Decentralised, autonomous, and global: The Internet is considered the network of networks. Two-thirds of humanity, including a significant portion of Malaysians, are online today. But what role does the web play in our lives, how do connection problems affect work in our offices, and how important are Internet Exchange operators like DE-CIX in processing the growing global data flow? Here are 10 facts about the Internet every Malaysian should know.
1. When was the Internet invented?
In 1985 the Internet came into Malaysia and the first Internet service known as the Rangkaian Komputer Malaysia (RangKoM), was established. The origins of the Internet itself can be traced back to 1957. That year, the Soviet Union sent the first satellite into space. In response, the US Department of Defense founded the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) to reclaim technological leadership. Twelve years later, Arpanet came into existence. The military precursor to today’s public Internet was designed to be highly resilient. Hence, a decentralised and distributed structure was chosen. The infrastructure consisted of many individual networks connected at nodes. Even today, so-called “interconnected networks” form the basis of the network of networks, which was already inscribed in the history books in 1974 under the name “Internet.”
2. How many networks make up the Internet?
Today’s Internet is estimated to consist of more than 117,000 autonomous sub-networks identifiable by Autonomous System Numbers (ASNs). Similar to postal addresses, autonomous systems can be reached and connected using unique AS numbers to exchange data. 288 of these ASNs are Malaysian. ASNs include Internet service providers (ISPs) and telecommunications companies, content networks such as social media, video and music streaming, and gaming services, as well as e-commerce platforms, cloud networks, website hosts, and transit network operators. Internet Exchanges (IXs) play a crucial role in maintaining an efficient infrastructure: just as airports are hubs for people and cargo, IXs are hubs for data packets in the digital world. Of the roughly 340 IXs on Earth, DE-CIX operates more than 50 Internet and Cloud Exchanges, making it the world’s leading IX operator. More than 3,600 networks were connected to DE-CIX in 2023 – and the number is rising.
3. How many websites are on the Internet?
Today, around 1.1 billion websites are online, but only about 200 million of them are active and regularly used. The first website launched on August 6, 1991, in Switzerland. British physicist Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web (WWW) at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva in 1989 to share information. The WWW is a service that runs on the Internet.
4. How many emails are sent per year?
Whether for work or personal use, an estimated 131.4 trillion emails will be sent and received in 2024, according to analysts at The Radicati Group. That’s more than 360 billion emails per day, 15 billion per hour, 250 million per minute, and about 4.1 million per second. By the way, just about every second email is spam. The trend shows that spam emails will continue to be a burden: by 2026, almost 143.3 trillion emails are expected to be in circulation – a 9% increase in two years.
5. How many Internet users are there?
Around 5.4 billion people were online in 2023. The International Telecommunication Union, a UN agency, shows rapid development. In 2005, there were around 1 billion users, with an annual growth of about 10%. With an estimated 8 billion people on Earth in 2023, two-thirds of humanity was online – and one-third was not. While in Malaysia, of the 34.49 million people, 97.4% are Internet users.
6. How many domains are on the Internet?
According to the domain report from registrar Verisign, around 360 million domains were registered worldwide by the end of 2023. The registry grows by an average of 8.9 million entries (2.5%) annually. The most popular top-level domains are .com with around 160 million registrations, .cn with over 20 million, and .de with about 18 million entries. Domains are unique names assigned to specific Internet addresses, making websites easy to remember and find. The first registered domain was nordu.net. The .my domain was established on June 8, 1987. Currently, the number of domain name registrations using the .my domain is 288,432.
7. How much data is there on the Internet?
According to market researchers at IDC, the amount of data generated, stored, duplicated, and processed worldwide by humans, companies, machines, and computers amounted to around 126 zettabytes in 2023 – a number with 21 zeros! This is equivalent to the data needed to store 9 trillion two-hour 4K movies of 14 gigabytes each. IDC expects around 284 zettabytes by 2027 – more than doubling the amount in 2023. While it’s unclear how many bits and bytes are travelling through the Internet, DE-CIX’s data gives some indication: in 2023, data traffic at global DE-CIX Internet Exchanges rose to a total of 59 exabytes, an increase of about 23% from the previous year.
8. What role does the Internet play in people’s lives?
In Malaysia, the Internet is mainly used to search for information, stay up to date on current news and affairs, as well as keep in touch with relatives and friends. Even so, the Internet also plays a big role in businesses. The usage of the Internet helps stimulate the operations and growth of a business with high productivity and efficiency. Businesses utilise the main uses of the Internet: gaining market insights, utilising AI, using cloud storage, interacting with customers. The Internet helps establish business and attract prospects as it helps build trust towards the users.
9. How much money is made from the Internet?
From gaming and the Internet of Things to e-commerce and online advertising, to cloud platforms and Internet Exchanges like DE-CIX – Internet-based services contribute to global value creation. In Malaysia, e-commerce and online advertising generates high revenues. Online shopping has risen in Malaysia due to the trust users have towards online shopping platforms. Two thirds of Malaysians shop online through their mobile phones. At the end of 2023, the expected market profits of Malaysian e-commerce was around RM41 billion ($8.75 billion) and expected to rise 13.26% in the next four years.
10. Who owns the Internet, and can it be shut down?
The Internet is a network of networks. Many companies, governments, individuals, and organisations own and operate small pieces of infrastructure that merge into a larger whole based on shared protocols and standards. Thus, ownership is decentralised. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) coordinates the allocation of domains, IP addresses, and ASNs. The Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry has grown in Malaysia. The government and public sector is in the midst of developing Malaysia into a digital country. They have set in motion MyDIGITAL as an initiative to move Malaysia towards a digital, high-income, digital economy leader country by 2030. And can the Internet be completely shut down? Since it consists of more than 100,000 interconnected autonomous sub-networks, the Internet cannot be completely shut down. Only local or regional interruptions are possible.
