In an effort to sharpen its profile in the international ICT marketplace, Faroese Telecom places strategic focus on its core competency -- an adept ability to simplify complexity and create profit in small communities.

Contrary to the perspective of some mega companies, bigger is not necessarily better. In the world of ICT (information and communication technology), being small may very well be a key strategic and competitive advantage.

Or so would argue Tróndur Djur­huus, Vice President and Chief Development Officer of Faroese Telecom: “What our research has revealed is that the global ICT marketplace is hungry for simple, straightforward solutions. Big organizations may not be able to effectively downsize their ICT solutions to adequately meet the varied and unique ICT needs of small towns or even small countries. We can and we aim to prove it.” 

For over a century, Faroese Tele­com has been providing telecommunications services in the daunting terrain of the Faroe Islands. Through the years, it has honed its skills and become profitable. Bjarni Djurholm, minister of trade and industry, the de jure owner of Faroese Telecom, is encouraging the company to focus its energy on the international marketplace and in turn to serve as a role model for other Faroese businesses in going global. Mr Djurhuus welcomed the vision of the Minister as a “distinctive opportunity” that would enable Faroese Telecom to build upon its expertise and learn new skills while contributing to the development of the Faroese community as a whole.

Agility with strength: According to Andras Róin, Faroese Telecom CEO, smallness equates to strength and agility. “We are striving to become the World Champions in managing and operating small-scale telecommunications infrastructure,” Mr Róin remarked. “In fashioning something exceptional out of our limited and often straightened circumstances, we have created innovative concepts and products that can be readily applied well beyond the Faroes. An example of this is our DTT deployment and our special subscriber management system.”

Referring to the successful deployment of digital terrestrial television (DTT) in the Faroes, Mr Róin said Faroese Telecom was one of the first companies in the world to roll out a fully operational DTT system. Knowledgeable observers have noted that what is most striking about the deployment, aside from the ingenuity involved in handling the multiple signals bouncing around the mountaintops, is the web-based, exceedingly robust subscriber management system developed by Faroese Telecom. As a consequence, the subsidiary established to manage and promote the initiative has very few employees, a fact that has not gone unnoticed by much larger telcos and TV distribution companies eager to exploit DTT technology in their home countries.

The success of Faroese Telecom in the area of DTT has unleashed a flood of other initiatives. For example, the company is working on showcasing a number of innovative telecommunications and telemetry advances and concepts, including collaborating with Ericsson on EDGE technology and exploring the potential of fixed as well as mobile WiMax technology with Intel and others.

An ambitious safety-at-sea project, jointly facilitated by Bitland Enterprise (thebitland.com), a privately funded business development organization, is in the works. The project involves the development of a device that could be worn by seamen and others working at sea, such as oilrig workers; in the event that a person is lost at sea or during an emergency onboard a vessel or oilrig, people could be easily located utilizing advanced telecommunications technology, including possibly the long-range potential of WiMax.

“Faroese Telecom” said Mr Djur­huus, “is one of the few companies in the world working to develop a total solution for assuring safety-at-sea. The technical challenges are great, but not insurmountable, and the potential benefit is significant. Our plan is to be one of the first to take this technology successfully to the international marketplace.”

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