from
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)
Internet backbone
<communications, networking> High-speed networks that carry
{Internet} traffic.
These {communications} {networks} are provided by companies
such as {AT&T}, {GTE}, {IBM}, {MCI}, {Netcom}, {Sprint},
{UUNET} and consist of high-speed links in the {T1}, {T3},
{OC1} and {OC3} ranges. The {backbones} carry {Internet}
traffic around the world and meet at {Network Access Points}
(NAPs).
{Internet Service Providers} (ISPs) connect either directly to
a backbone, or they connect to a larger ISP with a connection
to a backbone.
The {topology} of the "backbone" and its interconnections may
once have resembled a spine with ribs connected along its
length but is now almost certainly more like a fishing net
wrapped around the world with many circular paths.
[Map?]
(1998-07-02)