In short, it was possible that they could communicate with each other. Building the transmission lines that allow computers to communicate with each other was originally undertaken by the Federal government. By the 1990's the government withdrew and private business to took over. The lines, and the required equipment, through which computers communicate vary in capacity. This capacity is often referred to as bandwidth .
Available bandwidth is a major design consideration.
Smaller sites and media assets are transmitted faster. Speed translates into viewer interest. Always design for your user's bandwidth . To allow computers to be able to talk to and understand each other required agreement as to how this should be done. These agreed upon ways of doing things are called protocols .