Internet service providers (ISPs) provide access to the Internet through telephone dial-up connections as well as through permanent or "always-on" connections. As of 2001, businesses and consumers could choose from among an estimated 7,000 national, regional, or local ISPs.
Prior to ISPs, access to the Internet required an account at a university or government agency and a working knowledge of Unix. The Internet began accepting commercial traffic in the early 1990s, but commercial users had to honor the peering protocol of swapping data free of charge. The National Science Foundation commissioned four private companies in 1994 to build public Internet access points, …
According to Boardwatch, the number of ISPs increased from about 1,400 in early 1996 to 3,000 at the beginning of 1997. By mid-1997 there were an estimated 4,000 ISPs in the United States and Canada. Many of them were small operations that served consumers and small businesses in local markets by leasing and reselling the Internet services of larger ISPs. To stay in business smaller ISPs merged wi…
As electronic commerce became more widespread in 1999, corporate customers favored ISPs that could provide audience reach. According to a mid-1999 survey by Data Communications, UUNET serviced 178 of the 500 largest domains, followed by Exodus Communications Inc. and Cable & Wireless Inc. UUNET also handled a large number of dial-up users on behalf of major consumer ISPs such as America Onl…
While no one owns the Internet, by 2000 it was clear that much of the infrastructure on which the Internet ran was controlled by a handful of very large corporations. With access to 300,000 miles of fiber and cable, UUNET owned an estimated 30 percent of the Internet's infrastructure. Other major U.S.-based players included AT&T, GTE, Global Crossing, Qwest Communications Internation…
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