• IEEE honors Nokia with a prestigious Milestone Award for its introduction of ADSL in the 1990s, a breakthrough innovation that marked the beginning of the broadband era for 1 billion people.
• ADSL joins an impressive list of IEEE Milestone-recognized breakthroughs, including Maxwell’s equations, the transatlantic cable, and the Compact Disc.
• 30 years later, Nokia continues to lead broadband innovation with fiber broadband prototypes running at 100Gbps – up to 100,000x faster than the first 1Mbps ADSL demonstrators.

Nokia  announced that IEEE, the world’s largest technical professional organization advancing technology for humanity, recognized the company for its introduction and worldwide deployment of ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) as an IEEE Milestone. Close to one billion people benefited directly from this innovative technology breakthrough that laid the foundation for modern broadband.

Developed in 1993 in Antwerp, Belgium, ADSL was the first large-scale broadband technology. It delivered multi-megabit internet over standard telephone lines, making broadband accessible and affordable for billions around the world. This innovation transformed digital connectivity and helped shape the internet-driven world we live in today.

The IEEE Milestone program honors significant achievements found in unique products, services, seminal papers and patents that have stood the test of time and brought lasting benefit to humanity. ADSL now joins a distinguished list of IEEE Milestone-recognized breakthroughs, including Maxwell’s equations, the transatlantic cable, and the Compact Disc.

“The IEEE Milestone Program recognizes great moments throughout our world’s long history of technical innovation. They are a symbol around the world of how electrical engineering and computing have built the modern world,” said Kathleen Kramer, 2025 IEEE President & CEO. “Milestones can also help to increase the public’s understanding of the contributions to society made by electrical, electronics, and computer engineers, and the strides made by countless technologists as they sought to advance technology to benefit humanity.”

“ADSL signified the birth of broadband,” said Geert Heyninck, General Manager of Broadband Networks at Nokia. “It was a moment of transformation — moving beyond the dial-up era to a new world of always-on, high-speed connectivity. And it didn’t stop there. From those first 1 Mbps ADSL demos to our recent 100 Gbps proof-of-concepts, we’ve been pushing the limits of broadband innovation for over 30 years.”

Since ADSL, Nokia has pioneered many broadband breakthroughs including VDSL, 10G PON, 25G PON, and most recently, 100G PON — technologies that are up to 100,000 times faster than the original ADSL proof of concept.