Videotex: A Promise Unfulfilled?

VIDEOTEX: A PROMISE UNFULFILLED? by C.H. Freeman Although Britain has set the rest of Europe an example in the liberalization of its telecommunications system, it has failed in one area where other countries, particularly France, have not: Videotex, or Prestel, as it is called in Britain. Prestel began life as the brainchild of the British Post Office. The rationale behind its development was simple: High invest- ment in STD telephone equipment was demanding ever greater economic pene- tration of telephone usage in Britain. Having come to the conclusion that in- creased sales of telephones alone would not produce the necessary levels of revenue, it was decided that the solution lay in increasing usage of installed tele- phone equipment at off-peak times. Sam Fedida had been working on a research project for the PO since the early 1970s. If successful, the project would bring together telephone, tele- vision and computer technology into an amalgam that would allow telephone subscri...