impotance of internet

After the WTC attacks, the Internet played a key role in keeping communication going, performing as an efficient and stable network for thousands of effected workers in lower Manhattan when desk phones and cell phones had failed.

Unlike a telephone call, which requires a direct circuit connection between two telephone sets, data sent over the Internet consists of discrete packets that can follow different channels in a sequence over time and rejoin at the final destination, in a process known as packet switching. For that reason, important information was able to flow around damaged or destroyed cables and telephone switching equipment.