Who is Annika Lompolo - the project manager from Lapland who is taking the fiber optic issue forward to ensure its vitality? We will hear about the situation of fiber optic projects in Lapland's municipalities at our Ruka seminar on Thursday, April 10, 2025.
I am Annika – a ”fiber-optic-warrior”. I want to fight for the right of every Lapp to choose where they live. Fiber optic guarantees stable and reliable telecommunications connections. This is the second fiber optic project I am working on. As digitalization progresses, this is only possible if the network connections work stably and with high quality. My project’s task is to provide information about the possibilities of telecommunications networks in Lapland. I am the child of returnees, and I am grateful that I have finally been able to settle here in my family’s region. In a world where remote work is possible, many of us would work more from the countryside, at least part-time, if the connections worked even better. The pandemic showed that quite a few. Fiber optic brings attraction to villages. An adult son had just told his aging mother in a small Lappish village that when you take the fiber optic, mom, I will come from the south to work for you for longer periods. This mother told me about her case with a smile on her face.
Market-based fiber optic companies rarely build networks in villages. It is not economically viable. That is why cooperatives in Lapland have already built almost 3,000 km of network and almost 5,000 connections, financed by the Lapland ELY Centre. The chairman of one cooperative said that their village had several uninhabited houses that had been for sale for a long time. Connections were taken to two houses – even though there was no information about the users yet. Before this broadband investment project was completed, both of these houses had been sold to residents from elsewhere.
Volunteer work carried out in projects brings people together and increases the spirit of ”we”. Today, volunteer work is not taken for granted, but when it is done, it is even more valuable. The cooperatives that have built fiber optic networks exude pride in their own work and in their valuable shared assets.
I hope to help the Lappish villages stay more vibrant. The appeal of Lapland has been understood by numerous customers who travel here. Good internet connections are one reason to keep the residents in their home villages and possibly bring in even more population. I am the luckiest of my sisters. I got to stay on the better side of the Arctic Circle.
Do not hesitate to contact us! There are no stupid questions. If I can’t answer your question straight away, I promise to find out.
Otathan yhteyttä!
Annika Lompolo
+358 40 552 0360
annika.lompolo@tunturileader.fi