depth analysis and comment a maximum of 65 US cents per There are the on-line ver­ where appropriate. As well as minute to access the service. sions on 17 different data a review of the news and com­ Integration of Btx with ISDN bases. The service is profitable ment from the national press, means that sophisticated Btx but this money is 'swallowed daily coverage also includes graphic frames will only take up' by the CD-ROM and the TV programme news and pre­ 0.5 sec to be transmitted com­ CD-I versions. CD-ROM is views with a special 'What's pared to 20 seconds currently. used in schools but strangely Around the world on' and 'What's new' in the It will also provide enhanced enough, Grollier does not see a arts section. features such as having a light great future for this product. flicker on the user's terminal They are more optimistic over Free trial success Videotex demise? whenever a message is sent to the CD-I version, combining The Austrian PTT has been British Telecom (BT) has just his individual mailbox, or dis­ text, pictures and audio. actively promoting the na­ restructured its value added play the telephone number of tional videotex service with a data service into an enlarged someone who is calling, while six months free trial, offering Dialcom Group, which is now the line is being used to access Bell rings up victory new subscribers free access to fully operational. It combines the Btx service. Regional Bell Operating Com­ services. Since its start, Dialcom Inc (available in 17 The German Bundesport will panies (RBOC) in the USA can SCH600 million has been in­ countries) and includes Dial­ also introduce a kiosk type offer information transmission vested in the national service com 400 (a X.400 messaging charging method as an option and gateway services as long which to date has about 8000 service), (in­ for Bildschirmtext IPs by the as they don't control the "gen­ users, 59 per cent of which use cluding gold 400, based on end of this year. eration or manipulation" of in­ Mupid intelligent terminals. Dialcom software), and BT's formation content, according Since the start of this "free value added business services to Judge Harold Greene's trial" programme in October which include . Electronic school long-awaited clarification of '86, the number of subscrip­ BT's computer network ser­ Publishers McGraw-Hill in the his RBOC information activi­ tions has increased by 3000. vices division which provides USA developed an electronic ties ruling. However, there are still only technical support for the UK, service, MIX for schools and The decision grants "wide 8000 subscribers, which prob­ is also part of the Dialcom teachers with exchange pro- flexilibity to RBOCs for trans­ ably reflects the fact that the group. The idea is to integrate mission systems and voice Austrian system did not reach the marketing of what BT calls storage application" - signifi­ a stable performance before value added businesses, and 'Understandascope cantly expanding RBOC's abil­ 1986. In the meantime, the separating developing work. will provide a ity to offer information ser­ Austrian PTT itself continues unique opportunity vices. t.:i lease Mupid terminals for Transpotel opts out Green's ruling - a remark­ SCH 130 per month, plus Transpotel is one of the first for relating to ably conciliatory and sympa­ SCH70 per month for the true blue European videotex other people' thetic document - is the first . In additon, users pay services now seeing the limita­ official permission for RBOCs SCH40 per month, a local tele­ tions of that technology. to plunge into the ventures phone charge plus a subscrip­ Since 1982, T ranspotel of­ grammes for overseas con­ outlined in his September l 0 tion charge of about $5 per fers services in a transport ca­ tacts. decision. The RBOCs have month. pacity in West , the Students in , the now been authorised to: USA, Germany and Puerto UK, The , France, Set up gateways; Rico can communicate with * Norway, Austria, Sweden and create and manage "intro­ News service on-line each other through MIX. This * Switzerland. ductory information con­ The joint UK Observer Prestel service has an electronic mail The new trend is PC based tent" (menu frames) on News Service, which went live facility, computer conference services with VAS communi­ gateways; last year, fills the gap as an on­ service, file transfer facilities cation options for EDI - Email provide "kiosk" billing and line source for international and a news service. * and centralised information. collection services; news and news analysis, at the Subscription to MIX is With the inflexibility of the offer protocol conversions; proverbial touch of a button, $US 149.50 p.a. A similar ser­ * Prestel technology used in operate voice storage and for videotex users. vice is also in operation in the * these countries the need to retrieval systems, including News reports are compiled UK under the name 'The look for other solutions has audiotex services; by Observer newspaper jour­ Times Network for Schools'. nalists with direct access to ex­ emerged. * support electronic mail clusive stories from foreign Ask and you shall ... development; correspondents as well as the Integration The USA publisher Grollier * provide data transmission news coming through the nor­ The German videotex service was able to generate $USS services, including address mal international agencies. Bildschirmtext {Btx) will be in­ million revenue with their elec­ translation. itti An overnight round up of tegrated into the national tronic publisher's division. UK news is available on screen ISDN network. A Btx access Their major product is the each morning and augmented point will open in November Academic American Ency­ Paul Budde specialises in the throughout the working day 1988 in the ·USA; by mid- clopedia. This product is pub­ marketing and management with the headline news stories 1990, eight Btx access points lished in several different of electronic services and as they occur, and with in- will be installed. Users will pay ways. communication networks. ETI DECEMBER '88 17