Key Stats
• An estimated 6 billion people used the internet in 2025, covering roughly 75% of the global population (ITU).
• Investment in new submarine cable projects is expected to reach $13 billion between 2025 and 2027, nearly double the previous three-year period (CNBC).
• Over 99% of intercontinental data traffic travels through submarine fibre-optic cables laid across ocean floors.
• About 21.1 billion connected IoT devices were active worldwide by end of 2025.
Nobody owns the internet. It is a distributed network of networks with no single controlling entity, government, or corporation holding outright ownership. Physical infrastructure like submarine cables, data centres, and telecom towers belongs to thousands of private companies, governments, and organisations across every continent. Governance falls to non-profit bodies, standards organisations, and regional registries that keep protocols and addresses working together.
The cloud-based infrastructure services market continues expanding as the global internet economy heads toward $20.4 trillion by 2030. The growth is driven by e-commerce, cloud computing, and AI-powered IoT devices. Submarine cable infrastructure alone is valued at $14.88 billion in 2025.
Who Owns The Internet?
The internet does not belong to any one person, company, or country. Its design is decentralised, meaning no central authority can switch it on or off. What people experience as “the internet” is millions of independently operated networks that agree to exchange data using shared protocols like TCP/IP.
Internet infrastructure ownership
The physical backbone consists of undersea fibre-optic cables, terrestrial fibre networks, satellite links, and data centres. These are owned by a mix of telecom operators, technology companies, and government-backed enterprises. Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon have invested billions in private submarine cables to support their cloud platforms.
Who controls internet access?
Internet Service Providers are the gatekeepers of access. Firms like AT&T, Comcast, Deutsche Telekom, Jio, and China Telecom sell connectivity to homes and businesses, owning the “last mile” networks. Governments regulate these providers, setting rules around pricing and net neutrality. Growing demand for decentralised internet models has prompted discussions about reducing reliance on a few large ISPs.
Who Governs Internet Infrastructure?
Since no corporation or government owns the internet outright, its governance is handled by a group of independent, mostly non-profit organisations. Each one manages a specific piece of how the internet functions.
ICANN and domain management
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers manages the Domain Name System. It coordinates domain name registrations and ensures that every website address maps correctly to an IP address, operating under a multistakeholder model.
IETF and technical standards
The Internet Engineering Task Force develops the protocols that make the internet work, including TCP/IP and HTTP. It is an open community where engineers and researchers collaborate without any single company or government directing their work.
W3C and web standards
The World Wide Web Consortium sets standards for HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, ensuring websites function consistently across browsers and devices.
Regional Internet Registries
Five RIRs allocate IP addresses globally: ARIN (North America), RIPE NCC (Europe and parts of Asia), APNIC (Asia-Pacific), LACNIC (Latin America), and AFRINIC (Africa). They ensure IP addresses are distributed without duplication.
Government regulators
National agencies like the FCC (US), Ofcom (UK), and the European Commission enforce rules around broadband access, data privacy technologies, and content moderation. Some governments impose censorship, while others promote open access.
Largest Stakeholders in Internet Infrastructure
While no entity owns the internet, a handful of corporations control large portions of its physical and digital infrastructure. Their influence over connectivity and data flow gives them outsized power.
Google (Alphabet)
Google operates one of the largest private networks in the world. It owns multiple submarine cables outright, including the Curie, Dunant, Grace Hopper, and Equiano systems. Google Cloud runs data centres across dozens of countries, and Google Search processes over 8.5 billion queries daily.
Meta Platforms
Meta announced Project Waterworth in early 2025, a 50,000-kilometre submarine cable connecting the United States to India, South Africa, and Brazil — the longest single-owner system planned. Meta also co-owns existing cables and operates data centres supporting Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. The growth of digital assistant technologies on these platforms further extends Meta’s reach.
Amazon Web Services
AWS holds roughly a third of the global cloud infrastructure market. Amazon has invested in submarine cable consortiums and operates data centres in over 30 geographic regions, supporting millions of businesses worldwide.
Microsoft
Microsoft Azure is the second-largest cloud platform globally. Microsoft co-built the MAREA transatlantic cable and owns fibre pairs on several other systems. Its cloud infrastructure powers enterprise software and Microsoft 365, used by over 400 million people.
Submarine Cable Ownership Model Breakdown (2024)
Major telecom operators
Traditional telecom companies like AT&T, NTT, Deutsche Telekom, and Reliance Jio still own vast fibre networks and submarine cable systems. Four firms — NEC, SubCom, HMN Tech, and Alcatel Submarine Networks — collectively hold about 98% of the market for engineering and maintaining undersea cables. Bandwidth demand keeps rising alongside AI workloads and the spread of the Internet of Everything.
History of Internet Co-founders
The internet was not built by a single inventor. It emerged from decades of research, government funding, and academic collaboration starting in the late 1950s.
ARPANET and packet switching
The US Department of Defense funded ARPANET, which went live in 1969 connecting four university computers. ARPANET used packet switching — breaking data into small chunks for transmission — a concept developed by Paul Baran and Donald Davies that became the foundation for all modern internet traffic. AI-driven cybersecurity measures now protect the same networks that evolved from this early experiment.
Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn
In 1974, Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn published the design for TCP/IP, the protocol suite that allows different networks to communicate. TCP/IP became the standard for ARPANET in 1983 and remains the core protocol today. Cerf continues to work on internet policy as Google’s Chief Internet Evangelist.
Tim Berners-Lee and the World Wide Web
In 1989, British computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee proposed the World Wide Web while at CERN. He created HTML, HTTP, and the first web browser, making it possible for non-specialists to access information online. The web went public in 1991, and by the mid-1990s the internet had expanded into a global commercial network. This evolution continues to spark new paradigms around the future of the internet and how connectivity will change.
Global Internet Users Over Time (in Billions)
FAQs
Does any single company own the internet?
No. The internet is a decentralised network. Its physical infrastructure is owned by thousands of telecom companies, tech firms, and governments, but no single entity controls the entire system.
Who invented the internet?
Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn created the TCP/IP protocol in 1974, forming the internet’s foundation. Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web in 1989, making the internet publicly accessible.
Who owns internet data?
Platform operators like Google, Meta, and Amazon generally control data generated on their services. Privacy laws such as GDPR give users certain rights over personal information.
Can a government shut down the internet?
Governments can restrict internet access by ordering ISPs to block traffic. Full shutdowns are difficult due to the internet’s distributed architecture, but partial blackouts have occurred in several countries.
What are submarine cables and why do they matter?
Submarine cables are fibre-optic lines on ocean floors carrying over 99% of intercontinental data. Ownership by tech giants like Google and Meta gives them significant influence over global data flows.
