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The early years
The 1980s was the first decade where the internet resembled something like it does in the modern day. But it wasn’t capable of anywhere near what it is now -
Much ado about dial-up
Dial-up internet took off in the 1990s, and the first commercial internet service providers (ISPs) started offering internet connections to regular households -
The arrival of broadband
Broadband breathed new life into the internet in the early 2000s by allowing the signal in one line to be split between telephone and internet. This meant users could be online and make phone calls at the same time. It was branded the ‘always on’ internet service -
streaming, social media and speed
It helped the web transition from an obscure place for entertainment into a mainstream blockbuster TV and movie platform, thanks to streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. It allowed anyone to create and upload their own high-quality content and build loyal digital audiences. And coupled with the rise in computing power, it allowed us to work from anywhere we wanted, removing the need for many jobs to be based in an office. -
working from home, 5G and a full fibre future
Just when we thought we were hitting peak internet, the world was hit with the Covid-19 pandemic. Millions of people had to start working and learning from home, at almost no notice. This put immediate pressure on everyone’s home broadband, as suddenly we were staying in and using the internet throughout the whole workday too -
