Editing Public data network (section)

{{Short description|Data services for the public}}
A '''public data network''' ('''PDN''') is a [[telecommunications network|network]] established and operated by a [[telecommunications]] administration, or a recognized private operating agency, for the specific purpose of providing [[data transmission]] services for the public.

The first public packet switching networks were [[Iberpac|RETD]] in Spain (1972), the experimental [[Packet switching#RCP|RCP]] network in France (1972) and [[Telenet]] in the United States (1975). "Public data network" was the common name given to the collection of [[X.25]] providers, the first of which were Telenet in the U.S. and [[DATAPAC]] in Canada (both in 1976), and [[Transpac (network)|Transpac]] in France (in 1978). The [[International Packet Switched Service]] (IPSS) was the first commercial and international packet-switched network (1978). The networks were interconnected with [[Gateway (telecommunications)|gateways]] using [[X.75]]. These combined networks had large global coverage during the 1980s and into the 1990s. The networks later provided the infrastructure for the early [[Internet]].