Iberpac

Iberpac (or Red UNO) was the Spanish packet switched X.25 public data network. It was operated by Telefónica España, the incumbent Spanish telecommunications operator. Iberpac lents its name to Iberpac Plus and Iberpac Básico, the latest X.25 services in Spain.

History

Red Especial de Transmisión de Datos

Iberpac evolved from the Spanish Red Especial de Transmisión de Datos (RETD), the world's first public data network.^[1] Created in 1971, RETD was based on general-purpose Univac 418 III computers.^[2]^[3]^[4] The original Red Secundaria de Alto Nivel (RSAN) protocols for RETD were custom-developed by Telefónica (then CTNE) under ARPANET design principles.

Project TESYS

By 1978, project TESYS (Telefónica, SECOINSA, SITRE) started the development of specific-purpose switching nodes. Some of the design principles of TESYS nodes were advanced for their time (multithreading, token passing protocols). In contrast, the large user base with terminals based on legacy RSAN protocols slowed the adoption of X.25, TESYS product development and support were targeted to CTNE only (thus precluding the spread of TESYS to international markets) and data lines in Spain became slow for their time (only 2% lines above 1200 bit/s in Spain in 1982, compare 89% in West Germany).

Iberpac and Red UNO X.25

Renamed as IBERPAC, the network evolved to X.25 in the 1980s, and it was renamed again as 'Red UNO' in the 1990s. Bank branches and financial services conformed the main user base. IBERPAC enabled new videotex and teletext services, although the adoption lagged far behind the popularity of similar services in other countries, such as the French Minitel. Services based on legacy RSAN protocols were definitely scrapped in 1996.

Use

Until December 31, 2015, Red UNO supported two legacy X.25 services: flat-rate Iberpac Plus and pay-per-use Iberpac Básico. Iberpac services were targeted to corporate customers with specific reliability demands.

References

^ Derek Barber. "The Origins of Packet Switching". Computer Resurrection Issue 5. Retrieved 2024-06-05. The Spanish, dark horses, were the first people to have a public network. They'd got a bank network which they craftily turned into a public network overnight, and beat everybody to the post.
^ Alarcia, G.; Herrera, S. (1974). "C.T.N.E.'s PACKET SWITCHING NETWORK. ITS APPLICATIONS". Proceedings of 2nd ICCC 74. pp. 163–170. Archived from the original on 2013-10-20. Retrieved 2013-08-30.
^ Cuenca, L. (1980). "A Public Packet Switching Data Communications Network: Eight Years of Operating Experience". Conference Record of ICC 80. IEEE. pp. 39.3.1–39.3.5. Archived from the original on 2013-10-20. Retrieved 2013-08-30.
^ Lavandera, Luis (1980). "Architecture, Protocols and Performance of RETD". Conference Record of ICC 80. IEEE. pp. 28.4.1–28.4.5. Archived from the original on 2013-10-20. Retrieved 2013-08-30.

Jorge Infante, El desarrollo de la red pública de datos en España, Revista BIT del Colegio Oficial de Ingenieros de Telecomunicación, nº 136, 2002. (In Spanish)

External links

Description of Iberpac Plus (in Spanish)^{[permanent dead link]}

[1] Derek Barber. "The Origins of Packet Switching". Computer Resurrection Issue 5. Retrieved 2024-06-05. The Spanish, dark horses, were the first people to have a public network. They'd got a bank network which they craftily turned into a public network overnight, and beat everybody to the post.

[2] Alarcia, G.; Herrera, S. (1974). "C.T.N.E.'s PACKET SWITCHING NETWORK. ITS APPLICATIONS". Proceedings of 2nd ICCC 74. pp. 163–170. Archived from the original on 2013-10-20. Retrieved 2013-08-30.

[3] Cuenca, L. (1980). "A Public Packet Switching Data Communications Network: Eight Years of Operating Experience". Conference Record of ICC 80. IEEE. pp. 39.3.1–39.3.5. Archived from the original on 2013-10-20. Retrieved 2013-08-30.

[4] Lavandera, Luis (1980). "Architecture, Protocols and Performance of RETD". Conference Record of ICC 80. IEEE. pp. 28.4.1–28.4.5. Archived from the original on 2013-10-20. Retrieved 2013-08-30.

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