Internet Access in Vatican City: History, Infrastructure, Providers, and Modern Challenges
The Holy See published its first website, www.vatican.va, on December 25, 1995, marking Vatican City’s online debut and the creation of the Vatican Internet Service. By the late 1990s the Vatican established the Internet Office of the Holy See as its ISP, connected Vatican City to the global internet, and secured the .va domain for the state. In 2010 a contract with Telecom Italia deployed a fiber-optic network linking Vatican sites and extraterritorial properties such as Castel Gandolfo and the Vatican Radio transmission center. By 2020 about 5,000 Vatican telephone lines were connected through an IMS digital exchange, with fiber