Minitel

Minitel

An online service of France Telecom that is used to look up phone numbers, pay bills, purchase merchandise and chat. Starting in 1983, the text-based terminals were freely distributed. Access to the services, known as the Teletel network, is based on telephone time and service provider fees. Because it was quite advanced for the 1980s and simple to use, Minitel use became widespread and thousands of services were offered.

Even after the Web, Minitel has survived with more than 15 million users at the turn of the century. Although new services continue to be added, many expect Minitel to give way entirely to the Internet within a few years. Others say it will survive for much longer.