It started as a quick hack to forward messages between different networks. The Internet was being developed but was not functional at that time. In fact, many different networks had been proposed with no obvious consensus emerging. The Arpanet was in use in the United States and the Internet was being designed as an upgrade, but Europe had thrown its weight behind the OSI (Open Systems Interconnect) effort, and for a while it appeared that OSI might triumph. Both of these used leased lines from the phone companies; in the US that speed was 56 Kbps.