History of the Internet in Sweden

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The history of Internet in Sweden can be considered to have begun in 1984, when the first Swedish network was connected to the Internet. Prior to that, there were data links between some colleges and universities with access via modem and UUCP to the European part of the Internet. Thereafter, Internet access spread to large companies and the general public.

The Internet's predecessor, the ARPANET, carried its first packets in 1969 in the United States using data communication techniques invented and first-implemented by Donald Davies for the NPL network in the United Kingdom.

In the 1960s, ASEA was commissioned by Vattenfall to create a computer-based monitoring system to reduce the risk of disturbances in Sweden's power grid. This grid was connected with those of Finland, Norway and Denmark. Up until then, the telephone was the main tool for engineers monitoring the power grid. For this purpose an ARPANET-like network, TIDAS [sv], was now developed by ASEA, between 1972 to 1975.

This network included split horizon route advertisement, an innovation by Swedish researcher Torsten Cegrell [sv] that was soon built into the ARPANET and thus the Internet.^[1] It is a method of preventing routing loops. Patrik Fältström [sv] was a mathematics student in Stockholm in the early 1980s when he was hired to help build and test the infrastructure for the ARPANET.^[2] Generally speaking, the Swedish network started with colleges and universities and then expanded with purely commercial operators offering access first to large companies and, in 1994, to the general public.

Sweden first connected to the Internet in 1984 in Gothenburg.^[3] It was not until 1988 that direct internet access was created in the form of the SUNET network of universities and colleges, which in turn was linked by a direct connection to the US, albeit at a low speed (9.6 kbit/s). In 1991, Swipnet [sv] started operations, becoming Sweden's first commercial ISP offering Internet access to large companies. In 1994, providers started to offer Internet access to private individuals; then via modem.

A UUCP link was established via EUnet in 1982 connecting Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark and the United Kingdom.^[4]

In 1994, Kuai Connection and later Algonet were the first operators to offer Internet connection to the Swedish general public via modem through the Swedish telephone network.^[5][6] The usage costs were made up of a fixed monthly fee and per minute charges as with any other telephone call. In 1996 Internet access became available for a flat monthly fee in Ängelholm where the local cable TV company began to offer connectivity via Cable TV modems with an Ethernet interface. A big change started in 1999 when Bredbandsbolaget concluded a Framework Agreement with housing movement HSB and a large number of condominium apartments were given access to the Internet. This led Telia to come up with a similar offer, and soon a market was created where Bredbandsbolaget and Telia were just two of several players. In 2001, ADSL was made available, in beginning only from Telia who decided over the existing copper cables.

The timeline of the history of the Internet in Sweden:

1962 The first modem for the telephone lines was made commercially available, with a transmission speed of 300 bit/s.

1971 Televerket (later Telia) abolished the monopoly on mobile (radio) terminals.^[7]

1978 The first electronic discussion forum (BBS) were started in Sweden by Stockholms Datamaskincentral (QZ).

1979-1993 Televerket run their Datavision service that people connected to with a modem and a special software and subscription. It was offered commercially in 1982. Many larger companies embraced the service, but it did not become widespread elsewhere. Steve Jobs declared in 1984 that the service were "too single minded".^[8] It was shut down later. But even during their active time resistance arose to electronic alternatives: "The association of newspaper publishers to the government asserted a strong concern about the competition Videotex would entail for the newspapers. An inquiry majority proposed a ban on advertising."^[9] (But it didn't became like that) this service did anyway cost the equivalent of 0.55 SEK/minute - 0.14 US$/minute.^[10][8]

1979-1988 The network of Swedish universities (Sunet) used Televerket X.25 but did later leave this inefficient protocol behind permanently in favor of leased direct connections.^[11]

1980 The first volunteer-driven electronic discussion forum (BBS) which were available via modem connection was started by the club for ABC-computers.^[12][13]

1983 The exclusive right for the state monopoly Televerket to supply a modems for speeds up to 1200 bit/s ceased.^[14]

1983 Björn Eriksen linked a VAX 780 computer in Sweden with the UUCP protocol and a 1200 bit/s^[11] as a UUCP node in the European segment of the Internet.

1983 Some Swedish Social Democrats tried to get a tax on the use of computers,^[15] see motion "1983/84:596 av Kurt Ove Johansson (s) och Stig Gustafsson (s) I molionen yrkas atl riksdagen hos regeringen begär en utredning om alt beskatta eller avgiftsbelägga användningen av datorer." (sic!) ("1983/84: 596 Kurt Ove Johansson (s) and Stig Gustafsson (s) in the motion claims insist that the parliament to the government request an investigation into taxing or charging for the use of computers").^[16][17]

1984 The very first Swedish network 192.5.50.0^[18] was connected to the Internet by Ulf Bilting at Chalmers University of Technology.^[19]

1988 The Swedish University Network (Sunet) was created with X.25 links domestically at 9.6 kbit/s^[11] and were connected via Nordunet created that same year to the United States with a 56 kbit/s link to Princeton University.^[11][20] this got most university- and Högskole students access to the Internet for real. The choice of IP as the network protocol was not settled or clear: "many networkers within the nordunet community never really regarded osi as an option, but were from the start determined to build a tcp/ip network. osi remained in the nordunet plans only because it was pushed so strongly by the European Commission."^[20]

2020 Swedish regulators banned the use of networking equipment from Huawei and ZTE its 5G network.^[21]

• History of the Internet
• Internet in Sweden