March 11, 1985 — Connecticut Launches ConnNet
March 11, 1985
On March 11, 1985, the state of Connecticut launched ConnNet, one of the earliest statewide public computer networks in the United States.
Unlike research networks such as ARPANET, ConnNet was designed from the beginning as a public online service for businesses and home users. Anyone with a terminal or personal computer and a modem could dial into the system and access information services through the telephone network.
The communications infrastructure for ConnNet was provided by the Southern New England Telephone Company (SNET), the regional telecommunications provider that operated the telephone lines and network access across Connecticut.
At a time when the modern Internet did not yet exist for the general public, ConnNet offered something remarkable: an electronic information network that ordinary citizens and companies could access directly from their homes or offices.
A statewide online service
ConnNet worked through dial-up connections. Users called a local access number using a modem and connected to central computers that hosted databases and information services.
Small businesses could use the network to search for information and data services, while individuals could access educational and reference resources. For many users, ConnNet was their first experience with an online information system.
Libraries, schools, and universities also connected to the system, but they were only one part of the ecosystem. The network was intended to serve the entire state’s information infrastructure, including households, companies, and public institutions.
Services available on ConnNet
Through ConnNet, users could access several types of digital resources:
- library catalogs across Connecticut
- government and public information databases
- academic and research resources
- reference information useful for businesses and professionals
These services were accessed through text-based terminals, similar to other computer systems of the early 1980s.
Why ConnNet mattered
ConnNet was an early example of a public online network available to ordinary users, not just researchers or government laboratories.
Years before the World Wide Web, it showed that people could use computer networks to access information from their homes and workplaces.
In many ways, systems like ConnNet anticipated the services that later became standard on the Internet: remote database access, online catalogs, and digital information services available to anyone with a modem.