1001 Smart Cities
🇸🇪 Stockholm

Stokab: Stockholm's Municipal Open-Access Dark Fibre Network

🤖 AI-generated summary · ◆ 16 sourced claims · 🔎 Last verified

This overview was generated with AI from the public sources listed below and checked against them before publication. It has not had a complete human fact-check — treat it as a starting point and follow the sources.

16 sourced claims on this page, none individually verified yet — turn on “Sources in the text” to see each one.

How this atlas is made · What “last verified” means · What “source-checked” means · The full record behind this page

Stockholm has owned the fibre under its streets since 1994 and has never sold anyone an internet connection. It leases the unlit strands to 100+ operators on equal, non-discriminatory terms.

Outcome🔄 Ongoing
Evidence🏛️ Official
what does this mean?The strongest source is the operator's or the city's own reporting — an official report, dataset or press release. It grades who did the looking — not how well the project went. All four grades →
Run byStokab (owned by City of Stockholm)
Scale🗺️ Regional
FundingMunicipal utility company, 100% owned by the City of Stockholm; self-financing through fibre-lease fees (SEK 854m revenue, SEK 230m result before tax in 2025, per the city audit office), not a subsidized service

Part of 1001 Smart Cities — 1,216 documented projects · 🏙️ 8 more in Stockholm · 📶 Connectivity & 5G guide · 📡 Data & IoT projects

Stokab, wholly owned by the City of Stockholm, has leased dark (unlit) fibre on equal, non-discriminatory terms to any operator, business or institution since 1994 — it never sells retail internet itself. Its network now reaches over 90% of regional households and 99% of commercial buildings, with 100+ operators leasing capacity on it.

Live 📅 since 1994

📊 Impact

A 2013 study by the research institute Acreo Swedish ICT, published by Stokab, estimated the network's socio-economic return at more than SEK 16 billion — nearly three times the SEK 5.4 billion Stokab had invested by 2012. The sum adds a few quantified effects: higher property values and rents for the municipal housing companies, about SEK 2 billion in ICT savings for the city and county in 1996–2012, supplier-industry activity and an econometric estimate of jobs. Against Copenhagen, where the incumbent controls most of the infrastructure, it put lower broadband costs for Stockholm firms at about SEK 75 million a year. In its review of 2025 (March 2026), the city's audit office judged that Stokab had run its business purposefully and on a financially satisfactory basis, while noting that the company's goal reporting did not fully allow overall goal attainment to be judged.

🎓 Lesson

A city doesn't have to become an internet service provider to fix a broadband market — Stokab shows municipal ownership can instead mean building the shared physical layer once and leasing it to a competitive market of operators on equal terms.

📡 Data & IoTConnectivity & 5G

Sources

↗ Stokab – Stokab in briefOwnership by the City of Stockholm, the 1994 start and the company's goal of a competition-neutral network, more than 100 active operators, and 2024 figures (SEK 844m net sales, SEK 246m profit before tax).
↗ Stokab – official homepage network statistics2.03 million km of fibre, 24,011 access points, 1,821 new connections delivered in 2024; the network reaches more than 90% of households and 99% of commercial properties in greater Stockholm; mission to lease dark fibre on equal terms to companies in all industries.
↗ Stokab – business model (dark fibre leasing)The passive-only leasing model: Stokab leases dark fibre on equal terms and does not compete with its customers; around 100 operators and service providers and around 900 corporate customers use the network.
↗ Forzati & Mattsson, "Stokab: A Socio-Economic Analysis", Acreo Swedish ICTPublished 2013English translation of Acreo report acr055698: estimates Stokab's socio-economic return at over SEK 16 billion against about SEK 5.4 billion invested by 2012, from a limited set of quantified effects, and compares Stockholm with Copenhagen.
↗ Acreo Swedish ICT – Stokab, a socio-economic analysis: summary (English)Published 30 May 2013Acreo's summary of its study, published on Stokab's site: return of over SEK 16 billion, nearly three times the SEK 5.4 billion invested up to 2012; the total sums increased property value and rents for municipal housing companies, about SEK 2 billion of ICT savings for the city and county (1996–2012), Stokab's own return, supplier-industry activity and a modelled job value of about SEK 7.7 billion; broadband for companies about SEK 75 million a year cheaper than in Copenhagen.
Show 1 more sourcesShow fewer
↗ Stadsrevisionen, Stockholms stad – Årsrapport 2025 AB StokabPublished 2 March 2026The city audit office's annual report on Stokab for 2025: the company is judged to have run its business purposefully and on a financially satisfactory basis and to have largely met the council's goals; the audit adds that the company's goal reporting does not in every respect allow overall goal attainment to be assessed. 2,033 new fibre connections in 2025; revenue SEK 854m, result before appropriations and tax SEK 230m; investments 18% below budget because of fewer IoT and 5G orders.

📅 How old is the evidence?

Two clocks, kept apart: when this entry’s sources were published, and what has happened to its record in the atlas. Documented span: since 1994. 3 of 6 sources carry a publication date, from 2013 to 2 March 2026.

When the sources were published

  1. DiVA (Digitala Vetenskapliga Arkivet) · researchForzati & Mattsson, "Stokab: A Socio-Economic Analysis", Acreo Swedish ICT
  2. Stokab · operatorAcreo Swedish ICT – Stokab, a socio-economic analysis: summary (English)
  3. Stadsrevisionen, Stockholms stad · oversight bodyStadsrevisionen, Stockholms stad – Årsrapport 2025 AB Stokab

Every source, with links ↑

What happened to this record

  1. Entered the record
  2. Sources last read

Every revision, permanent →

Show your work What this page rests on and what it can’t tell you · all 16 claims with their sources · the forensic record

Evidence file · public beta 16 addressable claims, 6 source dossiers, one permanent baseline. The file is unreviewed — an AI-assisted structural migration, not a human or expert endorsement. Every revision keeps a permanent copy under revision history.

Inspect the claims, one by one — verbatim text, sources and caveats for all 16

The text below is copied verbatim from the published record. Each claim names the source dossiers that carry it; caveats stay attached to the claim they qualify.

Claim 1 clm-cf532a82409a9bc7 descriptive
Stokab, wholly owned by the City of Stockholm
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
Stokab's own profile says the company is owned by the City of Stockholm.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Stokab – Stokab in brief
Claim 2 clm-6e0349c390dbdc69 quantitative
has leased dark (unlit) fibre on equal, non-discriminatory terms to any operator, business or institution since 1994
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The profile dates the start to 1994 and names a competition-neutral network as the goal; the homepage states the owner's mission to build and lease dark fibre on equal terms to companies in all industries.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Stokab – Stokab in brief
  2. Stokab – official homepage network statistics
Claim 3 clm-abc7d51435e72bc5 descriptive
it never sells retail internet itself
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The business-model page says Stokab leases only dark fibre and so does not compete with its customers, who build the active services.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Stokab – business model (dark fibre leasing)
Claim 4 clm-f94f8d0e531a6501 quantitative
Its network now reaches over 90% of regional households and 99% of commercial buildings
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The homepage states the network reaches more than 90 percent of households and 99 percent of commercial properties within the greater Stockholm area.
Caveat
The page carries no date; the figures are the operator's own.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Stokab – official homepage network statistics
Claim 5 clm-2883726ba2c1f95f quantitative
with 100+ operators leasing capacity on it
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The profile says customers can buy capacity from any of the more than 100 active operators already in the network.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Stokab – Stokab in brief
Claim 6 clm-86d95d48d4521619 quantitative
A 2013 study by the research institute Acreo Swedish ICT, published by Stokab
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
Acreo's summary, dated 30 May 2013 and hosted on Stokab's own reports page, says Acreo Swedish ICT carried out the study; the full report is Acreo report acr055698.
Caveat
Stokab publishes the study itself; it is not an outside audit.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Acreo Swedish ICT – Stokab, a socio-economic analysis: summary (English)
  2. Forzati & Mattsson, "Stokab: A Socio-Economic Analysis", Acreo Swedish ICT
Claim 7 clm-98cf8d1f4a77e992 quantitative
estimated the network's socio-economic return at more than SEK 16 billion
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The summary puts the socio-economic return on Stokab's fibre investment at over SEK 16 billion and says it rests on a few quantifiable effects only.
Caveat
An estimate summing modelled and accounting effects, not a measured net benefit.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Acreo Swedish ICT – Stokab, a socio-economic analysis: summary (English)
  2. Forzati & Mattsson, "Stokab: A Socio-Economic Analysis", Acreo Swedish ICT
Claim 8 clm-2e6ce60c76fe1ea3 quantitative
nearly three times the SEK 5.4 billion Stokab had invested by 2012
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The summary gives SEK 5.4 billion invested up to 2012 and says the benefits sum to nearly three times the investment.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Acreo Swedish ICT – Stokab, a socio-economic analysis: summary (English)
Claim 9 clm-e75280a12178a517 descriptive
higher property values and rents for the municipal housing companies
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
One component of the total: a higher property value and over SEK 30 million a year in added rental revenue for the municipal housing companies.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Acreo Swedish ICT – Stokab, a socio-economic analysis: summary (English)
Claim 10 clm-fd2e146cce6e34f4 quantitative
about SEK 2 billion in ICT savings for the city and county in 1996–2012
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The summary says buying data and telecom services on an open market saved the municipality and the county about SEK 2 billion in 1996–2012.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Acreo Swedish ICT – Stokab, a socio-economic analysis: summary (English)
Claim 11 clm-cffd0bed5eb8a752 descriptive
supplier-industry activity and an econometric estimate of jobs
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The summary counts economic activity in the supplier industry (over SEK 5 billion) and a 'job value' of about SEK 7.7 billion from Acreo's econometric model.
Caveat
Supplier spending is gross activity, not a return, and the job value is modelled.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Acreo Swedish ICT – Stokab, a socio-economic analysis: summary (English)
Claim 12 clm-a5d4cfe49dca69ed quantitative
Against Copenhagen, where the incumbent controls most of the infrastructure, it put lower broadband costs for Stockholm firms at about SEK 75 million a year
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The summary compares Stockholm with Copenhagen, where the incumbent TDC owns and controls most of the ICT infrastructure, and estimates companies' savings from lower broadband costs at about SEK 75 million a year.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Acreo Swedish ICT – Stokab, a socio-economic analysis: summary (English)
Claim 13 clm-9ce10e4e38664754 quantitative
In its review of 2025 (March 2026), the city's audit office judged that Stokab had run its business purposefully and on a financially satisfactory basis
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The city audit office's annual report for 2025, dated 2 March 2026, judges that Stokab ran its business purposefully and in an economically satisfactory way and largely met the council's goals.
Caveat
A governance audit of one year, not an evaluation of the fibre model's effects.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Stadsrevisionen, Stockholms stad – Årsrapport 2025 AB Stokab
Claim 14 clm-309604b8191fb326 descriptive
while noting that the company's goal reporting did not fully allow overall goal attainment to be judged
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The same report says the company's combined reporting on council goals, owner directives and indicators does not in every respect give a sufficient basis to assess overall goal attainment.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Stadsrevisionen, Stockholms stad – Årsrapport 2025 AB Stokab
Claim 15 clm-85713c6af1ad3a1c descriptive
A city doesn't have to become an internet service provider to fix a broadband market
Published field
lesson · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
Stokab leases only passive fibre and leaves services to the market; the Acreo summary reports fierce competition and lower broadband prices in Stockholm than in Copenhagen.
Caveat
The price comparison comes from a study the operator publishes.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Stokab – business model (dark fibre leasing)
  2. Acreo Swedish ICT – Stokab, a socio-economic analysis: summary (English)
Claim 16 clm-ffe7858856d9c2c2 descriptive
Stokab shows municipal ownership can instead mean building the shared physical layer once and leasing it to a competitive market of operators on equal terms
Published field
lesson · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The business-model page describes the fibre as shared infrastructure like roads: Stokab digs once and leases on equal terms, so operators need not dig their own cable and can focus on the active level.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Stokab – business model (dark fibre leasing)
Forensic record — source dossiers, gaps, hashes and the exact revision this page renders

This layer records what is known about each source, what is still missing, and the exact snapshot this page is rendering. A missing date, archive or hash stays visible as missing.

unreviewed Revision 2026-10-14-baseline effective 2026-10-14 · created 2026-10-14

Awaiting operator and domain-expert review; publication of this revision implies neither.

sha256:35ea5fe42037fa9c0670d556e19f0a97d8deed851f066fec3e8debf136102655
Revision history → Permanent version link → Machine-readable record → Evidence Constitution →
16
of 16 claims mapped
6
source dossiers
2
publication dates recorded
0
archives linked
0
exact locators
0
content captures hashed

Governance facts carried by the record

Operator
Stokab (owned by City of Stockholm)
Actor types
city-government
Funding model
utility
Funding description
Municipal utility company, 100% owned by the City of Stockholm; self-financing through fibre-lease fees (SEK 854m revenue, SEK 230m result before tax in 2025, per the city audit office), not a subsidized service
Cost
Not recorded
Ownership
Not recorded
Decision rights
Not recorded
Exit conditions
Not recorded

6 source dossiers

Stokab – Stokab in brief stokab.se · 3 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-45af6be2cd030e6b
Publisher
Name not classified · stokab.se
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
Not recorded
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-10-14
Dossier created
2026-10-14
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Ownership by the City of Stockholm, the 1994 start and the company's goal of a competition-neutral network, more than 100 active operators, and 2024 figures (SEK 844m net sales, SEK 246m profit before tax).

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Stokab – official homepage network statistics stokab.se · 2 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-33c6f54abe4ea528
Publisher
Name not classified · stokab.se
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
Not recorded
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-10-14
Dossier created
2026-10-14
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

2.03 million km of fibre, 24,011 access points, 1,821 new connections delivered in 2024; the network reaches more than 90% of households and 99% of commercial properties in greater Stockholm; mission to lease dark fibre on equal terms to companies in all industries.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Stokab – business model (dark fibre leasing) stokab.se · 3 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-52a674e0523ffaf8
Publisher
Name not classified · stokab.se
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
Not recorded
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-10-14
Dossier created
2026-10-14
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

The passive-only leasing model: Stokab leases dark fibre on equal terms and does not compete with its customers; around 100 operators and service providers and around 900 corporate customers use the network.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Forzati & Mattsson, "Stokab: A Socio-Economic Analysis", Acreo Swedish ICT diva-portal.org · 2 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-9554e718554b5879
Publisher
Name not classified · diva-portal.org
Type / language
pdf · language not classified
Published
Not recorded
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-10-14
Dossier created
2026-10-14
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

English translation of Acreo report acr055698: estimates Stokab's socio-economic return at over SEK 16 billion against about SEK 5.4 billion invested by 2012, from a limited set of quantified effects, and compares Stockholm with Copenhagen.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Acreo Swedish ICT – Stokab, a socio-economic analysis: summary (English) stokab.se · 8 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-cbf60da99b690ebd
Publisher
Name not classified · stokab.se
Type / language
pdf · language not classified
Published
2013-05-30
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-10-14
Dossier created
2026-10-14
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Acreo's summary of its study, published on Stokab's site: return of over SEK 16 billion, nearly three times the SEK 5.4 billion invested up to 2012; the total sums increased property value and rents for municipal housing companies, about SEK 2 billion of ICT savings for the city and county (1996–2012), Stokab's own return, supplier-industry activity and a modelled job value of about SEK 7.7 billion; broadband for companies about SEK 75 million a year cheaper than in Copenhagen.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Stadsrevisionen, Stockholms stad – Årsrapport 2025 AB Stokab start.stockholm · 2 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-893837c555b625cb
Publisher
Name not classified · start.stockholm
Type / language
pdf · language not classified
Published
2026-03-02
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-10-14
Dossier created
2026-10-14
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

The city audit office's annual report on Stokab for 2025: the company is judged to have run its business purposefully and on a financially satisfactory basis and to have largely met the council's goals; the audit adds that the company's goal reporting does not in every respect allow overall goal attainment to be assessed. 2,033 new fibre connections in 2025; revenue SEK 854m, result before appropriations and tax SEK 230m; investments 18% below budget because of fewer IoT and 5G orders.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Known limits of this file
  • Publisher names and source languages have not yet been classified; domains are recorded without guessing.
  • Existing source notes are descriptive locators, not page- or paragraph-exact citations.
  • A missing archive, publication date or content hash is shown as null rather than inferred.
  • The project-level evidence grade ranks the strongest source in the entry; it is not a truth score for every claim.

Continue exploring

Compare this project

🇺🇸 EPB Gig City — Fiber-Optic Smart Grid & Community Broadband · Chattanooga Two city-owned fibre models: Stokab has leased passive dark fibre to any operator since 1994; EPB built its own retail gigabit ISP. 🇸🇪 Stockholm Open Data Portal · Stockholm Two Stockholm open-access layers: Stokab leases physical fibre on equal terms since 1994; the open-data portal shares information. 🇨🇳 Citywide Standalone (SA) 5G Network Coverage · Shenzhen Two city-backed connectivity layers: Stockholm built its own passive fibre network; Shenzhen coordinated carriers onto citywide 5G.

Who owns the fibre?

Four cities that decided broadband was infrastructure rather than a service someone else provides — and took four different positions on how far a municipality should go.

ProjectSinceStatusOutcomeEvidenceRun byCostHow far the city went
Stokab: Stockholm's Municipal Open-Access Dark Fibre NetworkStockholm, 🇸🇪 1994 Live Ongoing Official City government not public The city owns dark fibre and leases it to anyone on equal terms, and has never sold internet itself — the shared physical layer, built once.
EPB Gig City — Fiber-Optic Smart Grid & Community BroadbandChattanooga, 🇺🇸 2008 Live Succeeded Independent Utility or public operator not public The municipal utility built the fibre for its own grid automation and became the retail internet provider on top of it.
Medellín Digital: Free Public WiFi & Digital InclusionMedellín, 🇨🇴 2007 Live Ongoing Official City government not public No fibre of its own: the city buys access, running free public wifi points and telecentres across every comuna.
Smart DocklandsDublin, 🇮🇪 2018 Live Ongoing Official City government, Research institution not public Neither owner nor provider — the city brokered a neutral-host testbed so operators could share one set of masts.

Explore the wider context

🏙️ Urban digital twins compared📖 LoRaWAN📖 Port community system📖 Terminal operating system (TOS)
📎 Cite this project

1001 Smart Cities (2026). “Stokab: Stockholm's Municipal Open-Access Dark Fibre Network” — Stockholm, Sweden. The Smart City Atlas. https://1001smartcities.org/projects/stockholm-stokab-fiber/ (last verified 2026-10-14). Data: CC BY 4.0.

The underlying data is free to reuse with attribution — see the open data page.

🚩 Report an error · 🔔 Follow changes to this entry (RSS)

✉️ One source-checked project a week. No pitches, no vendors.

Inside: the Landmark of the Week, one Insight, the newly documented cities. One-click unsubscribe. About the newsletter · RSS