Invention and Success of the Minitel


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Telecom History in France - Invention and Success of the Minitel

When elected in 1974
the new President Valery Giscard d´Estaing
has the intention to boost France´s retarded telecom network.

In 1979 the Minitel was invented by the French engineer
Jean Yves Pouchard.
The french government had the plan to
quickly replace printed "pages blanches" / "white pages"
by the new "annuaire electronique" ...

Minitel service starts in July 1980 in Saint Malo with 55 test users.
A year later 4000 minitels are distributed to
phone subscribers in the french departement Ille et Vilaine.


Valery Giscard d´Estaing President 1974 - 1981	Francois Mitterrand President 1981 - 1995

President Francois Mitterrand (elected mai 10 1981)
changes many things in France.
But in what concerns French Technology
he continues to push the TGV (High Speed Trains)
and the Minitel, both initiated before him by Giscard d´Estaing.

The Minitel is officially launched,
two month after the presidential election
july 10 1981

11 becomes the acces number (later 3611)
for directory service via Minitel,
12 the number for the renseignements telephoniques via operator.

	The Minitel, invented by Jean Yves Pouchard was in some way the grandfather of the Internet
Screenshot of a Minitel Phonebook page
	a Minitel Phonebook website designed in 1991 by Ben Solms, editor of whitepages.fr and Perrine Adenot and Romiro Vueira Cuevras from ODA (now Pagesjaunes SA)

The Minitel Directory becomes a major commercial success.
Half of the French population is actively using Minitel
by the turn of the century.
In the early 1990s France is ahead in
"Internet" Telecommunication Technologies.

The Internet itself already exists in the US
but it´s usage is very linited
until the 1992 election of President Bill Clinton
and the october 20 1994 launch of the website Whitehouse.gov.

NB The US Gouvernment infamously misses the registration
of the may 21 1997 domain Whitehouse.com (for many years a porn site ... see background story)