France minitel · Minitel in France
All Destinations | Europe | Asia | North America | Africa | South America | Oceania | Hotels
Minitel in France
Minitel in France
The Minitel is a mostly obsolete system of text terminals that were deployed in French households from the 1980s. Their main use was the phone directory (thus relieving the need for bulky collections of paper directories), but it also allowed online retailing (extension of mail order), ticket bookings and was also popular for games, chat rooms, and sex-focused services.
This system still exists, companies will list their Minitel code as 36 15 (the dial-up number to get a connection) + the name of the service (to be typed in on the Minitel keyboard).
Posters advertising sex chat services ("3615 Ulla") are a common sight in French streets and shop windows, and certainly a puzzlement to the visitors unacquainted with the existence of a device which had found its place in the nation's everyday life.
The main advantages of Minitel over the Internet are simplicity (no need for a costly, difficult-to-operate personal computer) as well as safety (no "phishing" or fears about transmitting sensitive data such as credit cards numbers).
A few Minitels may still be found in some post offices (great for looking free of charge in the White or Yellow Pages), and a few phone booths are still equipped with one but they are very rare.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about France
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in France - updated Apr 2024
SAVE up to 75% on Last Minute deals! Search for discount France hotels, motels, apartments, hostels, guest accommodations and vacation resorts. Book now and pay at the hotel. Instant email confirmation!
>>> SEARCH FOR DEALS <<<
WHERE TO TRAVEL NEXT IN 2020
France Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.