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Tusass CEO Toke Binzer calls on the Danish government to ensure the protection of critical infrastructure in the North Atlantic. Therefore, a new submarine cable connecting Denmark with the Faroe Islands and Greenland must be laid as soon as possible, he believes. Price: Around 3 billion DKK.
- The matter is a top priority for us, says CEO Toke Binzer.
Photo: Tusass
Bent Højgaard Sørensen Freelance Journalist
Published Sunday, February 9, 2025 2:24 PM
NATO has intensified its surveillance of the Baltic Sea with military units, including ships and aircraft from Denmark. The purpose is, among other things, to protect critical infrastructure such as data cables and power lines.
The intensified efforts come after submarine power and submarine cables have been subjected to sabotage in recent months.
In light of the sabotage actions in the Baltic Sea, the CEO of the Greenlandic telecommunications company Tusass, Toke Binzer, is now sending a message to the government of Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen that the North Atlantic is even more exposed.
He is calling for a new submarine cable with sensors to be laid on the seabed as soon as possible, connecting the countries in the North Atlantic.
New submarine cable is a top priority
- I therefore call on the Danish government to ensure the protection of critical infrastructure in the North Atlantic and not only in the Baltic Sea.
- Establishing such a connection in the North Atlantic is a top priority for Tusass. It will take three to four years to establish the submarine cable from the time the financing is in place, and we estimate that it will cost approximately three billion kroner.
- This is an expense that Tusass cannot cover alone, but that the entire Kingdom must deal with, says Toke Binzer in an interview with Sermitsiaq.
The director of the 100 percent self-governing owned Tusass points out that “we are vulnerable to sabotage on the existing submarine cables”.
- Therefore, a sensor-based North Atlantic submarine cable should be established that can connect Denmark with the Faroe Islands and Greenland in terms of communication, says the director.
A sensor-based submarine cable between Greenland, the Faroe Islands and Denmark will also enable the Danish defense and NATO to monitor what is happening along the cable, believes Toke Binzer.
With sensors installed on the submarine cables, according to the Tusass director, you can see what vessels are passing over the submarine cable.
- This allows you to see and potentially prevent sabotage against the submarine cable, he says.
Hybrid war
The hybrid war came really close to Denmark when the Danish navy stopped a Chinese cargo ship in November that was suspected of sabotage by cutting data cables in the Baltic Sea.
- I am worried if something similar happens to our submarine cables, which currently connect Greenland with Iceland and Europe and Canada.
- The cables are deep. We monitor them in Greenlandic waters. For example, when fishing vessels have their transmitters turned on, we notify the vessels to be careful so that trawls and other objects do not hit our cable, says Toke Binzer.
But there is a problem with the risk of sabotage on the Tusass cables in international waters.
- Large parts of the cable connection are located in international waters and are therefore vulnerable to sabotage. We have seen examples of this in other places in the world, for example in the Baltic Sea, where a Nordstream gas pipeline was blown up.
- If sabotage is committed on the Tusass cables, we in Greenland could be exposed for perhaps many months before the connection is repaired and re-established, admits Toke Binzer.
Greenland risks going black
He is pleased that there has been a “huge focus on the Baltic Sea”, where, among others, eight heads of state met a few weeks ago and discussed what to do in a sea where there are a lot of submarine cables, including traffic cables.
The leaders from Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Germany met “to address the recent increase in the number of serious incidents that damage critical submarine infrastructure in the Baltic Sea”. This was stated, among other things, in a joint statement from the summit in the Finnish capital Helsinki.
- I miss the same focus on the Greenlandic and other North Atlantic waters. If Tusass’ submarine cables are sabotaged, we risk going black in Greenland and the internet connections in and out of the country will be stopped, states Tusass CEO Toke Binzer.
He says that he has been in close dialogue with, among others, the Danish Defense and the Government of Greenland's Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the need for a new submarine cable in the North Atlantic.
- The matter has top priority for us, reiterates CEO Toke Binzer.
Tusass offers a wide range of products and services to both private and business customers in Greenland. This ranges from mobile telephony to broadband and internet, landline telephony as well as TV and entertainment services.
www.sermitsiaq.ag
- The matter is a top priority for us, says CEO Toke Binzer.
Photo: Tusass
Bent Højgaard Sørensen Freelance Journalist
Published Sunday, February 9, 2025 2:24 PM
NATO has intensified its surveillance of the Baltic Sea with military units, including ships and aircraft from Denmark. The purpose is, among other things, to protect critical infrastructure such as data cables and power lines.
The intensified efforts come after submarine power and submarine cables have been subjected to sabotage in recent months.
In light of the sabotage actions in the Baltic Sea, the CEO of the Greenlandic telecommunications company Tusass, Toke Binzer, is now sending a message to the government of Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen that the North Atlantic is even more exposed.
He is calling for a new submarine cable with sensors to be laid on the seabed as soon as possible, connecting the countries in the North Atlantic.
New submarine cable is a top priority
- I therefore call on the Danish government to ensure the protection of critical infrastructure in the North Atlantic and not only in the Baltic Sea.
- Establishing such a connection in the North Atlantic is a top priority for Tusass. It will take three to four years to establish the submarine cable from the time the financing is in place, and we estimate that it will cost approximately three billion kroner.
- This is an expense that Tusass cannot cover alone, but that the entire Kingdom must deal with, says Toke Binzer in an interview with Sermitsiaq.
The director of the 100 percent self-governing owned Tusass points out that “we are vulnerable to sabotage on the existing submarine cables”.
- Therefore, a sensor-based North Atlantic submarine cable should be established that can connect Denmark with the Faroe Islands and Greenland in terms of communication, says the director.
A sensor-based submarine cable between Greenland, the Faroe Islands and Denmark will also enable the Danish defense and NATO to monitor what is happening along the cable, believes Toke Binzer.
With sensors installed on the submarine cables, according to the Tusass director, you can see what vessels are passing over the submarine cable.
- This allows you to see and potentially prevent sabotage against the submarine cable, he says.
Hybrid war
The hybrid war came really close to Denmark when the Danish navy stopped a Chinese cargo ship in November that was suspected of sabotage by cutting data cables in the Baltic Sea.
- I am worried if something similar happens to our submarine cables, which currently connect Greenland with Iceland and Europe and Canada.
- The cables are deep. We monitor them in Greenlandic waters. For example, when fishing vessels have their transmitters turned on, we notify the vessels to be careful so that trawls and other objects do not hit our cable, says Toke Binzer.
But there is a problem with the risk of sabotage on the Tusass cables in international waters.
- Large parts of the cable connection are located in international waters and are therefore vulnerable to sabotage. We have seen examples of this in other places in the world, for example in the Baltic Sea, where a Nordstream gas pipeline was blown up.
- If sabotage is committed on the Tusass cables, we in Greenland could be exposed for perhaps many months before the connection is repaired and re-established, admits Toke Binzer.
Greenland risks going black
He is pleased that there has been a “huge focus on the Baltic Sea”, where, among others, eight heads of state met a few weeks ago and discussed what to do in a sea where there are a lot of submarine cables, including traffic cables.
The leaders from Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Germany met “to address the recent increase in the number of serious incidents that damage critical submarine infrastructure in the Baltic Sea”. This was stated, among other things, in a joint statement from the summit in the Finnish capital Helsinki.
- I miss the same focus on the Greenlandic and other North Atlantic waters. If Tusass’ submarine cables are sabotaged, we risk going black in Greenland and the internet connections in and out of the country will be stopped, states Tusass CEO Toke Binzer.
He says that he has been in close dialogue with, among others, the Danish Defense and the Government of Greenland's Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the need for a new submarine cable in the North Atlantic.
- The matter has top priority for us, reiterates CEO Toke Binzer.
Tusass offers a wide range of products and services to both private and business customers in Greenland. This ranges from mobile telephony to broadband and internet, landline telephony as well as TV and entertainment services.
Tusass-chef i appel til DK: – Nordatlanten er sårbar for sabotage på kritisk infrastruktur
Tusass-topchef Toke Binzer opfordrer den danske regering til at sørge for beskyttelsen af kritisk infrastruktur i Nordatlanten. Derfor skal der hurtigst muligt lægges et nyt søkabel, der forbinder Danmark med Færøerne og Grønland, mener han. Pris: Omkring 3 mia. kr.
