IBM to Integrate Internet with France's Minitel
"France Telecom, IBM in low-cost Internet access plan"
NEW YORK, Oct 6 (Reuters) - France Telecom and IBM
said on Tuesday they had teamed up to develop software
that will offer a low-cost means of connecting to the Internet
with a new generation of phones instead of personal computers.
In a statement released in Paris, the two companies said they
had formed a partnership to spur development of new types of
low-cost Internet acn a barrier to widespread Internet adoption.
Initially, the partners said, they plan to develop the new
network software system for use in France, building on the
country's established Minitel network, an online and electronic
commerce network developed in the early 1980s that was a
predeccessor to the development of the commercial Internet.
The system will provide Internet access to consumers and
businesses via so-called screen phones, which combine voice and
text communications, and other devices, in a bid to make France
one of the leading markets for electronic commerce services.
The effort will run over a centrally managed network that
allows users simple and quick access, based on a system of
easy-to-navigate software menus, from any device connected to the
network, the statement said.
In the future, these devices could be embedded into a
variety of consumer equipment, such as cars, television sets and
other products, the companies said. The system will be based on
open Internet software standards to ensure that the system can
work in markets worldwide, running over hardware devices from a
range of manufacturers, the companies said.
((-- Eric Auchard, reporter, New York bureau 212-859-1840)) |
