Satellite communications were established in 1979, but deprecated when a fiber optic cable between Svalbard and the mainland was finished in 2004.

Arktikugol took initiative to better the navigational aids in Isfjorden, including a better location for a coast radio station.

Planning was carried out between the Lighthouse and Buoy Authority, the Telegraphy Administration, the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Norwegian Polar Institute, resulting in Kapp Linné being proposed as a suitable location for a radio station.

[1] The Polar Institute was responsible for planning the building and appointed Anders Kristian Orvin to be in charge.

Construction was carried out by twelve men, working eleven-hour shifts, allowing completion on 13 September.

The work included a radio transmitter, three buildings, a boathouse, a forge, a slipway and three lighthouses—at Kapp Linné, Festningen and Vestpynten.

[4] A fatal accident occurred on 10 October 1939, when Ole Sivertsen was hit in the head by a crank which had loosened from a crane.

[5] Ingøy Radio was bombed by the German Luftwaffe on 6 June 1940 during World War II.

[8] Twenty-seven men worked on the construction, of which nineteen lived in a barracks and the rest in tents.

[11] Following two ships running aground at the mouth of Isfjorden in 1949, demands were raised for Isfjord Radio to be equipped with radar.

Trans-polar flights between Europe and North America started in 1955 and needed to use Isfjord Radio as a navigational aid.

The technical part of the main building was completed in the fall of 1956, allowing the station's staff to increase to five.

[17] The success resulted in demands from the local population that the service become permanent and connected to the telephone system in Longyearbyen.

[18] Additional tests were necessary an experimental receiver, used to measure reception from several satellites, was installed at Isfjord Radio in 1976.

Norway Telecom signed an agreement with Nera in May 1978 to build a permanent earth station at Isfjord Radio.

[25] In 2023 220 kW solar panels were installed, providing 130 MWh during the Arctic summer when 24-hour sunlight is present.