MINITEL

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MINITEL
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WHAT IS IT?

• Its French, launched in 1982 by what was then
  the French post.
• It could be called the proto-internet.
• The Minitel is an online service accesible
  through telephone lines.

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• A network for sharing, viewing and searching
  data.
• Unlike the internet, Minitel is a closed network,
  based on the phone system of its owner, France
  Telecom.
• Users can access text-based content, all owned by
  France Telecom

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HOW DOES IT WORK?

• It is used via terminals, which are in a
  telephone network.
• Using the Minitel, users could make online
  purchases, make train reservations, check stock
  prices, search the telephone directory, and chat
  in a similar way that is now made possible by the
  Internet.

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1982 ?

• Millions of terminals were handed out free to
  telephone subscribers.

• a high penetration rate among businesses
• and the public.

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• The Minitel was like a substitute for the free
  printed white pages directories (phone books
  and such).
• They could be searched by a reasonably
  intelligent search engine This was much faster
  than flipping through a paper directory.

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• Users were both businesses, like banks,
  pharmacies and stores, and regular people.
• France Télécom estimates that almost 9 million
  terminals had access to the network at the end of
  1999, and that it was used by 25 million people
  (of a total population of 60 million).

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SERVICES

• The Minitel allowed access to various categories
  of services
• phone directory (free)
• mail-order retail companies
• airline or train ticket purchases
• information services
• databases
• message boards

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COST PAYMENT

• France Télécom charges Minitel users at rates of
  up to 1 a minute on their monthly telephone
  bill.
• Minitel works by charging small amounts of money
  for small amounts of data - a telephone number
  found, a message sent.
• The rates depend on the service called most
  services are far cheaper than the maximum.

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USERS REVENUES

• In the late 1990s, Minitel connections were
  stable at 100 million a month plus 150 million
  online directory inquiries, in spite of growing
  Internet use.
• In 2005 there were 351 million calls for 18.51
  million hours of connection, generating 206
  million of revenue

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• These numbers are declining at around 30 per
  year.

• There are still 6 million terminals owned by
  France Télécom.

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MINITEL AND THE INTERNET

• More than four million people have downloaded an
  "emulator" version, i-Minitel, which runs on
  personal computers, and 120,000 have registered
  to receive Minitel via Wanadoo, France Telecom's
  internet service provider (ISP).

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• Minitel's simple technology is ideally suited to
  the next generation of web-enabled devices -
  Minitel was the explicit model, for example, for
  i-mode, Japan's internet-style mobile phone
  service
• France Telecom hopes to prove that Minitel is not
  just the past of the internet, it's its future,
  too.

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MINITEL VERSUS THE INTERNET?

• It does not require subscribing to a service,
  buying and maintaining a personal computer, and
  there are fewer security issues with respect to
  credit card payments and other personal
  information.

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• Minitels follow well-defined standards, there are
  hardly any compatibility problems.
• Minitel is trusted not just because it is an
  integral part of French life, but because its
  closed network is guaranteed virus-free and
  hacker-proof.