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g a z e t t e
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1991
applies to the particular service
being used. Calls are charged at the
same rate to all users in Ireland for
a particular service, no matter what
the location of the user. Minitel
subscribers receive a single bill
f r om Minitel Commun i ca t i ons
Limited for all of their service
calls at the end of each billing
period.
Minitel was launched early this
year and is expanding its services
monthly. AIB Group and Credit
Lyonnais, t wo of Europe's major
banks, each own a 20 per cent
stake. France Telecom and Telecom
Eireann each own a 30 per cent
share of the company.
The system is modelled on the
successful French version, which
has been successful in reaching 20
per cent of the French telephone
user's market. It offers over 13,000
services to 5.5. million users. The
Irish Minitel operation has far more
modest initial aspirations. It is
hoping for an inital uptake of
approximately 10,000 sets in the
first year of operations, but it
ultimately hopes to reach a 15 per
cent market penetration, which
would give it 150,000 users in
Ireland alone.
A range of other services are, or
will soon be, available on the Minitel
ne two r k. These include agri-
business, banking and finance,
business services, entertainment,
freight and transport, media and
communications, shopping and
travel and tourism.
Among the services provided
under these headings are: a biblio-
graphic index of Irish periodical
literature relevant to the agri-
business sector; Cognotec, which
provides foreign exchange rates,
bank interest rates, bank account
information, share prices and
business news, among other
information; Dun & Bradstreet,
whose databases provide up to
date access to credit and financial
data on more than 16 million
business worldwide; and Kompass,
a database of products, services
and management personnel of the
top 11,000 Irish companies.
Information from such services is
clearly of interest to the legal
sector. Using the various databases
available through Minitel, the legal
f i rm can get basic informa-
tion about key personnel and
important aspects of a company's
business.
Dublin Library's bibliographic
index of Irish business periodicals
from 1982 onwards is accessible
through Minitel. Journal articles on
a particular company or subject can
be f ound t h r ough a search.
Solicitors wishing to make contact
wi th clients or colleagues can also
do so through the Eirpage System
available on Minitel.
These are only a r andom
selection of the services available
on Minitel. And those worried
about the costs of the services
should know that a special Lotto
service is also available. This helps
Minitel users to pick their lottery
numbers by generating random
selections of six numbers.
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