The Luxembourgish Internet Story | Internet with a Brain

We can’t change history, but we can change the future.

The present list gives a summary of the Internet history in Luxembourg from the point of view of a residential Internet user.

1. Pre-History : 1930 –1969

During the epoch 1930 – 1969 the population in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg increased from about 300.000 inhabitants to 340.000. Very few ones were early computer pioneers in Luxembourg. Most of the inhabitants were not aware of new technologies.

The main event in Luxembourg was the report “Machines Electroniques” produced in 1969 by a Luxembourgish study committee to manage the future information processing by government services.

1.1. Punch Cards (Mechanography)

1939 : ARBED
1946 : Government, CFL, BCEE, VdL, OAS

1.2. Computers (Mainframes)

1958 : CECA
1960 : CECA
1966 : ARBED, BCEE
1968 : P&T

1.3. Networks

1951 : TELEX
1969 : ARPANET
1971 : eMail

2. Inter-Network : 1970 – 1989

At the end of the second epoch the number of inhabitants was about 376.000. Few of them were early digital pioneers in Luxembourg, mainly in the domain of education. Interested people had the opportunity to read about new technologies in the newspapers.

The main event in this epoch was the launch of Euronet-Diane in Luxembourg.

2.1. Education

1973 : 1st school-computer : HP2100A
1981 : ICT Committee
1983 : BBC micro-computers

2.2. Data Processing

1970 : P&T
1974 : CIE
1982 : SIGI

2.3. Data Networks

1975 : New Telex Switch
1979 : EURONET-DIANE
1983 : LUXPAC
1985 : TELETEX
1986 : VIDEOTEX
1989 : International Videotex Gateways

2.4. Research

1976 : 1st StartUp SIMCO
1984 : Luxinnovation
1987 : CRPCU
1987 : CRPHT
1987 : CRP Santé
1990 : CRPPT

3. Read-Only Web : 1990 – 1999

During the period 1990 – 1999 the yearly increase of the population exceeded 5.000 persons. At the end of 1999 about 429.000 inhabitants were counted in Luxembourg, 17% of them used already the Internet. The reason of this high percentage was the success of the tangible P&T Cube, helping to sell the intangible Internet.

A small part of the first users are considered as early Internet pioneers in Luxembourg by generating content, by creating their own startups or by carrying out great pilot projects. Potential new users were able to get familiar with new technologies at exhibitions, demos or public terminals.

The main international event in this epoch was the end of the protocol war (TCP/IP versus OSI model) between the United States of America and Europe. And the winner was TCP/IP.

The main national event was the launch of RESTENA.

3.1. RESTENA

1989 : School Network
1989 : Wilytec
1990 : Telematics Colloquium
1990 : Research Network
1992 : DNS.lu
1998 : Internet Exchange LIX

3.2. Internet Providers

1994 : Europe Online
1995 : P&T Internet Kiosk
1995 : Luxembourg Online
1995 : Visual Online
1996 : Other Providers
1996 : P&T (Cube, Webplaza, …)
1999 : Free Internet

3.3. Communities

1995 : Internet Cafés (Chiggeri, Marx, …)
1995 : CitizeNet Rosport
1996 : Chat (Luxusbuerg, ChatNow, …)
1996 : Web Awards
1997 : High-Tech Center Mariendall
1997 : Public Internet Terminals
1998 : Forum Luxembourg

3.4. Web Portals

1996 : LuxWeb
1996 : LuxPoint
1998 : LuxJob

3.5. Pilot Projects

1995 : Health (HealthNet, Esculap, SYGO96, …)
1996 : Education (Cyberfox, Netd@ys, …)
1996 : Telework (P&T TeleAarbecht, Conference, …)

3.6. Media (Cross-Media)

> 1995 : News-Papers (Tageblatt, Wort, Luxemburger Land, …)
> 1995 : Radio (RTL, Eldoradio, 100komma7, …)
> 1995 : New Media (Media Report, Explorator, Media Guide, spider.lu, nightlife.lu, Paperjam, .)

3.7. Home & eBanking

1985 : CETREL
1996 : BCEE S-Line
1997 : BIL Online
1998 : EasyCom
1999 : MiniCash
1999 : BCEE S-Net
2000 : CCP Connect

4. Interactive Web Web : 2000 – 2004

At the end of 2004 about 66% of 455.000 inhabitants were Internet users, 33.000 users were connected with LuxDSL. A growing part of the users started during this epoch to create content for the Internet. Among them were several ingenious early multimedia pioneers who created outstanding projects.

The main international event during this period was the peak of the dot.com bubble in March 2000. The main national event was the provision of a huge investment fund by P&T Luxembourg to create rich media content for the nascent high-speed Internet. This epoch was aso a peak period of viral Internet memes.

4.1. Speed Access

2001 : GPRS
2001 : LuxDSL
2002 : TV-Surf
2003 : UMTS

4.2. eLuxembourg

2001 : Strategy eLuxembourg
2005 : Guichet Unique

4.3. Directories

2000 : Editus
2006 : yellow.lu

4.4. eCommerce

1998 : LuxBazar
1999 : www.librairie.lu
1999 : eBay International
2000 : achats.lu
2000 : Luxsite
2001 : everyday.com
2001 : 1st Internet Auction
2003 : Sympass

4.5. Rich Media

4.5.1. Streaming

2001 : Dem Gast seng Eilen
2001 : Radio 100komma7
2003 : kino.pt.lu
2005 : Kuck de Radio

4.5.2. 3D Web

2001 : 1st Atmosphere World
2001 : EVA 104
2001 : The In-Visible Cow
2001 : 3D Plëss
2004 : Fort Thüngen

4.5.3. Multimedia

2000 : Mindforest
2003 : Multimedia Cluster

4.5.4. Games

2002 : Cupidon
2002 : Postman
2003 : Timbremania
2003 : Photosafari
2004 : games.pt.lu
2004 : GlobiShadow

4.5.5. Viral Memes

1996 : Dancing Baby
1998 : Google Doodle
1999 : JibJab
2001 : ytmnd
2001 : Picasso Head
2005 : Blue Ball Machine
2006 : Elf Youself
2007 : Woman in Art

5. Collaborative Web : 2005 – 2009

The Luxembourgish population increased up to about 494.000 persons at the end of 2009. At the same time the percentage of Internet users reached 87%. The new pioneers in Luxembourg were serial entrepreneurs. Videos and TV became the main Internet content. The new hype were the social networks. The international social networks were popular in Luxembourg long before the registration of their corresponding national domain names.

The main international and national Internet events were related to art and culture. Virtual art-galleries appeared, visual arts were dethroned by digital and conceptual art-projects.

5.1. Video & IPTV

1989 : CNA
2004 : Vimeo
2005 : YouTube
2005 : T.TV
2008 : Tëlé vun der Post
2011 : Netflix

5.2. Payments

2000 : TinyCash
2005 : Luxtrust
2007 : PayPal Europe

5.3. Arts & Culture

2005 : plurio.net
2005 : Leslie’s Artgallery
2006 : Culture Inside
2007 : culture.lu

5.4. Apps

2005 : 2005.eu
2008 : AppStore
2008 : GooglePlay
2011 : Microsoft Store

2007 : Luxembourg in Second Life
2007 : ZAP
2009 : facebook.lu
2016 : twitter.lu
2017 : pinterest.lu
2018 : instagram.lu
2020 : tiktok.lu

6. Mobile Web : 2010 – 6.2012

In mid-2012 the Luxembourgish population reached 519.000 people with 91% Internet users. At the same time about 376.000 mobile Internet users were counted in Luxembourg, including probably non resident workers. A growing part of the users got addicted to the Internet.

Among the Internet pioneers of this epoch the specialists in cyber-security should be mentioned.

The main national event was the launch of the broadband access technologies.

6.1. Responsive Design

2010 : viewport settings (meta tags)
2011 : adaptive images

6.2. Access Infrastructure

2009 : LuCix
2011 : LuxFibre
2012 : LTE 4G

6.3. Online Music

2005 : Jamendo
2012 : Spotify
2012 : Deezer

6.4. Security

2005 : Cases
2006 : LuSi
2010 : BeeSecure
2010 : securitymadein.lu
2021 : CyberSecurity

7. Semantic Web : 7.2012 – 2014

550.000 people were living in Luxembourg at the end of 2014, only 5% were not surfing on the web. Most of the 95% surfers used Internet every day, or even all day. To search and find content, they asked the help of personal assistants.

Because of the exploding number of new projects and new technologies it’s difficult to nominate pioneers during this epoch. The same is true for major events or highlights.

I would like however to put forward the increasing focus on quality during this period.

7.1. Search & Find

2013 : Doctena
2015 : SuperMiro
2016 : CrossGov

7.2. Quality

2014 : Digital Lëtzebuerg
2014 : Quality Portal

7.3. Personal Assistants

2009 : Alice
2011 : Siri
2014 : Alexa
2014 : Cortona
2016 : Google Home
2018 : POLI

8. Intelligent Web : 2015 – 6.2017

591.000 and 97% are the key values for the population and Internet users in mid 2027. Internet became a great tool to assist people in all their daily tasks. Nobody wanted to miss the advantages of the artificial intelligence (AI) embedded in numerous Internet applications.

Archives were the prevailing technology during this period. They allow not only to access all types of public data bases, but also to save backups of private user data into the cloud.

The main national events were related to the promotion of innovation in Luxembourg by extending the startup support program. This way not only Internet got more intelligent, but by attracting qualified technological entrepreneurs to Luxembourg, the population also got smarter and the country’s economy was diversified.

8.1. Archives

1998 : EUR-Lex
2004 : Legilux
2008 : ANLUX
2009 : eLuxemburgensia
2012 : EU Open Data Portal
2014 : GeoPortail
2015 : CVCE.eu by uni.lu
2016 : BNL WebArchives
2016 : Registre de Commerce

8.2. Genealogy

2004 : Luxroots
2007 : Luxracines
2018 : ANLUX Civil State
2018 : Matricula Onlne

8.3. Cloud Storage

2006 : AWS S3
2011 : Apple iCloud
2015 : Microsft OneDrive
2018 : GoogleOne

8.4. StartUp’s

2000 : 123GO
2015 : Fit4Start
2016 : House of Entrepreneurs
2018 : House of Startups

8.5. Crowd Funding

2014 : Nubs
2015 : KickStarter

9. Conscious Web : 7.2017 – 2019

During the period from mid-2017 to end 2019 there was only a small increase of Internet users (+ 1%), but a huge increase of the number of inhabitants. 12.000 additional persons per year were counted. The population reached a total of about 614.000 at the end of the epoch.

Users were not only assisted, but they got managed by the Internet which had more knowledge about their needs, preferences and wishes, as their own family members.

Two new technologies, named Blockchain and WebAssembly, entered the Internet.

The main national events were related to digital museums which opened the door to the next epoch : the Metaverse.

9.1. Digital Museums

2007 : Computarium
2012 : Dräi Eechelen
2017 : City Museum
2018 : MNHA
2019 : MBAC

9.2. Crowd Sourcing

2017 : Mechanical Turk
2018 : ANLUX

9.3. New Technologies

2016 : LHoFT
2017 : Infrachain
2018 : Lëtzblock
2019 : WebAssembly

10. Metaverse : > 2020

My Internet timeline published ten years ago ended in December 2019. What will happen after this period was a justified question. In the meantime I can give an answer. The next Internet chapter is called the Metaverse, dominated by the fifth generation mobile networks, the Internet of Objects, blockchains, virtual and augmented reality.

In June 2021 Mark Zuckerberg told his employees that Facebook will become a pioneer in the metaverse. In October 2021 the company changed its name to Meta. In January 2022 Microsoft announced that it was acquiring Activision Blizzard, a big player in the video games domain, to gain a foothold in the metaverse.

I hope to be able in a few years to verify if the future became history.

10.1. Connectivity

2010 : IoT POST
2019 : The Things Network
2022 : 5G Networks
2022 : MyConnectivity

10.2. Video Conferences

1985 : Meetings
2020 : Home Schooling
2020 : HomeOffice
2020 : Medical Consultation

10.3. Live Video

2016 : Facebook Live
2020 : Hoplabum Live

10.4. Virtual Exhibitions

2019 : 175 Joer POST
2020 : Luxembourg ArtWeek

10.5. Virtual & Augmented Reality

2019 : 1867 Luxembourg
2020 : POST Esports Masters
2021 : Google Animals
2021 : Cyber Range
2021 : Virtual Reality Church

Rodange, February 7, 2022

Marco Barnig