October 29 — Internet’s Birthday: The History of the Internet Worldwide and in Tajikistan

Today, the internet has deeply integrated into human life, and access to high-speed and affordable internet is crucial for the economic and social development of every country. The internet emerged as a result of extensive efforts and research, carrying its own unique history.

In 1958, a project aimed at ensuring security began in the United States. By 1969, specialists had made extensive efforts to establish connections between computers. Finally, on October 29, 1969, the first computer connection was established in the United States. This event is considered the birth of the Internet. In this context, in 1970, R. Tomlinson invented email, and in 1976, R. Metcalfe created the first local computer network.

The number of computers connected to each other increased day by day. This technology also spread to Europe. On March 12, 1989, the first website was launched in Switzerland. The project was initiated by computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee, and since then, billions of people around the world have used it as a primary source of information. As a result of Tim Berners-Lee’s invention, the internet system was organized, and suitable methods for information and communication exchange were established.

In 1991, the WWW (World Wide Web) protocol was invented in Europe, creating a broad foundation for increasing computer connections.
Today, 3 out of every 5 people on the planet have access to websites.
The development of search engines like Google, Yahoo, Yandex, Rambler, and others mostly began in the early years of the 21st century. The most popular is the Google search engine, which started operating in 1998.
The creation of the free platform Skype in 2003 allowed network users to establish video communication. In 2005, the video portal YouTube launched on the internet, enabling each user to freely upload videos online.

This is considered one of Google’s projects, where thousands of videos are uploaded daily, and users can earn money based on the number of views. In addition, in 2013, Google launched the Skype Hangouts service, which enabled online conferences to be held in the format of live broadcasts on YouTube. These services are now widely used for conducting webinars.

The activation of social networks also marked a significant development in the internet. The first social network, Classmates, was created in 1995. Currently, internet media primarily use social networks like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter as alternative tools for disseminating information.
The popularity of internet messengers such as Viber, WhatsApp, IMO, and Telegram, which are mainly geared toward mobile devices, allows not only for text messaging but also for the transfer of multimedia files (photos, videos). The creation of channels and public chats in these messengers, similar to social networks, has created new conditions for modern media.

The emergence of the internet in Tajikistan is linked to the development of information and communication technologies. The beginning of internet access in Tajikistan dates back to 1995, when “CADA” (Agency for the Development of OM) launched electronic mail services. The second update occurred on December 23, 1998, when the internet provider “Telecom Technology” began mass provision of internet services, becoming the first internet provider in the country.

With the advent of qualitatively new and powerful technologies, the use of such technologies in Tajikistan’s telecommunications market opened a new era. The improvement of the telecommunications market depended on the fact that in the mid-2000s, OJSC “Tajiktelecom” undertook the modernization of the entire infrastructure of the country. This gave a significant boost to internet services and mobile communication, creating conditions for the operation of other industry companies.

The modernization of telephone stations with digital technology, the renovation of trunk lines, and connections to international fiber-optic networks were the main factors in improving both fixed and mobile communication, the widespread availability of internet services, the reduction of service costs and customer equipment prices, as well as the increase in the number of mobile communication and internet users. It is worth noting that Tajikistan became the first country in the former USSR where a third-generation network and a “transition” network (3.5G) (3G-UMTS/3.5G-HSDPA) were implemented. Currently, all regions of Tajikistan are connected to high-speed fiber-optic networks.

Since 2003, the regional domain TJ has been allocated to Tajikistan by the international organizations ICAN and IANA. Thousands of websites have been registered under this domain to date. The first domains in the “TJ” zone were registered on January 29, 2004, for a group of websites from the company Babylon – babilonm.tj, babilont.tj, and babilon.tj.

Now, there are 6 mobile communication operators, 13 internet providers, and 23 content providers operating in the country, offering various services. The national domain segment of Tojnet defines the state policy regarding the registration of internet websites. The first domain in the “TJ” zone was registered on January 29, 2004, for a group of websites from the company Babylon – babilonm.tj, babilont.tj, and babilon.tj.

Firdavs Abdujalilov,
Candidate of Philological Sciences