History of the Internet in Sweden

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. The Internet's predecessor ARPANET started around 1969 in the USA. The ARPANET-like network TIDAS was developed by ASEA in Sweden from 1972 to 1975, and included an innovation by the Swedish researcher Torsten Cegrell that was soon built into ARPANET and thus the Internet. 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.

In Sweden, it was not until 1988 that direct access to Internet was created in the form of the SUNET and NORDUnet university and college networks, which in turn was connected to the USA. In 1991, Swipnet started operations and became Sweden's first ISP. In 1994, providers started offering Internet access to private individuals.

In 1973 ARPANET was connected outside the US for the first time. The connection was with satellite link to NORSAR in Norway, via the Tanum Teleport Earth Station in Sweden. Next, this played a part in developing TCP/IP and thus the Internet. In 1994, Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt and Bill Clinton became the first heads of government in the world to email each other. In 1997, the Swedish government decided that anyone who bought a personal computer at home could deduct the cost. The aim of the reform was to increase digital literacy in Sweden. This decision, known as the Home PC Reform, contributed to an increase in the use of computers and the internet by Swedes. In 2003, some telephony also moved online, through Niklas Zennström's Skype service. Skype was then bought by the auction site eBay for billions. The service made international calls free, among other things. File sharing and online privacy became an increasingly important issue, especially for young adults who have grown up with the unlimited possibilities of the Internet. In 2006, the Pirate Party was founded, and in 2009 it was voted into the European Parliament. Also in 2006, paradoxically, a service was founded that would kill file sharing of music in Sweden: the streaming music service Spotify.