(ARPANET) A pioneering longhaul {wide area network} funded by {DARPA} (when it was still called "ARPA"?). It became operational in 1968 and served as the basis for early networking research, as well as a central backbone during the development of the Internet.The ARPANET consisted of individual packet switching computers interconnected by leased lines.Protocols used include FTP and telnet.It has now been replaced by NSFnet.[1968 or 1969?](1994-11-17)