EBONE
EBONE (standing for European Backbone) was a pan-European Internet backbone. It went online in September 1992 and was deactivated in July 2002. Some portions of the EBONE were sold to other companies and continue to operate today.
History
Formation
The first meeting to discuss the formation of EBONE occurred on September 1, 1991. The final link in the initial backbone design of EBONE was made on Sunday September 26, 1992, between London and Montpellier.
Shutdown
In October of 2001, KPNQwest purchased Global TeleSystems who at the time was the owner and operator of EBONE. Following the Dot com crash and various investigations, KPNQwest declared bankruptcy. In June of 2002, it was announced that the EBONE Network Operations Center would be shut down, and the EBONE would be deactivated. Employees in the EBONE Network Operations Center and elsewhere attempted to keep the network running for many weeks after the last possible sale of the company fell through, but eventually were told to shut down the network and abandon the building, which they did on July 2, 2002.