The Internet wouldn't be run by the "telephone company." It would be
> a very limited linkup between universities and defense contractors who
> could afford to pay for the $1000+ per month 256k high-speed lines
> needed. The rest of us would still be using the Source, Compuserve,
> and BIX over dialup, using special utilities to minimize toll call time.
> Michael D. Sullivan
But it wasn't until sometime around 1993 or '94 that the last Internet BACKBONE segment was upgraded from 9600 baud to a T-1. I remember the announcement, and I am certain the last segment upgraded was one of the major labs in the far southwest (Arizona, NM, or even perhaps the Livermore lab in Ca.) The government agency I was working at at that particular time got its feed from Carnegie-Mellon and was shipped down to our office in Washington on a 56K line. Of course back in those days IP addresses were plentiful and we had an entire Class B to subnet in our offices.
Rodgers Platt