The history of broadband is the history of the Internet, which went from an experiment to a trillion-dollar, worldwide industry in 30 years. The Internet preceded broadband by a few years, starting in the 1950s as a US Defence Department project to enable university computer systems to communicate with one another for national security purposes. As human nature would have it, the university computer people began using the project to communicate with other people.

By 1983, the Internet was being accessed by dial-up modems over ordinary telephone lines. Mushrooming expansion of Internet users worldwide led Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to develop faster rates of data transmission, and broadband was introduced in 2000. It soon led ISPs to compete for customers, bringing the price of broadband service down and making it the most popular form of Internet access.

Broadband is 10 times faster than dial-up, making more applications available, such as downloading movies and music, digital photo processing, interactive games, and of course, numerous business opportunities. A glimpse at some Internet milestones shows the progress broadband has brought: 1979, first e-mail service (text and numbers, no graphics); 1981, text-only bulletin boards; 1985, America Online launched; 1990, DSL (digital subscriber line) prototype invented, video transmission envisioned; 1992, computer bulletin boards; 1993, commercial Internet begins, first ISPs introduced, Berniers-Lee invents World Wide Web; 2001, cable companies have two-thirds of all broadband subscribers in U.S.; 2003, 18 million U.S. households have broadband; 2006, Facebook and YouTube introduced; 2007, millions of UK households have broadband.




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