Networks of power. Analysing the evolution of the Danish internet infrastructure

Abstract

This article studies the evolution of the internet infrastructure and assesses emerging digital power structures and regulatory dynamics. We revisit and develop Thomas P. Hughes’ momentum theory (1994) and contend that the internet, as other large technological systems, has evolved in different phases reflecting a shift from being mainly influenced by socio-economic conditions to having a determining influence on the development of societal structures. We argue that contemporary internet infrastructure studies can benefit from Hughes’ theoretical approach, but also need to strengthen their methodological and empirical strategy. The article contributes to this by approaching the changes in digital infrastructures, markets, and state policies in Denmark from 1992 to 2019. Building on database material, we analyse the development of digital devices and internet connections, submarine fibre optic cables and internet exchange points, websites, and digital content. We conclude that the identified changes confirm Hughes’ momentum hypothesis: in the beginning the implementation of the internet reflected historical market structures and institutional characteristics, while the later development challenges and transforms the established regime.

Keywords:

• Infrastructure
• internet history
• momentum
• technological systems
• political economy

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Over-the-top here refers to internet-based distribution services that can substitute specialized and dedicated network services (e.g. internet-based telephony, text messaging, VOD and streaming etc.

2 We leave out Hughes’ first phase, invention, here. Not because it is not significant to a historical analysis of the internet, but because it relates to a different time and different place: namely the development of the ARPANET in late 1960s’ US.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sofie Flensburg

Sofie Flensburg holds PhD in Communication and Media Studies and is currently employed as a research assistant at the Department of Communication at the University of Copenhagen. Her research interests include: digital infrastructures, internet regulation and governance, political economy and communication history.

Signe Sophus Lai

Signe Sophus Lai is a PhD Fellow in The Peoples' Internet project at the University of Copenhagen, Department of Communication. Her PhD project examines the role of the Internet in everyday life communications. She has published on online tracking, big data, media ethnography, web traffic measurements, user comments, and television series.