are intelligent powers: they are guided by the person's intention and exe ...
kissing, urging people to love everyone regardless of sexuality, gender identity or ethnicity. Playing in the background was the song ''Þú fullkomnar mig'' ("You complete me") by
Sálin hans Jóns míns
Sálin hans Jóns míns (Icelandic) (literally The Soul of Jón) is an
Síminn
Síminn hf. (, ; also known as Iceland Telecom Ltd.), previously named Landssíminn (, ), is an Icelandic telecommunications company. It offers communication services for both private and corporate clients, including mobile ( 4G/ 5G), landline, i ...
*
Telecommunications in Iceland
Telecommunications in Iceland is a diversified market. Iceland has a highly developed telecommunications sector with modern infrastructure. Multiple wholesale and retail providers are operated in a competitive market. As of 2024, Iceland's teleco ...
*
Internet in Iceland
Iceland is among the top countries in the world in terms of Internet deployment and use. 99.68% of Icelanders used the internet in 2021.
As of June 2024, Iceland is listed 6th in the world for fixed access download speeds according to Speedtest. ...