European Computer-Industry Research Center

The European Computer-Industry Research Center (ECRC) was a German telecommunications company headquartered in Munich and one of Germany's earliest Internet service providers. It operated its own nationwide backbone network, primarily connecting enterprises, research institutions, and access providers to the Internet. The company played an important role in building Germany's Internet infrastructure. ECRC was founded in 1984 by Siemens, ICL, and Bull as a research institute. From that institute later grew ECRC Network Services GmbH, which was acquired by Cable & Wireless on 4 January 1999. The company was initially integrated into the group as the subsidiary Cable & Wireless ECRC GmbH, and in 2004 was fully merged into the Cable & Wireless group (exact date unknown). All of ECRC's components and services were taken over and expanded by Cable & Wireless. Among its legacies, ECRC established and operated INXS in 1994, Germany's first Internet exchange point (IXP), predating DE-CIX; it is now operated by ECIX. ECRC also operated the well-known German domain name server cns1.cw.net, whose easy-to-remember IP address 141.1.1.1 is still commonly used today as a default target for testing Internet connectivity. The server still exists and is still operated by Cable & Wireless.

The European Computer-Industry Research Center (ECRC) was founded in 1984 by Siemens, ICL and Bull as a research institute. From this institute the ECRC Network Services GmbH later emerged, which was acquired by Cable & Wireless on 4 January 1999. The company was initially integrated into the group as the subsidiary Cable & Wireless ECRC GmbH and was fully absorbed into the Cable & Wireless Group in 2004 (exact date unknown). All components and services of ECRC were taken over and expanded by Cable & Wireless. ECRC was a German telecommunications company headquartered in Munich and one of the first internet providers in Germany. It operated its own nationwide backbone network, mainly connecting enterprises, research institutes and access providers to the internet. The company played a major role in building up internet infrastructure in Germany. In 1994 ECRC built and operated the INXS, the first internet exchange point (IXP) in Germany, before DE-CIX; it is now operated by ECIX. ECRC also operated the well-known German nameserver cns1.cw.net, whose easy-to-remember IP address 141.1.1.1 is still often used today as a default target for testing internet connectivity. This server still exists and continues to be operated by Cable & Wireless.

• 2004

  ECRC fully absorbed into the Cable & Wireless Group (exact date unknown).

• 1999

  ECRC Network Services GmbH acquired by Cable & Wireless on 4 January 1999.

• 1994

  ECRC built and operated the INXS, the first internet exchange point in Germany, before DE-CIX.

• 1984

  ECRC founded by Siemens, ICL and Bull as a research institute.

One of Germany's first internet providers and a key builder of German internet infrastructure.

• Nationwide backbone network

  ECRC operated its own Germany-wide backbone network, mainly connecting enterprises, research institutes and access providers to the internet.

• INXS internet exchange point

  Built and operated by ECRC in 1994, the first internet exchange point in Germany, before DE-CIX; now operated by ECIX.

• cns1.cw.net nameserver

  A well-known German nameserver operated by ECRC, with the easy-to-remember IP address 141.1.1.1, still used today for testing internet connectivity and still operated by Cable & Wireless.

1. 1Domain im Kundenauftrag registriertecrc.de
2. 2European Computer-Industry Research Centerwikidata.org
3. 3European Computer-Industry Research Centerde.wikipedia.org