Editing Packet switching (section)

==Packet-switched networks==
{{Further|History of the Internet}}
Donald Davies' work in the late 1960s on data communications and computer network design became well known in the United States, Europe and Japan and was the "cornerstone" that inspired numerous packet switching networks in the decade following.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Yates |first=David M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ToMfAQAAIAAJ&q=%22led+to+the+Internet%22 |title=Turing's Legacy: A History of Computing at the National Physical Laboratory 1945-1995 |date=1997 |publisher=National Museum of Science and Industry |isbn=978-0-901805-94-2 |pages=132–34 |language=en |quote=Davies's invention of packet switching and design of computer communication networks ... were a cornerstone of the development which led to the Internet}}</ref><ref name=":110">{{Cite news |last=Feder |first=Barnaby J. |date=2000-06-04 |title=Donald W. Davies, 75, Dies; Helped Refine Data Networks |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/06/04/business/donald-w-davies-75-dies-helped-refine-data-networks.html |access-date=2020-01-10 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |quote=Donald W. Davies, who proposed a method for transmitting data that made the Internet possible}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Berners-Lee |first=Tim |title=Weaving the Web: The Past, Present and Future of the World Wide Web by its Inventor |page=[https://archive.org/details/weavingweb00timb/page/7 7] |year=1999 |url=https://archive.org/details/weavingweb00timb/page/7 |place=London |publisher=Orion |isbn=0-75282-090-7 |author-link=Tim Berners-Lee}} "The advances by Donald Davies, by Paul Baran, and by Vint Cerf, Bob Khan and colleagues had already happened in the 1970s but were only just becoming pervasive."</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Harris |first=Trevor, University of Wales |date=2009 |editor-last=Pasadeos |editor-first=Yorgo |title=Who is the Father of the Internet? The Case for Donald Davies |url=https://www.academia.edu/378261 |url-status=dead |journal=Variety in Mass Communication Research |language=en |publisher=ATINER |pages=123–134 |isbn=978-960-6672-46-0 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220502025941/https://www.academia.edu/378261/Who_is_the_Father_of_the_Internet_The_Case_for_Donald_Davies |archive-date=May 2, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Archives |first=L. A. Times |date=2000-06-03 |title=Donald W. Davies; Work Led to the Internet |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-jun-03-me-36923-story.html |access-date=2024-01-21 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2013-07-25 |title=Treorchy internet pioneer Donald Davies honoured |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-23446159 |access-date=2024-07-01 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB |quote=[Davies] is widely known in America which continued his computer work}}</ref><ref name=":24" /><ref name="frs" /> 

The history of packet-switched networks can be divided into three overlapping eras: early networks before the introduction of X.25; the X.25 era when many [[postal, telegraph and telephone service|postal, telephone, and telegraph]] (PTT) companies provided [[public data network]]s with X.25 interfaces; and the [[Internet]] era which initially [[Protocol Wars|competed with]] the [[OSI model]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Moore|first1=Roger D.|title=This is a temporary index for a collection of papers about packet-switching in the 1970s|url=http://rogerdmoore.ca/PS/|access-date=5 September 2017|date=August 2006|archive-date=24 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170724223235/http://rogerdmoore.ca/PS/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Kirstein|first1=Peter T.|title=A SURVEY OF PRESENT AMD PLANNED GENERAL PURPOSE EUROPEAN DATA AND COMPUTER NETWORKS|url=http://rogerdmoore.ca/PS/Kirs1973/Ki.html|access-date=5 September 2017|date=1973|archive-date=2 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170302092943/http://rogerdmoore.ca/PS/Kirs1973/Ki.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=National Research Council (U.S.). National Research Network Review Committee, Leonard Kleinrock|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gGYrAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA40|title=Toward a National Research Network|date=1988|publisher=National Academies|page=40|isbn = 9780309581257|display-authors=etal}}</ref>

===Early networks===
Research into packet switching at the [[National Physical Laboratory (United Kingdom)|National Physical Laboratory]] (NPL) began with a proposal for a wide-area network in 1965,<ref name="Roberts1978">{{cite web |last1=Roberts |first1=Dr. Lawrence G. |date=November 1978 |title=The Evolution of Packet Switching |url=http://www.packet.cc/files/ev-packet-sw.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160324033133/http://www.packet.cc/files/ev-packet-sw.html |archive-date=24 March 2016 |access-date=5 September 2017}}</ref> and a local-area network in 1966.<ref>{{cite web|title=A SURVEY OF THE CAPABILITIES OF 8 PACKET SWITCHING NETWORKS|url=http://rogerdmoore.ca/PS/Wood.html|date=1975|access-date=5 September 2017|quote=Research in packet switching networks at the British National Physical Laboratory (NPL) predates ARPANET, having commenced in 1966.|archive-date=26 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170426104253/http://rogerdmoore.ca/PS/Wood.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> ARPANET funding was secured in 1966 by [[Robert Taylor (computer scientist)|Bob Taylor]], and planning began in 1967 when he hired [[Lawrence Roberts (scientist)|Larry Roberts]]. The NPL network followed by the ARPANET became operational in 1969, the first two networks to use packet switching.<ref name=":22"/><ref name="Haughney Dare-Bryan">{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.inc.com/computerfreaks |title=Computer Freaks |date=June 22, 2023 |last=Haughney Dare-Bryan |first=Christine |type=Podcast |publisher=Inc. Magazine |series=Chapter Two: In the Air |minutes=35:55 |quote=Leonard Kleinrock: Donald Davies ... did make a single node packet switch before ARPA did}}</ref> Larry Roberts said many of the packet switching networks built in the 1970s were similar "in nearly all respects" to Donald Davies' original 1965 design.<ref name=":24">{{cite journal |last1=Roberts |first1=Lawrence G. |date=November 1978 |title=The Evolution of Packet Switching |url=http://www.ismlab.usf.edu/dcom/Ch10_Roberts_EvolutionPacketSwitching_IEEE_1978.pdf |url-status=dead |journal=IEEE Invited Paper |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181231092936/http://www.ismlab.usf.edu/dcom/Ch10_Roberts_EvolutionPacketSwitching_IEEE_1978.pdf |archive-date=31 December 2018 |access-date=September 10, 2017 |quote=In nearly all respects, Davies' original proposal, developed in late 1965, was similar to the actual networks being built today.}}</ref>  The ARPANET and Louis Pouzin's CYCLADES were the primary precursor networks of the modern [[Internet]].<ref name="Bennett20092" /> CYCLADES, unlike ARPANET, was explicitly designed to research internetworking.<ref name=":28" />

Before the introduction of X.25 in 1976,<ref>{{cite web
|url= http://www.networkworld.com/newsletters/frame/2008/0128wan1.html
|title= Vint Cerf on why TCP/IP was so long in coming
|first= Steve
|last= Taylor
|author2= Jim Metzler
|year= 2008
|access-date= 2013-08-30
|archive-date= 2013-06-21
|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130621100237/http://www.networkworld.com/newsletters/frame/2008/0128wan1.html
|url-status= dead
}}</ref> about twenty different network technologies had been developed. Two fundamental differences involved the division of functions and tasks between the hosts at the edge of the network and the network core. In the datagram system, operating according to the end-to-end principle, the hosts have the responsibility to ensure orderly delivery of packets. In the [[virtual call capability|virtual call]] system, the network guarantees sequenced delivery of data to the host. This results in a simpler host interface but complicates the network. The X.25 protocol suite uses this network type.

===={{anchor|Appletalk}}AppleTalk====
[[AppleTalk]] is a proprietary suite of networking protocols developed by [[Apple Inc.|Apple]] in 1985 for [[Apple Macintosh]] computers. It was the primary protocol used by Apple devices through the 1980s and 1990s. AppleTalk included features that allowed [[local area network]]s to be established ''ad hoc'' without the requirement for a centralized router or server. The AppleTalk system automatically assigned addresses, updated the distributed namespace, and configured any required [[Internetworking|inter-network routing]]. It was a [[plug-n-play]] system.<ref name=Oppenheimer>{{cite web|url=http://www.opendoor.com/nethistory/MacWorld2004/index.html|title=A History of Macintosh Networking|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061016132614/http://www.opendoor.com/nethistory/MacWorld2004/index.html|archive-date=2006-10-16|first=Alan|last=Oppenheimer|website=MacWorld Expo|date=January 2004}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Inside AppleTalk|edition=2|first1=Gursharan|last1=Sidhu|first2=Richard|last2=Andrews|first3=Alan|last3=Oppenheiner|publisher=Addison-Wesley|year=1989|isbn=0-201-55021-0}}</ref>

AppleTalk implementations were also released for the [[IBM PC]] and compatibles, and the [[Apple IIGS]]. AppleTalk support was available in most networked printers, especially [[laser printer]]s, some [[file server]]s and [[router (computing)|router]]s.

The protocol was designed to be simple, autoconfiguring, and not require servers or other specialized services to work. These benefits also created drawbacks, as Appletalk tended not to use bandwidth efficiently. AppleTalk support was terminated in 2009.<ref name="Oppenheimer" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Titus |first=Tim |title=42 Dead Networking Technologies and What Killed Them |url=https://www.pathsolutions.com/blog/42-dead-networking-technologies |access-date=2023-09-23 |website=www.pathsolutions.com |language=en}}</ref>

====ARPANET====
The [[ARPANET]] was a progenitor network of the Internet and one of the first networks, along with ARPA's [[SATNET]], to run the [[TCP/IP]] suite using packet switching technologies.

====BNRNET====
BNRNET was a network which [[Bell-Northern Research]] developed for internal use. It initially had only one host but was designed to support many hosts. BNR later made major contributions to the CCITT X.25 project.<ref>{{cite conference
|first= C. C.
|last= Martel
|author2= J. M. Cunningham
|author3= M. S. Grushcow
|title= THE BNR NETWORK: A CANADIAN EXPERIENCE WITH PACKET SWITCHING TECHNOLOGY
|book-title= IFIP Congress 1974
|pages= 10–14
|url= http://rogerdmoore.ca/PS/BNR/BNRnet.html
|conference= 
|access-date= 2013-08-30
|archive-date= 2013-10-20
|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131020142453/http://rogerdmoore.ca/PS/BNR/BNRnet.html
|url-status= dead
}}</ref>

====Cambridge Ring====

The [[Cambridge Ring (computer network)|Cambridge Ring]] was an experimental [[ring network]] developed at the [[Computer Laboratory, University of Cambridge]]. It operated from 1974 until the 1980s.

==== CompuServe ====
[[CompuServe]] developed its own packet switching network, implemented on DEC [[PDP-11]] minicomputers acting as network nodes that were installed throughout the US (and later, in other countries) and interconnected. Over time, the CompuServe network evolved into a complicated multi-tiered network incorporating ATM, Frame Relay, IP and X.25 technologies.

====CYCLADES====
The [[CYCLADES]] packet switching network was a French research network designed and directed by [[Louis Pouzin]]. First demonstrated in 1973, it was developed to explore alternatives to the early ARPANET design and to support network research generally. It was the first network to use the end-to-end principle and make the hosts responsible for reliable delivery of data, rather than the network itself. Concepts of this network influenced later ARPANET architecture.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/chris/think/Cyclades/index.shtml|title=A Technical History of CYCLADES|work=Technical Histories of the Internet & other Network Protocols|publisher=Computer Science Department, University of Texas Austin|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130901092641/http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/chris/think/Cyclades/index.shtml|archive-date=2013-09-01}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|first=Hubert|last=Zimmermann|title=The Cyclades Experience-Results and Impacts|journal=IFIP Congress 1977|pages=465–469|url=https://dblp.org/rec/conf/ifip/Zimmermann77|location=Toronto|date=August 1977}}</ref>

====DECnet====
[[DECnet]] is a suite of network protocols created by [[Digital Equipment Corporation]], originally released in 1975 in order to connect two [[PDP-11]] [[minicomputer]]s.<ref>{{citation |url=http://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/text/dec/dec.digital_1957_to_the_present_(1978).1957-1978.102630349.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170630025909/http://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/text/dec/dec.digital_1957_to_the_present_(1978).1957-1978.102630349.pdf |archive-date=2017-06-30 |title=Digital Equipment Corporation, Nineteen Fifty-Seven to the Present |publisher=Digital Equipment Corporation |date=1978 |page=53}}</ref> It evolved into one of the first [[peer-to-peer]] network architectures, thus transforming DEC into a networking powerhouse in the 1980s. Initially built with three [[Abstraction layer|layers]], it later (1982) evolved into a seven-layer [[Open Systems Interconnection|OSI]]-compliant networking protocol. The DECnet protocols were designed entirely by Digital Equipment Corporation. However, DECnet Phase II (and later) were [[open standard]]s with published specifications, and several implementations were developed outside DEC, including one for [[Linux]].

====DDX-1====
DDX-1 was an experimental network from Nippon PTT. It mixed circuit switching and packet switching. It was succeeded by DDX-2.<ref>{{cite conference
|first= David C.
|last= Wood
|title= A Survey of the Capabilities of 8 Packet Switching Networks
|book-title= Proceedings of Symposium on Computer Networks
|year= 1975
|url= http://rogerdmoore.ca/PS/Wood.html#DDX
|access-date= 2020-03-13
|conference= 
|archive-date= 2020-08-06
|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200806042839/http://rogerdmoore.ca/PS/Wood.html#DDX
|url-status= dead
}}</ref>

==== EIN {{Anchor|European Informatics Network}} ====
The European Informatics Network (EIN), originally called COST 11, was a project beginning in 1971 to link networks in Britain, France, Italy, Switzerland and [[Euratom]]. Six other European countries also participated in the research on network protocols. Derek Barber directed the project, and [[Roger Scantlebury]] led the UK technical contribution; both were from [[National Physical Laboratory (United Kingdom)|NPL]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Barber|first=D L.|date=1975|title=Cost project 11|journal=ACM SIGCOMM Computer Communication Review|language=EN|volume=5|issue=3|pages=12–15|doi=10.1145/1015667.1015669|s2cid=28994436|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Scantlebury|first=Roger|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3EaeBQAAQBAJ|title=Communications Standards: State of the Art Report|publisher=Pergamon|year=1986|isbn=978-1-4831-6093-1|editor-last=Stokes|editor-first=A. V.|pages=203–216|language=en|chapter=X.25 - past, present and future}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.computerhistory.org/revolution/networking/19/375/2062|title=EIN (European Informatics Network)|website=Computer History Museum|access-date=2020-02-05}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=European cooperation in the field of scientific and technical research (COST), 1971- |url=https://cordis.europa.eu/programme/id/IC-COST/fr}}</ref> The contract for its implementation was awarded to an Anglo French consortium led by the UK systems house [[Logica]] and Sesa and managed by [[Andrew Karney]]. Work began in 1973 and it became operational in 1976 including nodes linking the [[NPL network]] and [[CYCLADES]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Abbate|first=Janet|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E2BdY6WQo4AC&pg=PA125|title=Inventing the Internet|date=2000|publisher=MIT Press|isbn=978-0-262-51115-5|pages=125|language=en}}</ref> Barber proposed and implemented a mail protocol for EIN.<ref>Barber, D. L. A. and Laws, J.  (February 1979). “A basic mail scheme for EIN,” International Network Working Group (INWG), Note no. 192.</ref> The transport protocol of the EIN helped to launch the [[International Network Working Group|INWG]] and X.25 protocols.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Davies|first=Donald Watts|url=https://archive.org/details/computernetworks00davi|url-access=registration|title=Computer networks and their protocols|date=1979|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|pages=[https://archive.org/details/computernetworks00davi/page/464 464]|isbn=9780471997504}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Hardy|first1=Daniel|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dRhHPINWo2AC&pg=PT526|title=Networks: Internet, Telephony, Multimedia: Convergences and Complementarities|last2=Malleus|first2=Guy|date=2002|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-3-540-00559-9|pages=505|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Derek Barber |title=The Origins of Packet Switching |url=http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/CCS/res/res05.htm#f |access-date=2024-06-05 |website=Computer Resurrection Issue 5 |quote=I actually set up the first meeting between John Wedlake of the British Post Office and [Rémi Després] of the French PTT which led to X25. There was a problem about virtual calls in EIN, so I called this meeting and that actually did in the end lead to X25.}}</ref> EIN was replaced by [[#Euronet|Euronet]] in 1979.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Beauchamp|first=K. G.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XbyrCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA55|title=Interlinking of Computer Networks: Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute held at Bonas, France, August 28 – September 8, 1978|date=2012-12-06|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-94-009-9431-7|pages=55|language=en}}</ref>

====EPSS====
The Experimental Packet Switched Service (EPSS) was an experiment of the UK [[Post Office Telecommunications]]. It was the first [[public data network]] in the UK when it began operating in 1976.<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Davies|editor1-first=Howard|editor2-last=Bressan|editor2-first=Beatrice|title=A history of international research networking: the people who made it happen|date=2010|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-3527327102|page=2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DN-t8MpZ0-wC&pg=PA2}}</ref> [[Ferranti]] supplied the hardware and software. The handling of link control messages (acknowledgements and flow control) was different from that of most other networks.<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Smith|first1=Ed|last2=Miller|first2=Chris|last3=Norton|first3=Jim|title=Packet Switching: The first steps on the road to the information society|url=https://www.npl.co.uk/getattachment/about-us/History/Famous-faces/Donald-Davies/UK-role-in-Packet-Switching-(1).pdf.aspx|journal=}}</ref><ref>{{cite conference
|first= Roy D.
|last= Bright
|author2= Smith, Michael A.
|title= EXPERIMENTAL PACKET SWITCHING PROJECT OF THE UK POST OFFICE
|book-title= Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute on Computer Communication Networks
|publisher= Noordhoff International Publishing
|location= Sussex, United Kingdom
|year= 1973
|pages= 435–44
|url= http://rogerdmoore.ca/PS/EPSSB.html
|conference= 
|access-date= 2013-08-30
|archive-date= 2013-10-20
|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131020142503/http://rogerdmoore.ca/PS/EPSSB.html
|url-status= dead
}}</ref><ref>{{cite conference
|first= DJ
|last= Pearson
|author2= Wilkin, D
|title= Some Design Aspects of a public packet switching network
|book-title= Proceedings of the 2nd ICCC 74
|pages= 199–213
|year= 1974
|url= http://rogerdmoore.ca/PS/EPSSFer/EF.html
|conference= 
|access-date= 2013-08-30
|archive-date= 2013-10-20
|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131020142152/http://rogerdmoore.ca/PS/EPSSFer/EF.html
|url-status= dead
}}</ref>

====GEIS====
As General Electric Information Services (GEIS), [[General Electric]] was a major international provider of information services. The company originally designed a telephone network to serve as its internal (albeit continent-wide) voice telephone network.

In 1965, at the instigation of Warner Sinback, a data network based on this voice-phone network was designed to connect GE's four computer sales and service centers (Schenectady, New York, Chicago, and Phoenix) to facilitate a computer time-sharing service.

After going international some years later, GEIS created a network data center near [[Cleveland]], Ohio. Very little has been published about the internal details of their network. The design was hierarchical with redundant communication links.<ref>{{cite journal |last= Schwartz |first= Mischa |author2= Boorstyn, Rober R. |author3= Pickholtz, Raymond L. |title= Terminal-Oriented Computer-Communication Networks |journal= Proceedings of the IEEE |volume= 60 |issue= 11 |pages= 1408–23 |date= November 1972 |url= http://rogerdmoore.ca/PS/TONET/TON.html#GEISCO |doi= 10.1109/proc.1972.8912 |access-date= 2013-08-30 |archive-date= 2013-10-20 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131020092847/http://rogerdmoore.ca/PS/TONET/TON.html#GEISCO |url-status= dead |url-access= subscription }}</ref><ref>{{cite conference |first= Peter T. |last= Kirstein |title= A SURVEY OF PRESENT AND PLANNED GENERAL PURPOSE EUROPEAN DATA AND COMPUTER NETWORKS |book-title= Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute on Computer Communication Networks |publisher= Noordhoff International Publishing |location= Sussex, United Kingdom |year= 1973 |url= http://rogerdmoore.ca/PS/Kirs1973/Ki.html#GEISCO |conference=  |access-date= 2013-08-30 |archive-date= 2013-10-20 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131020092837/http://rogerdmoore.ca/PS/Kirs1973/Ki.html#GEISCO |url-status= dead }}</ref>

====IPSANET====
[[IPSANET]] was a semi-private network constructed by [[I. P. Sharp Associates]] to serve their time-sharing customers. It became operational in May 1976.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://rogerdmoore.ca/INF/ |title=IPSANET Documents |access-date=2020-10-22 |archive-date=2021-02-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225174511/http://www.rogerdmoore.ca/INF/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

====IPX/SPX====
The [[IPX/SPX|Internetwork Packet Exchange]] (IPX) and Sequenced Packet Exchange (SPX) are [[Novell]] networking protocols from the 1980s derived from Xerox Network Systems' IDP and SPP protocols, respectively which date back to the 1970s. IPX/SPX was used primarily on networks using the [[NetWare|Novell NetWare operating systems]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://support.novell.com/techcenter/articles/ana19980302.html|title=Maintaining IPX Compatibility During a Migration to TCP/IP on a NetWare Network|first=Rich|last=Lee|website=Novell|date=1 March 1998|access-date=3 September 2013}}</ref>

====Merit Network====
[[Merit Network]], an independent [[nonprofit organization]] governed by Michigan's public universities,<ref name="Merit">Merit receives administrative services under an agreement with the [[University of Michigan]].</ref> was formed in 1966 as the Michigan Educational Research Information Triad to explore computer networking between three of Michigan's public universities as a means to help the state's educational and economic development.<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.merit.edu/about/history/article.php |title=A Chronicle of Merit's Early History |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090207130720/http://merit.edu/about/history/article.php |archive-date=2009-02-07 |author=John Mulcahy |date=1989 |publisher=Merit Network |location=Ann Arbor, Michigan}}</ref> With initial support from the [[State of Michigan]] and the [[National Science Foundation]] (NSF), the packet-switched network was first demonstrated in December 1971 when an interactive host-to-host connection was made between the [[IBM mainframe]] systems at the [[University of Michigan]] in [[Ann Arbor]] and [[Wayne State University]] in [[Detroit]].<ref name="MeritTimeline1970-1979">{{citation |url=http://www.merit.edu/about/history/timeline_1970.php |title=Merit Network Timeline: 1970–1979 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101025735/http://www.merit.edu/about/history/timeline_1970.php |archive-date=2016-01-01 |publisher=Merit Network |location=Ann Arbor, Michigan}}</ref> In October 1972, connections to the [[Control Data Corporation|CDC]] mainframe at [[Michigan State University]] in [[East Lansing]] completed the triad. Over the next several years, in addition to host-to-host interactive connections, the network was enhanced to support terminal-to-host connections, host-to-host batch connections (remote job submission, remote printing, batch file transfer), interactive file transfer, gateways to the [[Tymnet]] and [[Telenet]] [[public data network]]s, X.25 host attachments, gateways to X.25 data networks, Ethernet attached hosts, and eventually [[TCP/IP]]; additionally, [[List of colleges and universities in Michigan#Public colleges and universities|public universities in Michigan]] joined the network.<ref name=MeritTimeline1970-1979/><ref name="MeritTimeline1980-1989">{{citation |url=http://www.merit.edu/about/history/timeline_1980.php |title=Merit Network Timeline: 1980–1989 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101025735/http://www.merit.edu/about/history/timeline_1980.php |archive-date=2016-01-01 |publisher=Merit Network |location=Ann Arbor, Michigan}}</ref> All of this set the stage for Merit's role in the [[NSFNET]] project starting in the mid-1980s.

====NPL====
[[Donald Davies]] of the [[National Physical Laboratory (United Kingdom)]] designed and proposed a national commercial data network based on packet switching in 1965.<ref>{{cite web |title=Donald Davies |url=http://www.thocp.net/biographies/davies_donald.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201105075754/http://www.thocp.net/biographies/davies_donald.htm |archive-date=2020-11-05 |access-date=2017-08-28 |work=thocp.net}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Donald Davies |url=http://www.internethalloffame.org/inductees/donald-davies |work=internethalloffame.org}}</ref> The proposal was not taken up nationally but the following year, he designed a [[local network]] using  "interface computers", today known as [[Router (computing)|routers]], to serve the needs of NPL and prove the feasibility of packet switching.<ref>{{citation|last1=Pelkey|first1=James|title=Entrepreneurial Capitalism and Innovation: A History of Computer Communications 1968-1988|date=2007|chapter=NPL Network and Donald Davies 1966 - 1971|chapter-url=http://www.historyofcomputercommunications.info/Book/4/4.11-NPLNetworkDonaldDavies66-71.html|access-date=13 April 2016|archive-date=29 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201129225124/http://www.historyofcomputercommunications.info/Book/4/4.11-NPLNetworkDonaldDavies66-71.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

By 1968 Davies had begun building the [[NPL network]] to meet the needs of the multidisciplinary laboratory and prove the technology under operational conditions.<ref>{{cite conference |first= R. A. |last= Scantlebury |author2= Wilkinson, P.T. |title= The National Physical Laboratory Data Communications Network |book-title= Proceedings of the 2nd ICCC 74 |pages= 223–228 |year= 1974 |url= http://www.rogerdmoore.ca/PS/NPLPh/NPL1974A.html |conference=  |access-date= 2013-08-30 |archive-date= 2013-10-20 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131020140205/http://rogerdmoore.ca/PS/NPLPh/NPL1974A.html |url-status= dead }}</ref><ref name=Hempstead2005/><ref name="BBC Technology">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8331253.stm|title=Celebrating 40 years of the net|first=Mark|last=Ward|newspaper=BBC News|date=October 29, 2009}}</ref> In 1969, the NPL, followed by the ARPANET, were the first two networks to use packet switching.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=John S |first1=Quarterman |last2=Josiah C |first2=Hoskins |date=1986 |title=Notable computer networks |journal=Communications of the ACM |language=EN |volume=29 |issue=10 |pages=932–971 |doi=10.1145/6617.6618 |s2cid=25341056 |quote=The first packet-switching network was implemented at the National Physical Laboratories in the United Kingdom. It was quickly followed by the ARPANET in 1969.|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Haughney Dare-Bryan"/> By 1976, 12 computers and 75 terminal devices were attached,<ref>{{cite web|title=The National Physical Laboratory Data Communications Netowrk|url=http://rogerdmoore.ca/PS/NPLPh/NPL1974A.html|access-date=5 September 2017|date=1974|archive-date=1 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801152456/http://www.rogerdmoore.ca/PS/NPLPh/NPL1974A.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> and more were added until the network was replaced in 1986. NPL was the first to use high-speed links.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Cambell-Kelly |first=Martin |date=1987 |title=Data Communications at the National Physical Laboratory (1965-1975) |url=https://archive.org/details/DataCommunicationsAtTheNationalPhysicalLaboratory |journal=Annals of the History of Computing |language=en |volume=9 |issue=3/4 |pages=221–247 |doi=10.1109/MAHC.1987.10023 |s2cid=8172150 |quote=Transmission of packets of data over the high-speed lines}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |author=Guardian Staff |date=2013-06-25 |title=Internet pioneers airbrushed from history |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/jun/25/internet-pioneers-airbrushed-from-history |access-date=2020-07-31 |issn=0261-3077 |quote=This was the first digital local network in the world to use packet switching and high-speed links.}}</ref><ref name=":23">{{cite journal |last=Roberts |first=Lawrence G. |date=November 1978 |title=The evolution of packet switching |url=http://www.ece.ucf.edu/~yuksem/teaching/nae/reading/1978-roberts.pdf |journal=Proceedings of the IEEE |volume=66 |issue=11 |pages=1307–13 |doi=10.1109/PROC.1978.11141 |s2cid=26876676 |quote=Both Paul Baran and Donald Davies in their original papers anticipated the use of T1 trunks}}</ref>

====Octopus====<!-- [[Octopus network]] and similar redirect here -->
Octopus was a local network at [[Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory]]. It connected sundry hosts at the lab to interactive terminals and various computer peripherals including a bulk storage system.<ref>{{cite journal |last= Mendicino |first= Samuel F. |title= 1970 OCTOPUS: THE LAWRENCE RADIATION LABORATORY NETWORK |journal= Computer Networks |pages= 95–100 |publisher= Prentice-Hall Inc. |location= Englewood Cliffs, N.J. |year= 1972 |url= http://rogerdmoore.ca/PS/OCTOA/OCTO.html |access-date= 2013-08-30 |archive-date= 2013-10-20 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131020142202/http://rogerdmoore.ca/PS/OCTOA/OCTO.html |url-status= dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last= Pehrson |first= David L. |title= AN ENGINEERING VIEW OF THE LRL OCTOPUS COMPUTER NETWORK |year= 1970 |url= http://www.computer-history.info/Page4.dir/pages/Octopus.dir/index.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last= Fletcher |first= John G. |title= Principles of Design in the Octopus Computer network |year= 1975 |url= http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=810357}}</ref>

====Philips Research====
[[Philips]] Research Laboratories in [[Redhill, Surrey]] developed a packet switching network for internal use. It was a datagram network with a single switching node.<ref>{{cite journal |last= Burnett |first= D.J. |author2= Sethi, H.R. |title= Packet Switching at Philips Research Laboratories |journal= Computer Networks |volume= 1 |issue= 6 |pages= 341–348 |url= http://rogerdmoore.ca/PS/NPLPh/PhilipsA.html |doi= 10.1016/0376-5075(77)90010-1 |year= 1977 |access-date= 2013-08-30 |archive-date= 2013-10-20 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131020142510/http://rogerdmoore.ca/PS/NPLPh/PhilipsA.html |url-status= dead |url-access= subscription }}</ref>

====PUP====
[[PARC Universal Packet]] (PUP or Pup) was one of the two earliest [[internetworking]] [[protocol suite]]s; it was created by researchers at [[Xerox PARC]] in the mid-1970s. The entire suite provided [[routing]] and packet delivery, as well as higher level functions such as a [[reliable byte stream]], along with numerous applications. Further developments led to [[Xerox Network Systems]] (XNS).<ref>{{cite journal |author1= David R. Boggs |author2-link= John F. Shoch |author2= John F. Shoch |author3= Edward A. Taft |author4-link= Robert M. Metcalfe |author4= Robert M. Metcalfe |s2cid= 62684407 |title= Pup: An Internetwork Architecture |journal= IEEE Transactions on Communications |volume=28 |issue=4 |pages=612–624 |date= April 1980 |doi= 10.1109/TCOM.1980.1094684|author1-link= David R. Boggs }}</ref>

====RCP====
RCP was an experimental network created by the [[Postes, Télégraphes et Téléphones (France)|French PTT]]. It was used to gain experience with packet switching technology before the specification of the [[Transpac (data network)|TRANSPAC]] public network was frozen. RCP was a [[virtual circuit|virtual-circuit]] network in contrast to CYCLADES which was based on [[datagram]]s. RCP emphasised terminal-to-host and terminal-to-terminal connection; CYCLADES was concerned with host-to-host communication. RCP influenced the X.25 specification, which was deployed on TRANSPAC and other public data networks.<ref name="RCP">{{cite conference |first= R. |last= Després |author-link= Rémi Després |title= RCP, THE EXPERIMENTAL PACKET-SWITCHED DATA TRANSMISSION SERVICE OF THE FRENCH PTT |book-title= Proceedings of ICCC 74 |pages= 171–85 |year= 1974 |url= http://rogerdmoore.ca/PS/RCPDEP/RD.html |conference=  |access-date= 2013-08-30 |archive-date= 2013-10-20 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131020142207/http://rogerdmoore.ca/PS/RCPDEP/RD.html |url-status= dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite conference |first= A. |last= Bache |author2= Matras, Y. |title= Fundamental Choices in the Development of RCP, the Experimental Packet-Switching Data Transmission Service of the French PTT |book-title= Proceedings of ICCC 76 |pages= 311–16 |year= 1976 |url= http://rogerdmoore.ca/PS/RCPBAC/RB.html |conference=  |access-date= 2013-08-30 |archive-date= 2013-10-20 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131020142631/http://rogerdmoore.ca/PS/RCPBAC/RB.html |url-status= dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite conference |first= A. |last= Bache |author2= L. Guillou |author3= H. Layec |author4= B. Long |author5= Y. Matras |title= RCP, the Experimental Packet-Switched Data Transmission Service of the French PTT: History, Connections, Control |book-title= Proceedings of ICCC 76 |year= 1976 |url= http://rogerdmoore.ca/PS/RCPHCC/RH.html |conference=  |access-date= 2013-08-30 |archive-date= 2013-10-20 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131020142520/http://rogerdmoore.ca/PS/RCPHCC/RH.html |url-status= dead }}</ref>

====RETD====
Red Especial de Transmisión de Datos (RETD) was a network developed by [[Compañía Telefónica Nacional de España]]. It became operational in 1972 and thus was the first public network.<ref>{{cite conference |first= G. |last= Alarcia |author2= Herrera, S. |title= C.T.N.E.'s PACKET SWITCHING NETWORK. ITS APPLICATIONS |book-title= Proceedings of 2nd ICCC 74 |pages= 163–170 |year= 1974 |url= http://rogerdmoore.ca/PS/CTNEA/CTA.html |conference=  |access-date= 2013-08-30 |archive-date= 2013-10-20 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131020141839/http://rogerdmoore.ca/PS/CTNEA/CTA.html |url-status= dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite conference |first= L. |last= Cuenca |title= A Public Packet Switching Data Communications Network: Eight Years of Operating Experience |book-title= Conference Record of ICC 80 |pages= 39.3.1–39.3.5 |publisher= IEEE |year= 1980 |url= http://rogerdmoore.ca/PS/CTNEC1.html |conference=  |access-date= 2013-08-30 |archive-date= 2013-10-20 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131020140055/http://rogerdmoore.ca/PS/CTNEC1.html |url-status= dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite conference |first= Luis |last= Lavandera |title= Architecture, Protocols and Performance of RETD |book-title= Conference Record of ICC 80 |pages= 28.4.1–28.4.5 |publisher= IEEE |year= 1980 |url= http://rogerdmoore.ca/PS/RETDB.html |conference=  |access-date= 2013-08-30 |archive-date= 2013-10-20 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131020142212/http://rogerdmoore.ca/PS/RETDB.html |url-status= dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Derek Barber |title=The Origins of Packet Switching |url=http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/CCS/res/res05.htm#f |access-date=2024-06-05 |website=Computer Resurrection Issue 5 |quote=The Spanish, dark horses, were the first people to have a public network. They'd got a bank network which they craftily turned into a public network overnight, and beat everybody to the post.}}</ref>

====SCANNET====
"The experimental packet-switched Nordic telecommunication network SCANNET was implemented in Nordic technical libraries in the 1970s, and it included first Nordic electronic journal Extemplo. Libraries were also among first ones in universities to accommodate microcomputers for public use in the early 1980s."<ref>{{cite conference |title=The Role of Libraries in Information Management in Finnish University Setting |first=Arja-Riitta |last=Haarala |doi= 10.18452/1040 |year=2001 |book-title = Proceedings of the 7th International Conference of European University Information Systems}}</ref>

====SITA HLN====
[[SITA (IT company)|SITA]] is a consortium of airlines. Its High Level Network (HLN) became operational in 1969. Although organised to act like a packet-switching network,<ref name="Roberts1978" /> it still used [[message switching]].<ref>{{cite conference |last=Chretien |first=G.J. |author2=Konig, W.M. |author3=Rech, J.H. |date=1973 |title=The SITA Network |url=http://rogerdmoore.ca/PS/SITAB.html |location=Sussex, United Kingdom |publisher=Noordhoff International Publishing |pages=373–396 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131020140241/http://rogerdmoore.ca/PS/SITAB.html |archive-date=2013-10-20 |book-title=Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute on Computer Communication Networks |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Interview of Donald Davies |url=http://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2017/11/102738594-05-01-acc.pdf}}</ref> As with many non-academic networks, very little has been published about it.

====SRCnet/SERCnet====

A number of computer facilities serving the [[Science Research Council]] (SRC) community in the United Kingdom developed beginning in the early 1970s. Each had their own star network ([[University of London Computer Centre|ULCC London]], UMRCC Manchester, [[Rutherford Appleton Laboratory]]). There were also regional networks centred on Bristol (on which work was initiated in the late 1960s) followed in the mid-late 1970s by Edinburgh, the Midlands and Newcastle. These groups of institutions [[shared resource]]s to provide better computing facilities than could be afforded individually. The networks were each based on one manufacturer's standards and were mutually incompatible and overlapping.<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Rutter |first=Dorian |title=From Diversity to Convergence: British Computer Networks and the Internet, 1970-1995 |date=2005 |degree=Computer Science |publisher=The University of Warwick |url=http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/1197/1/WRAP_THESIS_Rutter_2005.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221010/http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/1197/1/WRAP_THESIS_Rutter_2005.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-10 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Powell |first=Kit |date=1980-07-01 |title=Evolution of networks using standard protocols |url=https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0140-3664%2880%2990069-9 |journal=Computer Communications |language=en |volume=3 |issue=3 |pages=117–122 |doi=10.1016/0140-3664(80)90069-9 |issn=0140-3664|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name="ieee-kirstein">{{cite journal |last=Kirstein |first=Peter T. |date=Jan–Mar 1999 |title=Early Experiences with the ARPANET and INTERNET in the UK |url=http://nrg.cs.ucl.ac.uk/mjh/kirstein-arpanet.pdf |journal=IEEE Annals of the History of Computing |volume=21 |issue=1 |doi=10.1109/85.759368 |access-date=18 May 2020 |archive-date=10 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170810133640/http://nrg.cs.ucl.ac.uk/mjh/kirstein-arpanet.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 1981, the SRC was renamed the [[Science and Engineering Research Council]] (SERC). In the early 1980s a standardisation and interconnection effort started, hosted on an expansion of the SERCnet research network and based on the [[Coloured Book protocols]], later evolving into [[JANET]].<ref name=":02">{{Cite journal |last=Wells |first=Mike |date=1988-11-01 |title=JANET-the United Kingdom Joint Academic Network |journal=Serials |language=en |volume=1 |issue=3 |pages=28–36 |doi=10.1629/010328 |issn=1475-3308 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite conference |last=Reid |first=Jim |date=3 April 2007 |title=The Good Old Days: Networking in UK Academia ~25 Years Ago |url=http://www.uknof.com/uknof7/Reid-History.pdf |location=Manchester |access-date=16 April 2008 |book-title=UKNOF7 |archive-date=28 May 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080528040321/http://www.uknof.com/uknof7/Reid-History.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=6th UK Network Operators' Forum Meeting Agenda |url=https://www.uknof.org.uk/uknof6/ |access-date=2020-02-12 |website=www.uknof.org.uk |quote=See "15:00 Starting the Commercial Internet in the UK (Peter Houlder)" |archive-date=2007-06-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070621051719/http://www.uknof.org.uk/uknof6/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

====Systems Network Architecture====
[[Systems Network Architecture]] (SNA) is [[IBM]]'s proprietary networking architecture created in 1974. An IBM customer could acquire hardware and software from IBM and lease private lines from a common carrier to construct a private network.<ref>{{cite conference |first= R.J. |last= Sundstrom |author2= G.D. Schultz |title= 1980 SNA'S First Six Years: 1974-1980 |book-title= Proceedings of 5th ICCC 80 |pages= 578–585 |date= 1980 |url= http://rogerdmoore.ca/PS/SNA6Y/SNA6.html |archive-date= 2013-10-20 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131020142728/http://rogerdmoore.ca/PS/SNA6Y/SNA6.html |url-status= dead }}</ref>

====Telenet====
[[Telenet]] was the first FCC-licensed [[public data network]] in the United States. Telenet was incorporated in 1973 and started operations in 1975. It was founded by [[Bolt Beranek & Newman]] with [[Lawrence Roberts (scientist)|Larry Roberts]] as CEO as a means of making packet switching technology public. Telenet initially used a proprietary [[Virtual circuit]] host interface, but changed it to X.25 and the terminal interface to X.29 after their standardization in [[CCITT]].<ref name=":2A">{{cite journal|last1=Roberts|first1=Dr. Lawrence G.|date=November 1978|title=The Evolution of Packet Switching|url=http://www.ismlab.usf.edu/dcom/Ch10_Roberts_EvolutionPacketSwitching_IEEE_1978.pdf|journal=IEEE Invited Paper|access-date=September 10, 2017|archive-date=December 31, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181231092936/http://www.ismlab.usf.edu/dcom/Ch10_Roberts_EvolutionPacketSwitching_IEEE_1978.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> It went public in 1979 and was then sold to GTE.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Electronic post for switching data|first=Timothy|last=Johnson|journal=New Scientist|date=May 13, 1976}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1109/MCOM.2012.6194380|last1=Mathison|first1=S.L.|last2=Roberts|first2=L.G.|last3=Walker|first3=P.M.|url=https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/6194380|title=The history of telenet and the commercialization of packet switching in the U.S.|journal=IEEE Communications Magazine|date=May 2012|volume=50|issue=5|pages=28–45|s2cid=206453987|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

====Tymnet====
[[Tymnet]] was an international data communications network headquartered in San Jose, CA. In 1969, it began install a network based on minicomputers to connect timesharing terminals to its central computers. The network used store-and-forward and voice-grade lines. Routing was not distributed, rather it was established by a central supervisor on a call-by-call basis.<ref name="Roberts1978" />

===X.25 era===
{{See also|Public data network}}
[[File:CCITT SGVII X25 Advocates.jpg|thumb|CCITT SGVII X25 Advocates]]
There were two kinds of X.25 networks. Some such as [[DATAPAC]] and [[Transpac (data network)|TRANSPAC]] were initially implemented with an X.25 external interface. Some older networks such as TELENET and TYMNET were modified to provide an X.25 host interface in addition to older host connection schemes. DATAPAC was developed by [[Bell-Northern Research]] which was a joint venture of [[Bell Canada]] (a common carrier) and [[Northern Telecom]] (a telecommunications equipment supplier). Northern Telecom sold several DATAPAC clones to foreign PTTs including the [[Deutsche Bundespost]]. [[X.75]] and [[X.121]] allowed the interconnection of national X.25 networks.

====AUSTPAC====
[[AUSTPAC]] was an Australian public X.25 network operated by [[Telstra]]. Established by Telstra's predecessor Telecom Australia in the early 1980s, AUSTPAC was Australia's first public packet-switched data network and supported applications such as on-line betting, financial applications—the [[Australian Tax Office]] made use of AUSTPAC—and remote terminal access to academic institutions, who maintained their connections to AUSTPAC up until the mid-late 1990s in some cases. Access was via a dial-up terminal to a [[Packet Assembler/Disassembler|PAD]], or, by linking a permanent X.25 node to the network.<ref name="Andrew Colley">{{cite web | url=https://www.zdnet.com/home-and-office/networking/telstra-drops-austpac-reaches-for-finance-market/ | title=Telstra drops Austpac; reaches for finance market | date=28 January 2004 | access-date=21 December 2018 | author= Andrew Colley| website=[[ZDNet]] }}</ref>

====ConnNet====
[[ConnNet]] was a network operated by the [[Southern New England Telephone Company]] serving the state of Connecticut.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3ufUXLhZHLoC&q=ConnEct+was+a+packet-switched+data+network+operated+by+the+Southern+New+England+Telephone+Company+serving+the+state+of+Connecticut&pg=PA40|title=Straight To The Point - Networking|last=Maidasani|first=Dinesh|date=June 2009|publisher=Laxmi Publications Pvt Limited|isbn=9788131805299}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=Christopher A. |title=Technology for Disabled Persons: Conference Papers, Discovery '84, October 1-3, 1984, Chicago, Illinois |date=1985 |publisher=Materials Development Center, Stout Vocational Rehabilitation Institute, University of Wisconsin-Stout |isbn=978-0-916671-61-7 |page=195 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vx7uAAAAMAAJ |access-date=12 January 2022 |language=en}}</ref> Launched on March 11, 1985, it was the first local public packet-switched network in the United States.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Rucker|first1=Chauncy N.|url=https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED286327|title=Establishing a Computer Network for Connecticut|last2=And Others|date=1985|language=en}}</ref>

====Datanet 1====
Datanet 1 was the public switched data network operated by the Dutch PTT Telecom (now known as [[KPN]]). Strictly speaking Datanet 1 only referred to the network and the connected users via [[leased line]]s (using the [[X.121]] DNIC 2041), the name also referred to the public [[Packet Assembler/Disassembler|PAD]] service ''Telepad'' (using the DNIC 2049). And because the main [[Videotex]] service used the network and modified PAD devices as infrastructure the name Datanet 1 was used for these services as well.<ref name="dn1descr">{{cite web|first=H.J.|last=Steneker|url=http://alexandria.tue.nl/extra1/afstversl/E/354398.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221010/http://alexandria.tue.nl/extra1/afstversl/E/354398.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-10 |url-status=live|title=Graduation Report on X.25 data services in GSM network|website=Electrical Engineering - [[Eindhoven University of Technology|TUE]]|date=16 May 1991|page=20|access-date=15 June 2011}}</ref>

====DATAPAC====
[[DATAPAC]] was the first operational X.25 network (1976).<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Rybczynski |first=Tony |date=11 December 2009 |title=Commercialization of packet switching (1975-1985): A Canadian perspective [History of Communications] |url=https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/5350364 |magazine=IEEE Communications Magazine  |access-date=12 January 2022|doi=10.1109/MCOM.2009.5350364|volume=47|issue=12|pages=26–31 }}</ref> It covered major Canadian cities and was eventually extended to smaller centers.{{Citation needed|date=February 2011}}

====Datex-P====
Deutsche Bundespost operated the '''Datex-P''' national network in Germany. The technology was acquired from Northern Telecom.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Parodi|first=Roberto|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wxixcg3JSbwC&q=packet+switching+The+technology+was+acquired+from+Northern+Telecom&pg=RA1-PA539|title=Towards a New World in Computer Communication: Eleventh International Conference on Computer Communication, Genova, Italy, 1992 : Proceedings of the Conference|date=1992|publisher=IOS Press|isbn=978-90-5199-110-9|language=en}}</ref>

==== Eirpac ====
[[Eirpac]] is the Irish public switched data network supporting X.25 and [[X.28]]. It was launched in 1984, replacing Euronet. Eirpac is run by [[Eircom]].<ref>{{cite book
|title=Telecommunications Directory
|year=2000
|publisher=Gale Research
|isbn=978-0-7876-3352-3
|page=593
}}</ref><ref>{{cite book
|author=Gareth Locksley
|title=The Single European Market and the Information and Communication Technologies
|year=1990
|publisher=Belhaven Press
|isbn=978-1-85293-101-8
|page=194
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
|url=https://www.casemine.com/judgement/uk/5da04a364653d0053b353082
|title=Eircom Plc and the Department of Agriculture and Food; Mr Mark Henry and the Department of Agriculture and Food; Eircom Plc and the Department of Finance and Eircom Plc and Office of the Revenue Commissioners. {{!}} [2000] IEIC 98114 {{!}} Irish Information Commissioner {{!}} Judgment {{!}} Law {{!}} CaseMine
|access-date=2022-06-22
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220621224408/https://www.casemine.com/judgement/uk/5da04a364653d0053b353082
|archive-date=2022-06-21
|url-status=live}}</ref>

====Euronet====
Nine member states of the [[European Economic Community]] contracted with [[Logica]] and the French company SESA to set up a joint venture in 1975 to undertake the ''Euronet'' development, using X.25 protocols to form virtual circuits. It was to replace EIN and established a network in 1979 linking a number of European countries until 1984 when the network was handed over to national PTTs.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Origins, development and future of the Euronet|date=1977-12-31|publisher=Emeraldinsight.com|doi=10.1108/eb046759|last1 = Dunning|first1 = A.J.|journal = Program|volume = 11|issue = 4|pages = 145–155}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kerssens|first=Niels|title=Rethinking legacies in internet history: Euronet, lost (inter)networks, EU politics|journal=Internet Histories|pages=32–48|doi=10.1080/24701475.2019.1701919|issn=2470-1475|year=2020|volume=4|doi-access=free}}</ref>

====HIPA-NET====
[[Hitachi]] designed a private network system for sale as a turnkey package to multi-national organizations.{{when|date=July 2022}} In addition to providing X.25 packet switching, message switching software was also included. Messages were buffered at the nodes adjacent to the sending and receiving terminals. Switched virtual calls were not supported, but through the use of ''logical ports'' an originating terminal could have a menu of pre-defined destination terminals.<ref>{{cite conference |first= K. |last= Tomaru |author2= T. Kato |author3= S.I. Yamaguchi |title= A Private Packet Network and Its Application in A Worldwide Integrated Communication Network |book-title= Proceedings of ICCC '80 |pages= 517–22 |year= 1980 |url= http://rogerdmoore.ca/PS/HIPA/HIA.html |conference=  |access-date= 2013-08-30 |archive-date= 2013-10-20 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131020142157/http://rogerdmoore.ca/PS/HIPA/HIA.html |url-status= dead }}</ref>

====Iberpac====
[[Iberpac]] is the Spanish public packet-switched network, providing X.25 services. It was based on RETD which was operational since 1972. Iberpac was run by [[Telefonica]].<ref>{{Citation|title=El Desarrollo de la Red Publica de Datos en Espana (1971-1991): Un Caso de Avance Technologico en Condiciones Adversas|last=Infante|first=Jorge|url=http://www.coit.es/foro/pub/ficheros/infante_fd0e6980.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100405211910/http://www.coit.es/foro/pub/ficheros/infante_fd0e6980.pdf|archive-date=2010-04-05|url-status=dead}}</ref>

====IPSS====
In 1978, X.25 provided the first international and commercial packet-switching network, the [[International Packet Switched Service]] (IPSS).

====JANET====
[[JANET]] was the UK academic and research network, linking all universities, higher education establishments, and publicly funded research laboratories following its launch in 1984.<ref>{{cite web|title=1984-2014: 30 years of the Janet network|url=https://www.jisc.ac.uk/sites/default/files/janet-news-24-pull-out-april-2014.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221010/https://www.jisc.ac.uk/sites/default/files/janet-news-24-pull-out-april-2014.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-10 |url-status=live|publisher=Disc|access-date=23 September 2017}}</ref> The X.25 network, which used the [[Coloured Book protocols]], was based mainly on [[GEC 4000 series]] switches, and ran X.25 links at up to {{nowrap|8 Mbit/s}} in its final phase before being converted to an IP-based network in 1991. The JANET network grew out of the 1970s SRCnet, later called SERCnet.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Wells|first=Mike|date=1988-11-01|title=JANET-the United Kingdom Joint Academic Network|journal=Serials|language=en|volume=1|issue=3|pages=28–36|doi=10.1629/010328|issn=1475-3308|doi-access=free}}</ref>

====PSS====
[[Packet Switch Stream]] (PSS) was the [[Post Office Telecommunications]] (later to become [[British Telecom]]) national X.25 network with a [[data network identification code|DNIC]] of 2342. British Telecom renamed PSS Global Network Service (GNS), but the PSS name has remained better known. PSS also included public dial-up PAD access, and various InterStream gateways to other services such as Telex.

==== REXPAC ====
REXPAC was the nationwide experimental packet switching data network in Brazil, developed by the research and development center of [[Telebrás]], the state-owned public telecommunications provider.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-06-09 |title=REXPAC-A Brazilian Packet Switching Data Network |url=http://www.rogerdmoore.ca/PS/REXP/REX.html |access-date=2022-08-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170609193539/http://www.rogerdmoore.ca/PS/REXP/REX.html |archive-date=2017-06-09 }}</ref>

====SITA Data Transport Network====
[[SITA (IT company)|SITA]] is a consortium of airlines. Its Data Transport Network adopted X.25 in 1981, becoming the world's most extensive packet-switching network.<ref name="history">{{cite web |title=SITA History |url=http://www.sita.aero/about-sita/what-we-do/sita-history |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120819091302/http://www.sita.aero/about-sita/what-we-do/sita-history |archive-date=19 August 2012 |accessdate=16 August 2012 |work=About SITA > What we do |publisher=SITA}}</ref><ref name=":11">{{Cite journal |last=Rybczynski |first=Tony |date=2009 |title=Commercialization of packet switching (1975–1985): A Canadian perspective [History of Communications] |journal=IEEE Communications Magazine |volume=47 |issue=12 |pages=26–31 |doi=10.1109/MCOM.2009.5350364 |s2cid=23243636}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Airline Control System |website=[[IBM]] |url=https://www.ibm.com/downloads/cas/OEYR6Y0X}}</ref> As with many non-academic networks, very little has been published about it.

====TRANSPAC====
[[Transpac (data network)|TRANSPAC]] was the national X.25 network in France.<ref name="Transpac paper">{{citation |language=en | title=X.25 Virtual Circuits - TRANSPAC in France - Pre-Internet Data Networking | doi=10.1109/MCOM.2010.5621965 | s2cid=23639680}}</ref> It was developed locally at about the same time as DATAPAC in Canada. The development was done by the French PTT and influenced by its preceding expreimental network[[Packet switching#RCP|RCP]].<ref name="Transpac choices">{{cite web|language=en|url=https://www.dropbox.com/s/v43kuy5xwasg2l7/ISS%2076%20-%20Discussion%20of%20Technical%20Choices%20made%20for%20Transpac.pdf?dl=0|title=Discussion of Technical Choices made for TRANSPAC}}</ref> It began operation in 1978, and served commercial users and, after [[Minitel]] began, consumers.<ref name="epstein19860309">{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/03/09/magazine/et-voila-le-minitel.html?pagewanted=all |title=Et Voila! Le Minitel |last=Epstein |first=Nadine |date=1986-03-09 |work=The New York Times}}</ref>

====Tymnet====
[[Tymnet]] utilized virtual call packet switched technology including X.25, SNA/SDLC, BSC and ASCII interfaces to connect host computers (servers) at thousands of large companies, educational institutions, and government agencies. Users typically connected via dial-up connections or dedicated [[asynchronous serial]] connections. The business consisted of a large public network that supported dial-up users and a private network business that allowed government agencies and large companies (mostly banks and airlines) to build their own dedicated networks. The private networks were often connected via gateways to the public network to reach locations not on the private network. Tymnet was also connected to dozens of other public networks in the U.S. and internationally via X.25/X.75 gateways.<ref>{{cite conference |last=TYMES |first=LA ROY W. |title=TYMNET &mdash; A terminal oriented communication network |url=http://rogerdmoore.ca/PS/TYMNET/TY.html |conference= |volume=38 |pages=211–16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130509125506/http://rogerdmoore.ca/PS/TYMNET/TY.html |archive-date=2013-05-09 |access-date=2013-08-30 |book-title=Proceedings of the SJCC 1971 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=TYMES |first=LA ROY W. |date=April 1981 |title=Routing and Flow Control in TYMNET |url=http://www.rogerdmoore.ca/PS/TYMFlow/TF.html |url-status=dead |journal=IEEE Transactions on Communications |volume=COM-29 |issue=4 |pages=392–98 |doi=10.1109/tcom.1981.1095020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131020140315/http://rogerdmoore.ca/PS/TYMFlow/TF.html |archive-date=2013-10-20 |access-date=2013-08-30|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==== UNINETT ====
UNINETT was a wide-area Norwegian packet-switched network established through a joint effort between Norwegian universities, research institutions and the Norwegian Telecommunication administration. The original network was based on X.25; Internet protocols were adopted later.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-06-09 |title=UNINETT Packet Switched Network Connecting Universities and Research Institutes in Norway |url=http://www.rogerdmoore.ca/PS/UNINTT/UNI.html |access-date=2022-08-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170609203023/http://www.rogerdmoore.ca/PS/UNINTT/UNI.html |archive-date=2017-06-09 }}</ref>

====VENUS-P====
VENUS-P was an international X.25 network that operated from April 1982 through March 2006. At its subscription peak in 1999, VENUS-P connected 207 networks in 87 countries.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kddi.com/english/corporate/news_release/2005/1109/|title=KDDI to Close VENUS-P International Public Data Communications Service|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130904020803/http://www.kddi.com/english/corporate/news_release/2005/1109/|archive-date=2013-09-04|website=KDDI|date=9 November 2005|access-date=3 September 2013}}</ref>

====XNS====
[[Xerox Network Systems]] (XNS) was a [[protocol suite]] promulgated by [[Xerox]], which provided [[routing]] and packet delivery, as well as higher level functions such as a [[reliable stream]], and [[remote procedure call]]s. It was developed from [[PARC Universal Packet]] (PUP).<ref>{{cite web |year=1981 |title=Xerox System Integration Standard - Internet Transport Protocols |url=http://code.msgilligan.com/2012/07/xerox-system-integration-standard.html |website=Xerox |location=Stamford}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=AIX Version 4.3 Communications Programming Concepts |date=October 1997 |website=International Business Machines |chapter=Chapter 12: Xerox Network Systems |chapter-url=http://ics.upjs.sk/~novotnyr/home/programovanie/c/books/cpc/ch12_xns.htm}}</ref>

===Internet era===
{{Internet}}
When [[Internet]] connectivity was made available to anyone who could pay for an [[Internet service provider]] subscription, the distinctions between national networks blurred. The user no longer saw network identifiers such as the DNIC. Some older technologies such as [[circuit switching]] have resurfaced with new names such as [[fast packet switching]]. Researchers have created some experimental networks to complement the existing Internet.<ref name="Mike C. Smith">{{cite web | url=https://www.networkworld.com/article/964249/what-is-dedicated-internet-access.html | title=What is Dedicated Internet Access? | date=7 September 2017 | access-date=21 December 2018 | author=Mike C. Smith | archive-date=21 December 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181221184051/https://www.networkworld.com/article/3221478/internet/what-is-dedicated-internet-access.html | url-status=live }}</ref>

====CSNET====
The [[Computer Science Network]] (CSNET) was a computer network funded by the NSF that began operation in 1981. Its purpose was to extend networking benefits for [[computer science]] departments at academic and research institutions that could not be directly connected to [[ARPANET]] due to funding or authorization limitations. It played a significant role in spreading awareness of, and access to, national networking and was a major milestone on the path to the development of the global [[Internet]].<ref name="nsf">{{Cite web |title= The Internet—From Modest Beginnings |work= NSF website |url= https://www.nsf.gov/about/history/nsf0050/internet/modest.htm |access-date= September 30, 2011 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110828125922/https://www.nsf.gov/about/history/nsf0050/internet/modest.htm |archive-date= August 28, 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |title= History and overview of CSNET |author= Douglas Comer |journal= Communications |date= October 1983 |volume= 26 |number= 10 |doi= 10.1145/358413.358423 |pages=747–753|s2cid= 11943330 |author-link= Douglas Comer |doi-access= free }}</ref>

====Internet2====
[[Internet2]] is a not-for-profit United States [[computer network]]ing [[consortium]] led by members from the research and education communities, industry, and government.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://internet2.edu/about|title=About Internet2|access-date=2009-06-26}}</ref> The Internet2 community, in partnership with [[Qwest]], built the first Internet2 Network, called [[Abilene Network|Abilene]], in 1998 and was a prime investor in the [[National LambdaRail]] (NLR) project.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.com.com/Optical%20networking%20The%20next%20generation/2100-1033-5403589.html?part=dht&tag=ntop&tag=nl.e703 |title=Optical networking: The next generation |first=Marguerite |last=Reardon |website=CNET |date=October 11, 2004 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120710234213/http://news.com.com/Optical%20networking%20The%20next%20generation/2100-1033-5403589.html?part=dht&tag=ntop&tag=nl.e703 |archive-date=10 July 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2006, Internet2 announced a partnership with [[Level 3 Communications]] to launch a brand new nationwide network, boosting its capacity from 10 to {{nowrap|100 Gbit/s}}.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techinnovations/2007-10-11-faster-internet2_N.htm|title=Speedy Internet2 gets 10x boost|first=Anick|last=Jesdanun|newspaper=USA Today|date=October 11, 2007|access-date=26 June 2009}}</ref> In October, 2007, Internet2 officially retired Abilene and now refers to its new, higher capacity network as the Internet2 Network.

====NSFNET====
[[File:NSFNET-traffic-visualization-1991.jpg|thumb|right|NSFNET Traffic 1991, NSFNET backbone nodes are shown at the top, regional networks below, traffic volume is depicted from purple (zero bytes) to white (100 billion bytes), visualization by [[National Center for Supercomputing Applications|NCSA]] using traffic data provided by the [[Merit Network]].]]

The [[National Science Foundation Network]] (NSFNET) was a program of coordinated, evolving projects sponsored by the NSF beginning in 1985 to promote advanced research and education networking in the United States.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nsfnet-legacy.org/|title=NSFNET: The Partnership That Changed The World|date=November 2007}}</ref> NSFNET was also the name given to several nationwide backbone networks, operating at speeds of {{nowrap|56 kbit/s}}, {{nowrap|1.5 Mbit/s}} (T1), and {{nowrap|45 Mbit/s}} (T3), that were constructed to support NSF's networking initiatives from 1985 to 1995. Initially created to link researchers to the nation's NSF-funded supercomputing centers, through further public funding and private industry partnerships it developed into a major part of the [[Internet backbone]].

====NSFNET regional networks====
In addition to the five NSF supercomputer centers, NSFNET provided connectivity to eleven regional networks and through these networks to many smaller regional and campus networks in the United States. The NSFNET regional networks were:<ref name=ConneXions-April1996>{{cite web|url=http://www.merit.edu/research/nsfnet_article.php|title=Retiring the NSFNET Backbone Service: Chronicling the End of an Era|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130817124939/http://merit.edu/research/nsfnet_article.php|archive-date=2013-08-17|first1=Susan R.|last1=Harris|first2=Elise|last2=Gerich|website=ConneXions|volume=10|issue=4|date=April 1996}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nsfnet-legacy.org/archives/06--Community.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221010/http://www.nsfnet-legacy.org/archives/06--Community.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-10 |url-status=live|title=NSFNET: The Community|first=Doug|last=Gale|website=NSFNET: The Partnership That Changed The World|date=29 November 2007}}</ref>
*BARRNet, the Bay Area Regional Research Network in [[Palo Alto, California]];
*[[CERFnet]], California Education and Research Federation Network in [[San Diego, California]], serving California and Nevada;
*CICNet, the [[Committee on Institutional Cooperation]] Network via the Merit Network in [[Ann Arbor, Michigan]] and later as part of the T3 upgrade via [[Argonne National Laboratory]] outside of [[Chicago]], serving the [[Big Ten]] Universities and the [[University of Chicago]] in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin;
*[[Merit Network|Merit/MichNet]] in [[Ann Arbor, Michigan]] serving Michigan, formed in 1966,<ref name="Merit1998PartOne">{{cite web|last=Aupperle|first=Eric M.|year=1998|title=Merit–Who, What, and Why, Part One: The Early Years, 1964-1983|url=http://www.merit.edu/about/history/pdf/MeritHistory.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130423042006/http://merit.edu/about/history/pdf/MeritHistory.pdf|archive-date=2013-04-23|website=Merit Network, Inc., in Library Hi Tech|volume=16|issue=1}}</ref> still in operation {{as of|2023|lc=on}};<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.merit.edu/network/internet/ |title=Merit Internet |access-date=2023-06-05}}</ref>
*[[MIDnet]] in [[Lincoln, Nebraska]] serving Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and South Dakota;
*[[NEARNET]], the New England Academic and Research Network in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]], added as part of the upgrade to T3, serving Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont, established in late 1988, operated by [[BBN Technologies|BBN]] under contract to MIT, BBN assumed responsibility for NEARNET on 1 July 1993;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/1993/bbn-0714.html|title=BBN to operate NEARnet|website=MIT News|date=14 July 1993}}</ref>
*NorthWestNet in [[Seattle, Washington]], serving Alaska, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, and Washington, founded in 1987;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/40/40-ps.ps|title=About NorthWestNet|website=NorthWestNet User Services Internet Resource Guide, NorthWestNet Academic Computing Consortium, Inc.|date=24 March 1992|access-date=3 July 2012}}</ref>
*[[NYSERNet]], New York State Education and Research Network in [[Ithaca, New York]];
*JVNCNet, the John von Neumann National Supercomputer Center Network in [[Princeton, New Jersey]], serving Delaware and New Jersey;
*SESQUINET, the Sesquicentennial Network in [[Houston, Texas]], founded during the 150th anniversary of the State of [[Texas]];
*[[SURAnet]], the Southeastern Universities Research Association network in [[College Park, Maryland]] and later as part of the T3 upgrade in [[Atlanta, Georgia]] serving Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia, sold to [[BBN Technologies|BBN]] in 1994; and
*Westnet in [[Salt Lake City, Utah]] and [[Boulder, Colorado]], serving Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming.

====National LambdaRail====
The [[National LambdaRail]] (NRL) was launched in September 2003. It is a 12,000-mile high-speed national computer network owned and operated by the US research and education community that runs over fiber-optic lines. It was the first transcontinental [[10 Gigabit Ethernet]] network. It operates with an aggregate capacity of up to {{nowrap|1.6 Tbit/s}} and a {{nowrap|40 Gbit/s}} bitrate.<ref>{{Cite news |title= National LambdaRail Opens for Business |author= Michael Feldman |work= HPCwire |date= October 28, 2008 |url= http://www.hpcwire.com/hpcwire/2008-10-28/national_lambdarail_opens_for_business.html |access-date= June 6, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nlr.net/about.php|title=About NLR|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130904020736/http://www.nlr.net/about.php |archive-date=2013-09-04|website=National LambdaRail|date=3 September 2013}}</ref> NLR ceased operations in March 2014.

==== TransPAC2, and TransPAC3====
[[TransPAC2]]  is a high-speed international Internet service connecting research and education networks in the Asia-Pacific region to those in the US.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hpcwire.com/hpcwire/2005-04-08/international_transpac2_inaugurated-1.html|title=International TransPAC2 Inaugurated|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130620034322/http://www.hpcwire.com/hpcwire/2005-04-08/international_transpac2_inaugurated-1.html |archive-date=20 June 2013}}, ''HPC Wire'', 8 April 2005.</ref> TransPAC3 is part of the NSF's International Research Network Connections (IRNC) program.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.irnclinks.net/#transpac3|title=TransPAC3 - Asia-US High Performance International Networking|work=International Research Network Connections Program (IRNC), U.S. National Science Foundation, October 2011.|access-date=3 September 2013|archive-date=14 August 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130814194934/http://irnclinks.net/#transpac3|url-status=dead}}</ref>

====Very high-speed Backbone Network Service (vBNS)====
The [[Very high-speed Backbone Network Service]] (vBNS) came on line in April 1995 as part of a NSF sponsored project to provide high-speed interconnection between NSF-sponsored [[supercomputing]] centers and select access points in the United States.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://w2.eff.org/Infrastructure/Govt_docs/nsf_nren.rfp|title=NSF Solicitation 93-52-Network Access Point Manager, Routing Arbiter, Regional Network Providers, and Very High Speed Backbone Network Services Provider for NSFNET and the NREN(SM) Program|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305030153/https://w2.eff.org/Infrastructure/Govt_docs/nsf_nren.rfp|archive-date=2016-03-05|date=May 6, 1993}}</ref> The network was engineered and operated by [[MCI Telecommunications]] under a cooperative agreement with the NSF. By 1998, the vBNS had grown to connect more than 100 universities and research and engineering institutions via 12 national points of presence with [[DS-3]] ({{nowrap|45 Mbit/s}}), [[OC-3c]] ({{nowrap|155 Mbit/s}}), and [[OC-12]] ({{nowrap|622 Mbit/s}}) links on an all OC-12 backbone, a substantial engineering feat for that time. The vBNS installed one of the first ever production [[OC-48]] ({{nowrap|2.5 Gbit/s}}) IP links in February 1999 and went on to upgrade the entire backbone to OC-48.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/694354 |title=vBNS: not your father's Internet |first1=John |last1=Jamison |first2=Randy |last2=Nicklas |first3=Greg |last3=Miller |first4=Kevin |last4=Thompson |first5=Rick |last5=Wilder |first6=Laura |last6=Cunningham |first7=Chuck |last7=Song |journal=IEEE Spectrum |volume=35 |issue=7 |date=July 1998 |pages=38–46 |doi=10.1109/6.694354|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

In June 1999 MCI WorldCom introduced vBNS+ which allowed attachments to the vBNS network by organizations that were not approved by or receiving support from NSF.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.verizonbusiness.com/about/news/pr-5449-en-MCI+WorldCom+Introduces+Next+Generation+vBNS%2B+For+All+Higher+Education+And+Research+Organizations.xml|title=MCI WorldCom Introduces Next Generation vBNS+ For All Higher Education And Research Organizations|website=Verizon Business News|date=June 23, 1999}}</ref> After the expiration of the NSF agreement, the vBNS largely transitioned to providing service to the government. Most universities and research centers migrated to the Internet2 educational backbone. In January 2006, when [[MCI Inc.|MCI]] and [[Verizon]] merged,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.verizonbusiness.com/about/news/pr-18593-en-Verizon+and+MCI+Close+Merger,+Creating+a+Stronger+Competitor+for+Advanced+Communications+Services.xml|title=Verizon and MCI Close Merger, Creating a Stronger Competitor for Advanced Communications Services|website=Verizon Business News|date=January 6, 2006}}</ref> vBNS+ became a service of [[Verizon Business]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.verizonbusiness.com/solutions/government/federal/contracts/fts2001_bridge/rg_products/vbns/|title=vBNS+|website=Verizon Business}}</ref>